By Finnegan Kennedy
Photo by Zoe Gordon
Chromakopia has given us a side of Tyler, The Creator that has been unseen before. The level of vulnerability and honesty in regards to the absence of his father, his lack of commitment, and moving on from his Call Me If You Get Lost era is wholly unique to Chromakopia.
The majority of the Album of the Year nominations for the 2025 Grammys are pop albums, lack writing depth, or are from artists who have received a new surge of fans, while Tyler, The Creator has experienced a rather steady flow of fans since he became popular. Meanwhile, artists like Chappel Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli XCX are receiving new influxes of fans and attention (not to be said about Andre 3000, Beyonce, and Taylor Swift, however.) With the release of Chromakopia being just 16 days before the nominations were released, it’s likely that whoever voted on the albums hadn’t had enough time to fully appreciate and recognize it.
Lastly, before the review, I want to point out what makes this album so unique. Chromakopia became a melting pot of three other Tyler albums, those being Igor (in terms of production and theme), Call Me If You Get Lost (CMIYGL) for the braggadocious attitude, and we see Tyler’s explosiveness in production and lyrics from Cherrybomb. Additionally, it isn’t too common for rappers to have their own personas. We see this only from rappers like Eminem, MF DOOM, and Tyler himself. In Chromakopia, we are introduced to Chroma the Great, a character taken from the children’s book The Phantom Tollbooth. The project gives us themes of struggling with commitment, rebelling against conformity, and the foreshadowing of his childhood.
Chromakopia opens with the song St Chroma. In this song, we’re introduced to Chroma The Great and the dystopian vibe that the music video provides. The song features a military-like cadence in the background and haunting whispers from Tyler himself. The gospel-like chorus featuring Daniel Caesar showcases Caesar’s harmonizing skills. It is a great track that sets the tone for the rest of the project and highlights the intro/outro that every song has (his mother Bonita giving him a life season.)
The next track is Rah Tah Tah, which showcases the confidence seen in Call Me If You Get Lost but the hype and sound of Cherry Bomb. This is the first song from the album to have influence from his older projects, but not the last. It’s a good song with a grimy, carefree feel influenced by modern Houston rap. It sort of sets an ongoing theme of coping with fame and commitment. 6/10.
Noid has a smooth transition from Rah Tah Tah with a loud, electronic chorus. Tyler samples the Zambian rock collective Ngozi Pop in their song, and half of the song is sung in Chewa. The second half delves more into the theme of paranoia. The aggressive rock seen on the track is the only song that sounds anything like it on the album. 7/10.
Darling I is one of my favorite songs from the album and, ironically, has one of my least favorite artists featured on it. I never was a fan of Teezo Touchdown and his punk-rap style, but the vocals he delivers are great, only second to his verse on Amen by Drake. The track is our introduction to the idea that despite the fact that Tyler constantly falls in love and wants to settle down, he just can’t commit the way he wants to, causing a never ending spiral of heartbreak for him. A recent interview quotes Tyler saying, “Folks having kids and families, and all I got is a new Ferrari. It does feel weird, because I’m gaining weight and getting gray hair,” which reminds me of a part in the song where he solemnly raps, “And when that gray hair finally comes, at least I have myself if I aint find the one… so I’ll be lonely with these Grammys when it’s all said and done.” 10/10 song with an amazing chorus and melody from Tyler and Teezo.
In Hey Jane, Tyler experiences a pregnancy scare but ultimately comes to the conclusion that even though he doesn’t know if he’s ready to be a husband, much less a father, he’d support the girl’s decision and would do whatever she wants. The song is structured as a conversation between Jane and Tyler and does not feature a hook, with staggered flow. The production is stale, but he did a great job storytelling. 6/10.
I Killed You features a circus-style xylophone and paired with the Bantu-infleunced percussion creates a hollow, mysterious beat. Tyler raps about his rejection of assimilation and being white washed, drawing parallels with the hook, “Your new hot comb goes round and round, your new blowout goes round and round…” It’s a great song with a good vibe, highlighting the struggles of natural beauty and reform. 9/10
Judge Judy is my favorite track on the album, about Tyler meeting Judy, a free-spirited girl with no commitments in life. Despite their rocky relationship, her impression on him is long-lasting, and he will forever be in love with her. The song has amazing writing and storytelling, and the shallow production of acoustic guitar and some horns towards the end keep a humble feel to the song. I love Tyler’s voice in this and haven’t heard anything like it in his older albums. The outro is a bit unneeded, but the ending had a great plot twist, and I think this song would make a good movie. 10/10
Sticky takes influence from big brass band HBCU, and Rolling Stone Magazine called it the “posse cut of the ages.” For good reason, too, since Sexyy Red, GloRilla, and Lil Wayne all delivered great verses. Though not my favorite on the album, it was still a good song, and I’m surprised it wasn’t the most popular single. Its loud aggressiveness and funky brass pair very well together. 6/10
Maybe the most confrontational song on the album, Take Your Mask Off, has a slightly misleading meaning. It’s easiest to think that it’s Tyler talking to himself, trying to stop being a man he’s not and come to terms with himself, but rather it’s Tyler confronting other rappers. He wants them to stop trying to sound fake, to have a more honest attitude, and wants other rappers to rap about real issues that concern them. It reminds me of an interview with Lil Tecca where he explained that some of the best stories are fictional, and you can still learn lessons from them. The nostalgic R&B mixed with the beautiful chorus from Daniel Caesar and Latoiya Williams was a great addition. 9/10
Thought I Was Dead gives a return to horns that give a slightly aggressive feel to the song. The vibe is reminiscent of Cherry Bomb due to its energy, as well as the confidence from CMIYGL, and provides us with an amazing Schoolboy Q feature. It’s a solid song and, in my opinion, doesn’t give any lyrics that are too deep, but it just has a great sound in general. 8/10
Like Him is my second favorite song on the album and talks about how Tyler doesn’t know anything about his father and wishes he had a normal relationship with him. He definitely expresses the most emotion I’ve heard from him in this song, and the production starts off slow and subtle but ends with a great crescendo. Lola Young gave a great performance and has an amazing voice. Despite her small part, it really added a lot. 10/10
Balloon is my third-favorite from the album and has my favorite feature in it from Doechii. She’s on a great run since releasing her newest mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal. The song starts off with another circusy feel similar to I Killed You. Like her last album, she’s very confident and aggressive, which fits her character well. Doechii’s a great singer, as well as rapper, and I think this feature will help to launch her into the mainstream. Tyler’s verse was great, too, but not as good as her. 10/10
The outro to the album was pretty underwhelming in my opinion. I Hope You Find Your Way Home didn’t give any outstanding singing or rapping, and the production wasn’t anything special. It was special and did its job, but I feel like it wasn’t the best that we’ve seen out of Tyler. 5/10
I highly recommend Chromakopia to anyone who likes rap, can appreciate good lyrics and storytelling, or basically anyone, since it has so many genres mixed into it such as neo-soul, world music, rap, and funk. 9.2/10
