October 16 should have been a normal day, but everything was disrupted when Tyler, the Creator randomly released a music video for the song “St. Chroma.” This music video featured a black-and-white aesthetic, new musical themes and most importantly a new hairstyle — a V-shaped afro — from Tyler. This could only mean one thing: a new era is upon us.
The following day, a simple ad was released: “chromakopia, October 28″. That same day, the lineup for the Camp Flog Gnaw music festival was released as “Chromakopia” trucks drove around Tyler, Texas. Camp Flog Gnaw is a two day festival at Dodger Stadium hosted by Tyler, that features members of Odd Future, the recording group that Tyler was a part of from 2007 to 2015.
October 21 built on the anticipation for the next album with the release of the song “Noid,” which also featured the black-and-white aesthetic and his newly-sported Amasunzu haircut. In the following two days, more and more videos started to appear of Tyler in a mask with his shaped haircut. The Chromakopia tour, featuring Paris Texas and Lil Yachty, was announced, as well as the release time: 6 a.m. EST.
On October 25, Tyler announced that he would be hosting a concert two days later in LA (his hometown) where he would be playing the album in full and lip syncing. The concert cost $5 and was a way for people to come together and celebrate the long anticipated album release. The event featured celebrities and fans alike and was the object of envy for many fans who did not live in LA. He also gave an explanation as to why the album would be coming out at 6AM, saying on X,
“CHROMAKOPIA
COMES OUT MONDAY MORNING
AT 6AM EST.
YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT WHEN YOU WAKE UP, YOU DON’T HAVE TO DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF SLEEP FOR SOMETHING THAT IS GOING TO BE THERE WHEN YOU WAKE UP*”
A common theme from the inception of Tyler’s career is his “IDGAF” attitude, where the things that he says are sometimes not politically correct, and he doesn’t care about how people feel about him. While many artists want everyone to stay up for the Thursday night song release, Tyler wanted people to listen to the songs throughout the week; so he dropped on Monday. People can listen to the album on the way to work and passively, before taking a true deep dive into it. In contrast, Friday album releases normally involve people staying up late for one day or getting distracted during the weekend with other activities. While this was a standard that Beyonce established with her self-titled album in 2013, the previous U.S. standard was to release albums or music on Tuesdays.
On October 26 “Thought I was Dead,” was released, and two days later “Chromakopia” was given to the world. I decided to listen to “Chromakopia” throughout the week and see how I felt about it. I did not listen to the singles as they were getting released; instead, I listened to the album in full and in order every day. As a person who became a Tyler fan after “Flower Boy” was released in 2017, I have always enjoyed listening to his albums on the first day and watching the reactions online.
For the most part, the reactions I have seen on Instagram and X have been positive (but that might be my algorithm). Tyler’s eighth studio album has been received well, and made many of his diehard fans excited about Camp Flog Gnaw. These fans did not know if Tyler was going to release a new album before the festival tickets sold out the same day they released, June 27, and the most recent album came out in 2021.
I went to Camp Flog Gnaw last year and really enjoyed Tyler’s performance because of his stage presence — and of course his music — so I am very excited to see what he does this year when he adds “Chromakopia” to the mix. “Chromakopia” has 14 songs and is labeled as Hip-Hop/Rap on Apple Music, which I would say it aligns with, although it does have some R&B elements in there. There are 11 (named) features which are always an especially high point of Tyler’s albums as the featured artist normally switches their style to match Tyler’s style.
According to Spotify, “Chromakopia” earned over 85 million first-day streams on the global Spotify chart, averaging over 6 million streams per song. This makes it the biggest hip-hop album debut on Spotify of 2024 and top 20 of all time. It also simultaneously occupied the entire top 14 on the U.S. Spotify charts, with “St. Chroma” being #1 with 5 million streams. The album also charted on Apple Music and is projected to break Tyler’s previous record sales that were set by his most recent album “Call Me If You Get Lost.” Online, fans are swarming Tyler’s comments with compliments about the most recent album and their excitement to go to Camp Flog Gnaw and Tyler’s upcoming tour.
Here are some songs that I felt were standouts from the album. These choices are based on sound, not underlying meanings.
“St. Chroma (feat. Daniel Caesar)”
Thoughts: The first time I listened to this song, I was not a huge fan. The spoken word intro threw me off as well as the whispering. However, I was listening to this album in passing. Once I understood that this one song has to set up an entirely new vibe for the album and create a new character for Tyler to emulate I understood its purpose. Every Tyler album has a different main character, whether they are named or not. They have different hairstyles, outfit styles and sounds. The song has levels dynamically and sets the tone of transformation. This is probably the reason that this “St. Chroma” was released first, to let everyone know that change was coming.
