So, Chromakopia came out this Monday. I have listened to it a couple of times now, and I
still have no clue how to feel. I would like to preface this review by saying I have listened to
every Tyler, the Creator album multiple times, and I enjoy most of them. I think he’s been getting
better and better with every album, as CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is my personal favorite, but
I think I have to acknowledge IGOR is truly his best. So I was excited to hear Tyler evolve even
further when this album was announced just over a week ago. However, it doesn’t sound like
Tyler really evolved at all. I would go as far as to say he has somehow painted himself into a
corner.
There are two types of tracks on Chromakopia. There are the loud, bleacher-knocking,
bangers that are irresistibly head nodding, and then there are the slower, more introspective
cuts. This sounds great in theory, because this is the same kind of formula he used on his 2015
album Cherry Bomb which featured a similar dichotomy of song styles, but in practice, the
balance of both of these styles is so astronomically lopsided on Chromakopia. Maybe it’s just
personal bias, but I find it so hard to believe anyone would find more enjoyment out of the
sweeter songs on this album compared to the harsh, distorted ones. That sounds insane to say,
because Tyler usually makes sweet, melodic, beautiful songs like it’s nothing, but he seems to
struggle a lot with that on Chromakopia. The production on the sweet songs is weirdly bland for
Tyler, and there aren’t many songs on here that make me go “Wow!” like all of his other albums.
However, the main problem with the sweeter songs for me is also my biggest gripe on the album
as a whole: the lyrical content.
Polyamory and not settling down have never sounded cornier in my life. This is Drake
level subject matter, and I will not let anyone tell me differently. Listen to “Judge Judy” in Drake’s
voice, and get back to me. It’s not even something I would mind if he came to a good conclusion
about it at some point on the album like he does on CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. On that
album, he talks about how he flexes his wealth because he’s lonely, and how he has
acknowledged that. On Chromakopia, he just says he wants to be polyamorous because he
thinks that multiple people are better than one. And that’s kind of it? That being said, this
album’s sequencing is so messed up, it is hard to even pin down if that’s the concept of the
album or not.
The song starts off with 2 amazing tracks; “St. Chroma”, and “Ra Tah Tah”. These songs
are impossible not to nod your head to, and the lyrical content is kind of just the same as CALL
ME IF YOU GET LOST, as it’s pretty much all about his wealth and his possessions. Then, it’s
the song “Noid”, which is also great, but it switches up the content to being very specifically
about the paranoia he feels, the more successful he gets. This sounds like it could be the
concept of the album from this point on, but it’s not. He mentions it now and again on some
tracks, but it’s not a main focus for Tyler. The song just feels sort of out of place on the album for
that reason, especially since the beat sounds absolutely nothing like anything else on the
album, with its rock guitars and African chorus. Then, we get 4 songs in a row about a
pregnancy scare that Tyler experienced which made him come to terms with growing up.
However, they’re also about him not wanting kids, so he can continue to be with whoever he
wants and not be tied down. The first song of the four is “Darling, I” which is easily my favorite of the prettier, slower songs on the album, and I am totally not biased just because Teezo
Touchdown is on it, and I almost screamed when I heard his voice! The instrumental and
melody is so pretty, but the lyrics are just so embarrassing for someone of Tyler’s age to be
rapping about in this way. “Hey Jane” features some of Tyler’s best writing I’ve seen from him,
and I felt very engrossed in the story he was telling the whole time. The song describes his
close encounter with a one-night stand that he almost got pregnant. Once again, I will stand on
the opinion that if Drake made the last two songs, people would be hating on it incessantly, but
anyways. “I Killed You” is a really interestingly written song as the verses are double entendres
about his hair that he has been ashamed of his whole life, but they’re also about the unborn
baby that he wants to have aborted. I mentioned “Judge Judy” before, but it’s the last of the “I
love not settling down and not committing to anyone” songs on the album. It has to be one of my
least favorite Tyler songs I have heard in a long time. The lyrical content is just not for me, and
the “I won’t judge Judy” chorus might be the most I have rolled my eyes at any Tyler song ever.
But then, we just abandon everything we have talked about in the last 4 songs, and the
whole polyamorous concept for the rest of the album, and we barely go back to it, except for a
couple mentions here and there. I am just so confused what the point of these 4 songs being all
in a row is for, if it’s not part of some overarching concept. Not every Tyler album has to be a
concept album, but if you are going to order it like that, then you might as well make the whole
album about it. Anyways, it doesn’t matter, because my favorite song on the album is up next,
which is “Sticky”. The beat and chorus sound like something out of a high school pep rally, and
Glorilla, Sexyy Red, and Lil Wayne all have short, but memorable verses. After “Sticky”, Tyler
takes it back to a more lowkey mood. The song “Take Your Mask Off” is about being who you
are, and not pretending to be someone who you are not. He raps about from the perspectives of
different people which sounds interesting, but he doesn’t have the writing ability to pull it off in
an engaging way. “Tomorrow” is about the passage of time, and how he feels the need to grow
up, and settle down with someone. I don’t understand why this wasn’t with all of the other songs
about the same topic, but I’m not the GRAMMY winner. “Thought I Was Dead” is ANOTHER
head banging song, and it’s just as good as the rest. I don’t understand why he made 5 of pretty
much the exact same song, and then spread them out over the tracklist. These songs are so
high energy compared to everything else, so it’s just jarring to hear them right in the middle of
two emotional songs. The second emotional song in question is “Like Him”, which is about Tyler
lamenting his absentee father. This is all but a new topic for Tyler, but I think he missed the
opportunity to do something interesting with it on Chromakopia. The album’s “theme” (loosely) is
that Tyler is scared to be a father, and it could have been an interesting idea to talk about how
his absentee father might have made HIM scared of it. But no, it’s just very vague, and this
could have been made in 2013, and I wouldn’t have known. “Balloon” is the last of the high
energy bangers and it is just as good as the rest. Doechii’s feature on it really shines though.
Finally, there is “I Hope You Find Your Way Home” which is a pretty mediocre finish to a pretty
mediocre album. He doesn’t even really try wrapping up the “theme” (loosely) of the album
except for a couple lines which can basically be summarized to “I like being rich and having no
responsibilities, so luckily that girl didn’t get pregnant.” The rest of the song is just more of him
talking about how great he is, which is great, but overall, I just feel so confused as to why this
album needed to exist.
If he just wanted to have fun and make fun, loud, hype songs, then I feel like he could
have just taken out all of the polyamorous, “scared to settle down” songs, and make a little EP
with all of the fun, loud songs I’ve mentioned previously. If he wanted to make a more
conceptual album about how he’s scared to settle down, and how he wants multiple lovers, then
he should have just taken out the fun, loud songs, left the rest in, and really hone in on that idea.
The album just feels like a mess, but not in a fun way. It just feels so jarring to consistently go
from “song about how much money I have” to “song about how I’m a disappointment to my
mother, because I’m scared to have a child.” Besides the lyrics, the production is great as
always, however it’s nothing new for Tyler. I see no evolution going on here, and a lot of these
beats sound like they could have been made a couple years ago, which means they’re all
amazing. But, you could hear the most impressive sounding beat of all time, but once you hear
it 15 times, you still get bored of it. I really hope that Tyler, the Creator evolves in a more
interesting way on his next album, and that he picks a consistent sound and sticks to it.
