Tyler, The Creator - "Chromakopia"

Take your mask off

A friend of mine has been talking up Tyler, the Creator for years now, but it’s really only been the last 2-3 years that I’ve started to genuinely appreciate Hip-Hop. It’s been a long, slow acclimation process. But we’re finally here — I’m getting comfortable in the genre, and along comes Tyler’s eighth LP, Chromakopia.

This album largely revolves around Tyler’s journey through life — from growing up in LA to his early success, and now dealing with the man he’s turning into in his early thirties. In several ways, the album’s arc parallels Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace) which released earlier this year. Most importantly, they both utilize themes of gaining self-awareness, particularly of their own harmful tendencies, and growing past it.

Because, like everybody else, Tyler is very definitely not perfect. He’s had his share of controversy through the first decade of his career, including accusations of homophobia because of his use of a particular slur as well as using “gay” as a negative adjective; oddly enough, there’s also been a lot of speculation that he isn’t straight — to the point where Eminem called him the same aforementioned slur in his 2018 single, “Fall”.

The album leans into this imperfection early on. Intro track “St. Chroma”¹ starts with Tyler’s mother, Bonita Smith, giving a brief monologue:

You are the light
It's not on you, it's in you
Don't you ever in your motherfucking life 
dim your light for nobody

Tyler stated at the album’s listening event on its release day that much of the album was rooted in the things his mother had told him as a kid that he hadn’t really understood. He continued, verbatim: “Now that I’m 33, all that stuff is like ‘oh that’s what the fuck she was talking about!’”

The introductory monologue here, delivered by his mother, sets the tone for the album’s opening through that lens. Her voice continues to shape the album beyond this intro, though, as she speaks on nine of the album’s fourteen tracks.

The song then kicks off by repeating the album’s title several times before Tyler kicks into a verse of braggadocio delivered in a harsh whisper which isn’t interrupted until we reach the misunderstanding:

I ain't never had a doubt inside me
And if I ever told you that I did, I'm fuckin' lyin', can you feel the light?

At which point, guest vocalist Daniel Caesar jumps into the lead with gospel-tinged falsetto:

Can you feel the light inside?
Can you feel that fire? (Can you feel it, can you feel it? Oh)

The album’s second track, “Rah Tah Tah”, doubles down on the braggadocio. It’s catchy, but man I do not like songs like this — it’s one of the reasons why I had hip-hop written off in my head for so long. In this case, though, the vapid arrogance is part of the point.

I want to touch on “Noid”, the album’s third track, just long enough to highlight that the African lyrics in the chorus (I can’t tell for sure which language, but research suggests Nyanja) are sampled from Ngozi Family’s “Nizakupanga Ngozi”. The lines translate, roughly, to:

When you come to my house, please be respectful. Because I don’t like talking too much. Talking too much breeds gossip.

Tracks 4-8 set the baseline in terms of love and sex. These deal with Tyler’s reluctance to settle down and commit to a singular relationship. “Darling, I” focuses on his freespirited approach to relationships; “Hey Jane”, which is also the name of an online abortion clinic, is a half-and-half dialogue track about Tyler’s response to getting his partner pregnant and her response to him; “Judge Judy” is a catchy little story song about a temporary partner who uses Tyler to live a little while she could, as she was dying of cancer.

Two songs stick out in this section of the album because they veer somewhat from the romantic focus which otherwise sits at the fore:

• “I Killed You” is, on the surface, about hair — black hair and how it is perceived in black culture. But it’s also a double-entendre about abortion, as the song comes right after “Hey Jane” in the order. While abortion was considered and discussed in that song, it wasn’t the final solution in this instance.

• “Sticky” is about attitude, longevity, and holding your own — in the music industry, on the streets, and in the sheets.

  • This track features Glorilla, Sexyy Red, and Lil Wayne along with the longest list of writers of any song on the album — fifteen.

It’s “Take Your Mask Off”, the album’s ninth track, which serves as the pivot (. To this point, everything has focused on Tyler’s youthful misconception of what it means to burn bright. We get the pride and the ego and the refusal to back down for those first eight tracks, but now we get some maturation and realization.

To underscore this change, six of the nine tracks that his mother speaks on are these final six songs.

Everything comes full circle here — Tyler begins to realize that his existence is lonelier than he imagined it would be, and those grammies carry less meaning than he thought they did. Maybe he does want kids.

There’s a lot of introspection here, particularly about how old he is now (“Tomorrow”), how he grew up, the fact that he grew up fatherless (“Like Him”), and the masks he’s worn throughout his life (“Take Your Mask Off”).

“Thought I Was Dead” elaborates on Tyler’s perspective now that he’s in his early thirties, especially taking time to pull together his newfound maturity and his recent beef with Ian, who he sees as a culture vulture.

The album concludes with “I Hope You Find Your Way Home”, which wraps up the story that began with “Hey Jane”, in which his lover decides to go home to London and have the kid — without Tyler. Here, at the end, he makes half-hearted excuses as to why this is for the better.

I love Chromakopia’s arc, and much of the album is just an excellent listen, too. I know there’s a Kendrick album still on my list that most of you have heard by now, but I do think this is some of the best Hip-Hop of the year.

Rating: Blue

1. I will be referring to Tyler as the speaker throughout this review, as the album is largely about him. It is a concept album, though, with a stand-in protagonist named Saint Chroma. Many of the album’s specific events are specific to Saint Chroma (see “Hey Jane” and “Judge Judy”), while the general mindset and response is all Tyler.