Tyler, The Creator Drops New Album: CHROMAKOPIA
Tyler, The Creator is known for his diverse palette of music released, his most known albums being “IGOR,” “Flower Boy,” “Wolf,” and “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST.” His latest album, “CHROMAKOPIA,” takes all that we know about Tyler’s life and throws it out a window.
Tyler, The Creator, otherwise known as Tyler Gregory Okonma, debuted his first album, “BA***RD”, on Dec. 25, 2009, at just 18. He sings about a group called “Odd Future,” a group of rappers who hint about killing people, sodomizing the Virgin Mary, and all other forms of depravity. The entire album is filled with violence and hate speech toward others, maybe people Okonma knows personally.
Okonma released his latest album, “CHROMAKOPIA.” Days before, he released snippets of four new songs on three videos, one being an entire song. Each video had been amazingly captured, expressing how Okonma felt in each song throughout the album.
The album consists of 14 songs, all giving a way for Okonma to depict how he felt during his past 33 years of living. He uses it as an outlet, an exploration into the emotional spectrum, personal growth, parenthood, isolation, paranoia, and identity. His first song, “Chromakopia”, teased on Oct. 16, 2024, uses a new character to portray himself, St. Choma. It reflects on the promise he made to his mother to “make it out” of impoverished Section 8 housing, where he used to live. It also takes references from the song, “SMUCKERS,” from his 2015 album, “Cherry Bomb.”
The second song in this album, “Rah Tah Tah,” is another notable one, its main focus being Okonma’s unapologetic persona, rise to fame, and the odd and unusual way he interacts with the world. Confidence, tenacity, and unfiltered communication are all main points in this song, and throughout the album.
“Noid,” released on October 21st, was the only single released, and more muted in scale compared to Okonma’s other album releases, such as, “Call Me If You Get Lost.” Okonma saw his image go from
somebody who was seen as an edgy and strange rapper to one of the most recognizable artists of his generation in just under a decade. His giant jump of fame would be enough to make anybody a little bit queasy, Okonma expressing this to listeners on “Noid” that he’s no different than them. The days when he could do something as normal and mainstream as enjoy a meal in a restaurant, or even go out shopping by himself, are gone. “Privacy? Huh, yeah, right. I got a better shot in the NBA,” he rapped on the track.
The entirety of “CHROMAKOPIA” was one of the best albums released this year. Its odd melodies put behind a perfect string of words to convey how Okonma couldn't understand what his mother was hinting towards him at a younger age; taking 25 years. At Okanmas five dollar show in Los Angeles on Oct. 7, 2024, he finished off the show by thanking everyone who came and a few ending remarks, the one standing out most being, “This album is probably the most honest one i've ever written. Now that I’m 33, all the stuff is like ‘oh thats what the f**k she was talking about. Oh I’m not the guy I was at 20. Oh s**t, people are getting older, folks having kids and families.’ All I’ve got is a new Ferrari, that does feel kind of weird. I’ve got a grey hair on my chest. Life is life. I just wanted to write about stuff I think about when I’m dolo’ing,” as quoted by Rolling Stone.