Tyler, the Creator with 39.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 2 Grammy Awards, has recently released a new album with a total of 14 unique and amazing songs on Oct. 28. This album is filled with meaning and messages that won’t disappoint those interested in rap with a story mixed in.
Chromakopia is Tyler’s latest journey with each song having its own theme and transitions into the next smoothly and gracefully, such as “Rah Tah Tah” and “NOID,” where in Rah Tah Tah, it seems to be a man who is confident and strong, such as when he repeats “She ain’t ever met no one who talk like that,” to revealing a part of his past at the end with the words “(people) used to press me on a bus … that’s why I’m paranoid now ‘cause (people) weird and really bums” which transfers into NOID, which is about Tyler being surrounded being famous and having no privacy, causing him to be paranoid. This was a great transition into the next song, but also connects those songs, and makes the audience realize that the album isn’t just some stories, but maybe lessons and experiences that Tyler has either seen or participated in throughout his life. He further cements this idea by a recurring voice every song.
What you’ll realize after listening to around three songs of the album is that the songs often have a quick, yet strong piece of advice from a woman that seems to be directed to Tyler. This leads to the belief that it’s Tyler’s mom giving advice to him about the future that he uses to form the song it occurs in, such as “Darling, I,” where at the start, the woman says, “Whatever you do, don’t ever tell no’ (woman) you love her. If you don’t mean it, don’t mean it, don’t tell her.” about Tyler constantly falling in love, causing him to worry and end up pushing love away, which becomes apparent when Tyler says, “No one can fulfill me like this music (profanity) does, so I’ll be lonely with these Grammy’s when it’s all said and done.”
To say that Tyler spent time and expertise in filling each song with a story wouldn’t do it justice, and the only way to truly appreciate the album is to simply listen and hear the lyrics out and piece the story out yourself. Do be warned: the album uses profanity throughout it as an artform as well as other intense themes. If you can get past this, the album could easily be considered an amazing rap album and a powerful story of the influences of the lessons we were taught when we were younger.