Favorite Line(s): “Give a f*** about tradition stop impressing the dead”
“Noid”
Thoughts: The bright introduction into the staccato beat stacked with the Zambian sample makes this an intriguing listen from the jump. This song addresses the paranoia that Tyler has addressed in previous albums, of being watched or having a fear that someone (especially one close to you) is going to cause you harm. In this, paranoia is sometimes viewed as a saving grace because it can get him out of bad situations, but it often gives him unnecessary anxiety. The bridge is absolutely beautiful, and while I wish Chromakopia had a song with a slash, like all of Tyler’s other albums, I enjoy when Tyler takes a concept and completely flips it for the second half. The word paranoid is no longer used, but the feeling is still there. I can understand why Tyler released this one early too.
Favorite Line(s): “Her, him, they, them or anybody, I don’t trust ‘em”
“Sticky (feat. GloRilla, Sexyy Red & Lil Wayne)”
Thoughts: This song was my immediate favorite as I made my way through my initial listen. This song reminds me of middle school where I would make stupid raps with my friends and we would all have a verse or two that would go back to a main theme. I am not calling the song stupid. It’s actually the opposite, it emulates the warmth and sense of hype that comes from this style of music. The features on this song really seal the deal with everyone understanding the assignment. They maintain an upbeat feel for the entire song and I would love to hear an HBCU band perform this. The use of horns, drums and ad libs make this song perfect to me.
Favorite Line(s): “These b****** tryna scrap but I’m knuckin’ if you buckin’ ho”
“Like Him (feat. Lola Young)”
Thoughts: This song fell under the radar for me on my first listen. Upon a few re-listens, I realized this is the saddest song on the album (overtly at least) and possibly the saddest song Tyler has written. Over Tyler’s entire career he has admonished his father for not being a present figure in his life. There are songs where his father is mentioned as an aside (which is almost always a diss) and there are songs like “Answer” that detail how much he craved his father’s presence in his life. “Like Him” details him looking and acting like a man who he has never really interacted with who he thinks abandoned him, only to find out that his mom prevented his father from being a part of his life. This song has many instrumental breaks that left me longing for more, almost like how Tyler felt when he was waiting for something to change in his life. This is a beautifully sad composition that makes him sound like a child longing for their parent only for him to grow up wanting the same thing.
Favorite Line(s): “Mama, I’m chasin’ a ghost, do I look like him?”
“Balloon (feat. Doechii)”
Thoughts: The opening “I Wanna Rock” sample is so recognizable, and considering that this song is the penultimate song on the album, we can tell that we’re about to have a positive ending. While I simply enjoy the lyrics, the Doechii sample was unexpected, but fit perfectly. The ‘don’t stop’ lyrics then become part of the song and this song left me feeling satisfied. This song mentions themes from the song “Darling, I,” about monogamy and the fear of commitment, but is calmer as there is some peace regarding his friends.
Favorite Line(s): “Got my brothers here, we the Wayans Not my only girl, but you my favorite”
“I Hope You Find Your Way Home”
Thoughts: I always like songs that deal with the concept of home. I especially like Tyler’s last songs on his album. They usually take the main musical themes at a slower pace and are phrased as a statement. They also have a strong sense of remorse and a theme of someone parting ways (which could be the listener parting ways with Tyler). This song was my second favorite on my initial listen, simply because of the vocal layering in the chorus that feels very church-esque. It ends with his mom telling him that she’s proud of him. Her voice had been intertwined throughout the entire album and served as a conscience for Tyler as well as a stated theme for many of the songs.
Favorite Line(s): “The light comes from within”
The album covers many themes that I did not mention in my top songs list such as love, death, pregnancy, parenthood and more. While I wasn’t immediately overwhelmed by every song, I’m sure that the songs that are not mentioned above will grow in me in due time. This album offers more vulnerability than any of the previous ones, which show Tyler growing as a person but also him growing up and leaving his problematic, edgy persona behind. “Chromakopia” is filled with samples and interpolations showing Tyler’s knowledge of music as well as his growth as an artist.
Tyler’s next stop is his own music festival filled with his fans where he’ll be playing his new album and we’ll finally get to see his new era in action.