Whether you’re an “og” Tyler fan who loves classics like Bastard, Goblin, and Wolf, or if you have gotten more into his more recent albums due to their popularity on TikTok, I’m sure you’ll find this review very insightful.
First of all, The album itself seemed to have come out of nowhere, beginning with song teasers and media coverage in mid-October. In the past, he has released his albums every two years beginning with his debut album ‘Bastard’ in 2009 and continuing to “Call Me If You Get Lost”, in 2021. What slightly set him off the schedule was the release of ‘Estate Sale’ in 2023, an extension of ‘Call Me If You Get Lost’ with 12 more songs, which caused listeners to assume the next release would be pushed back to 2025.
With this surprising new album came fans of not only Tyler but fans of other artists. Some speculated artists such as Frank Ocean, Daniel Caesar, and Childish Gambino would star in songs, yet Tyler released that there were no features on the album. After it was released, fans quickly realized that there were features but Tyler attempted to hide them until everyone had listened to the songs themselves.
Besides the surprising release and features, there was another extremely prominent thing within this album. Throughout his discography, Tyler shows the theme of his distaste for his father, who has been absent throughout his life. Throughout the album ‘Wolf’, he repetitively mentions his hatred for his father. On Chromakopia, there is no mention of loathing or negative feelings towards his father; instead, his mother shares new ideas of forgiveness on the album and blames herself for the whole ordeal.
Tyler has also pointed out some of the deeper meanings behind the album. In an interview with complex music at his listening party he shared,
“This album originally started about growing up in these areas,”- (L.A., Inglewood, Hawthorne)
He also explains others don’t expect his actions since they assume he was brought up in the suburbs with an easy-to-live life. Since the beginning of writing the album, Tyler has moved on from the theme of his hometown to growing up and having a better understanding of things since becoming an adult.
“The album now has turned into me taking a bunch of **** my mom told me as a kid.”
This new album shows a different side of him compared to the one in the past. It is less of a persona or character and more of a development of who he truly is. He has shared that he has changed since he was 20 (obviously) and is realizing how life goes on. He wanted to write about some things he enjoys doing on his own.
Since there are fifteen tracks, (and I’ve already geeked out about other aspects of the album) I’m choosing to review only a few (my favorite) songs. Very, very truthfully, I could write entire stories about each song, but I will try to keep it short(ish).
St chroma
The song opens up with Bonita Smith, Tyler’s mom, advising Tyler. She says,
“You are the light
it’s not on you, it’s in you
Don’t you ever in your mother******* life dim your light for nobody”
This is her first (yet far from last) line and advice she shares on the album. She tells Tyler never to tone himself down or try to fit into the expectations that others have created for him. As the song continues, he raps about being from Hawthorne and how his refusal to change led to his success. He shifts from rapping to singing in a falsetto voice with Daniel Caesar, where both of them are singing,
“Can you feel the light? Can you feel that fire?”
The light of the fire was previously mentioned in his track “What’s Good” on his 2019 album Igor, the title track from his 2015 project, ‘Cherry Bomb’, and “Find Your Wings” from ‘Cherry Bomb.’ This light, fire, or whatever you call it symbolizes passion for him. It is brought up repeatedly, and Tyler’s mother pushed him to nurture this extreme passion for creating.
I had to listen to this one more than once to build a love for it. The intense-ish beginning isn’t my favorite, but I enjoy the middle/end.
Noid
The first track released on Spotify as a single, ‘Noid’ is an extreme yet beautiful song on the album. Before being posted as a single, a snippet of the song was teased on YouTube with a short music video.
The music video portrays the album’s protagonist, Saint Chroma, being consumed by paranoia, constantly feeling watched and chased. He frantically drives away from everyone, having hallucinations of a car tailing him and someone threatening him with a gun in his own home, though none of it is real.
Even with the layered vocals and multiple backing tracks, the song still blends beautifully. The beginning is intense but mellows out to the beautiful melody. In the middle of the song, Tyler samples “Nizakupanga Ngozi” by the Zambian band Ngozi Family. Paul Ngozi sings,
“Pobwela panyumba panga, uyenela ku nkala ndi ulemu. Chifukwa, ine sinifuna vokamba, kamba.Vokamba kamba vileta pa mulomo. (Wotangozi, wotangozi)”
From Nyanja to English, this roughly translates to: “When you come at my house, please be respectful. Because I don’t like talking too much. Talking too much breeds gossip.” Between the extreme parts of multiple people singing and Tyler singing by himself, there is the changing backing track.
I love the backing track, especially near the end when Bonita Smith says,
“Don’t trust these people out here, please, whatever you do. Keep to yourself, keep your business to yourself,”
Take your mask off
‘Take Your Mask Off’ is the Ninth track on the album, featuring singers Daniel Caesar and LaToyia Williams.
The song begins by following a theme of different characters hiding behind “masks” and pretending to be someone they are not. These masks are fake personas they play to be socially accepted. Tyler uses gang members to further represent people hiding who they are behind a mask.
In the beginning, he uses slang words used in gangs to describe how some people want so badly to associate with gangs, yet it’s just not who they are. He tells someone from a good background trying to lie to fit in, even though their life is nothing like what they portray it to be. Later on, he brings this back to the mask that real gang members wear to conceal their remorse for joining in the first place.
“Don’t let ’em know that you regret how you became that”
Throughout the song, he describes different characters and the counterfeit masks that they curate to hide their true selves behind. He repeats the lyrics,
“And I hope you find yourself. And I hope you take your mask off.”
With that being said, this relates to the theme of growing up and learning things as an adult. He took off each one of the masks he wore when he played different roles for each of his albums. In addition, he ‘took off the mask’ of hate towards his father and replaced it with forgiveness and understanding from within. Lastly, his character on the album, “St. Chroma,” took his mask off to reveal his true self as Tyler. The song applies very literally, in his adulthood and relationship with his father. It also applies to his music, as a symbol to show that he’s shedding who he was in his old albums and beginning a new era,
“You don’t have to put on no costume. You don’t ever have to lie to kick it.”
Like him
‘Like him’ is introduced to listeners with Bonita Smith, describing the similarities in physical features between Tyler and his father. The song continues with him repeating what she told him earlier, about the two having similar expressions and even posture.
Sob worthy. Knowing the background of his relationship with his dad changes. The lyrics about the physical features Tyler shares with his dad altered brain chemistry. I love how his mom features in the majority of the songs, but her words on this one hit me. She admits the mistakes she made with his father while she was young. Tyler’s mother, Bonita Smith, also says,
“He’s a good guy. So don’t hold that against him, because it was my fault. Just, you know, forgive me”
Although these aren’t all the songs, they are some of my favorites and the ones I thought had the most interesting backstories. Whether you’re into the hard-core, intense songs or the more serene, sweet melodies, Tyler’s ‘Chromakopia’ features songs for everyone to listen to. His skills and songs have changed drastically, yet they still carry his signature style into each piece. If you haven’t listened yet, I strongly suggest you do, and I hope you enjoyed this story! For more on music, arts, and entertainment, visit the Mhs Auroran website!
