Tyler the Creator released his eighth studio album, Chromakopia, on October 28th. Tyler officially announced his new album October 17th, 2024 on social media. The album contains 14 tracks with unexpected features, despite Tyler saying the album would not include any.
Before Chromakopia, Tyler was releasing albums once every two years. However, since Call Me If You Get Lost was released in 2021, fans noticed he skipped a year and have been eagerly waiting for the next album.
The album begins with “St.Chroma,” featuring Daniel Caesar. At first, I did not like it because the song starts off with a scary tone. The sound of marching mixed with whispers was rather unsettling, but as the song goes on, it starts to feel almost empowering as there are more background vocals and the volume of singing and marching increases. This definitely started the album off strong, and this song ended up becoming one of my favorites.
Tyler dives into a theme of love and relationships in “Darling I,” featuring Teezo Touchdown. Tyler comments on his struggle with relationships and hesitation to fully commit to them. “Darling I” takes on a very old RnB style and also incorporates a bit of rap, which I think contrasts nicely with the overall sweet tone of the song, despite the introspective lyrics. This song is again one of my favorites because RnB is my favorite style of music. I think it was nice to hear, especially since most of the other songs on the album are rap.
In “Like Him” featuring Lola Young, Tyler is very open with his feelings about not having a good relationship with his father. As he grows older, he sees his father in himself, which only reminds him of the relationship that they did not have. This song is very emotional, and I think it is one of the most vulnerable songs Tyler has released. It is definitely one of my top three on the album. Lola Young and Tyler’s voices fit incredibly well together; I am in awe of how Tyler can make such a sad theme sound so beautiful.
While I did enjoy the majority of the album, I think the song I liked the least was “I Killed You.” It almost sounds more as if Tyler is simply talking rather than rapping the song. It sounds more like slam poetry than rap music, which is not my favorite to listen to.
Overall, this album did not disappoint. Tyler’s vulnerability in many songs may help listeners relate their feelings with his, and the album as a whole met my and the other fans’ expectations.