Rapper Tyler, The Creator has returned with his 8th studio album “Chromakopia” and brings a more emotional approach. In this album, Tyler lets out the emotions about his personal life rather than some character he puts on like in albums like “Igor” or “Wolf.” Tyler said after a recent show in Atlanta that Chromokopia the first album where everything he says was true.
This album kicks off with a bang in the song “St. Chroma.” This song is a great opener for the album and gives it a strong upbeat vibe. Tyler brings a dark and gorilla-like performance in this song rapping while whispering. Shortly after this, the song switches into an all-out groove while Tyler chants the album name. Rapper Daniel Caesar provides background vocals on this song and starts the trend of sparse features throughout the album.
The next song quickly picks up the pace in the track “Rah Tah Tah.” This song is rough and vulgar throughout. Tyler, in this song, hypes himself up braggadociously. This is one of the only true-blue rap songs on this album because Tyler chooses to sing more often than not instead of rap. This is one of my favorite songs on the album because of its hardcore bars and banger beat.
A song on this album that is one of the most vulnerable we have seen Tyler is “Tomorrow.” In this song, Tyler talks about how he is getting left behind in life, not having a wife or kids of his own. He says that just the thought of kids can bring him stress, and he feels hopeless because he is already old. At the time of this album’s release, he is 33 years old. Overall this song is very good and one of my favorite songs in Tyler’s whole discography.
Another one of my favorite songs on the album is “Thought I Was Dead.” Like “Rah Tah Tah”, this song is a more hardcore rap song and features heavy horns and army chants. Fellow rappers ScHoolboyQ and Santigold provide brief bars that add little to the song. This is yet another example of Tyler adding features that barely last any time.
Overall, this album is interesting from beginning to end and full of Tyler’s emotional and vulnerable moments. I give this album an 8.2/10
