Written By: Sakura Snyder, Staff Writer
COMPELLING: Tyler the Creator provides a new perspective and insight into his own vulnerability by incorporating themes of authenticity, adulthood, anxiety and much more.
Ever since his “Flower Boy” album broke the music industry in 2017, the alternative, hip-hop, and rap musician Tyler the Creator has only gained popularity over the course of the following years. Following a steady cycle of dropping a new album every 2 years, it is not surprising to say that fans across the globe were shocked to wake up on October 16 and discover an announcement foretelling the unexpected release of an album for the following week. Especially with the addition of a new snippet displaying Tyler’s mysterious mask and green suit, fans were excited to see what “CHROMAKOPIA,” his newest album, would bring.
When “CHROMAKOPIA” officially released, many fans were even more surprised to discover that Tyler had, essentially, taken a spin on his previously conceived albums. While albums from prior years assumed a surface level analysis into Tyler’s life, Tyler “opens up” in a way never seen before in the “CHROMAKOPIA” discography. He reveals a different side of him — a side that expresses the vulnerability associated with becoming an adult.
Through one of the early tracks, “Darling I,” Tyler the Creator begins artistically crafting the rocky journey that is the adult world. In this song specifically, Tyler the Creator explores the concepts of love, commitment, and freedom, especially when it comes to the confrontational aspects of mature romance. Tyler grapples with the issue of wanting to find love and yet not being able to fully commit to it, which further feeds into the unstable adult experience. In “Hey Jane,” Tyler tells the story of an unplanned pregnancy. While Tyler starts off the song with his own insecurities and issues revolving around his lack of preparation in becoming a father, the song then shifts to the pregnant partner’s perspective, which asserts a multifaceted view of fear, acceptance and independence. In this track, Tyler and his partner’s opinions are in striking contrast, ultimately displaying the emotional turbulence that they must experience as a result of their aging bodies.
As the album progresses, Tyler’s metaphorical “mask” slips and he looks inward to his own trauma and life experiences. In his possibly most vulnerable song yet, “Like Him” indicates the longstanding consequences of Tyler’s missing father. Tyler compares himself to his father, repeatedly asking his mother if he “looks like him.” The song builds up from a simple piano tune to a much fuller melody, showing the emotional turbulence that he experiences as he asks how — and eventually, why — his father had never been a prominent figure in his life. However, the melody comes crashing down at the end when Tyler’s mother divulges the real truth behind his father’s absence. His father had actually wanted to be a part of Tyler’s life, but was not emotionally available to him because of his mother’s actions from the time.
Although these few songs mentioned are only a small portion of the album, the album pieces together to form an ode to self discovery. Tyler the Creator searches for the concepts of love and authenticity throughout the turmoil of the adult world, while also grappling with his own previously conceived traumas of his past life in “CHROMAKOPIA.” Anyone who likes Tyler’s style should give this album a deep listen.