Photo by Luis Perez on Youtube (derived from consequence.net)

By: Steve Lin

Just two mondays ago, rapper and record producer, Tyler Okonma (known professionally as Tyler, the Creator) released his eighth studio album titled CHROMAKOPIA. He initially teased the release on October 16th by posting a snippet of the album’s opening track, “St. Chroma”, on his social media, revealing the album’s name, cover, and release date the following day. Many fans speculated whether this would mark the long awaited return for the California born rapper since his last project, Call Me If You Get Lost, in 2021. 

CHROMAKOPIA invites listeners on an unpredictable yet expressive fourteen track journey that dives into the intricacies of Tyler’s life. The album paints a vivid picture of his experience growing up in Inglewood, depicting struggles of self identity and the burden of upholding societal standards as an artist. Through its tracks, listeners gain a genuine insight into Tyler’s psyche, addressing how he navigates the pressures from both society and his internal self while confronting feelings of incompetence in a judgemental world.

Known for attaching an intriguing persona with a complementary ambiance to each release, Tyler captivated fans by introducing himself as a masked protagonist in a grayscale world emblematic of 1950s theater. His entire face is nearly occluded by the mask, leaving his eyes to exude a solemn, melancholic gaze. In an interview with Artnet, the director of photography for the album cover, Luis Perez, says, “It makes the viewer really pay attention to what’s going on with him. It makes you want to go, ‘wait, what’s going on here? I’m unsettled by what I’m seeing.’”

The album’s first song, “St. Chroma”, led fans to believe that Tyler’s persona was heavily inspired by a character from the book, The Phantom Tollbooth, known as Chroma the Great. The song’s music video almost entirely takes place in a grayscale, with the reveal of colors only being triggered near the end following Tyler pressing an imaginary button that led to an explosion. At that instant, the music enters a beat switch, indicating a transition from Daniel Caesar’s melodic vocals to a more rhythmic, beat-heavy sequence. Tyler’s act of bringing color into the world is symbolic of Chroma the Great’s efforts as an orchestra conductor, illustrating the interdependencies between sound and visuals.

Since its release, Tyler’s project has debuted at the number one spot on the Billboard 200, achieving a staggering 299,500 equivalent albums sold within the first week. The album dropped unconventionally on a Monday, resulting in a time frame of only four days over the typical seven. Yet, CHROMAKOPIA still gave Tyler his greatest week in terms of units, landing himself the spot of the sixth largest debut of 2024.

Works Cited

Biazzetti, Claudio. “Chromakopia: Tyler The Creator’s New Noir Phase.” Lampoon Magazine, 1 November 2024, https://lampoonmagazine.com/article/2024/11/01/tyler-the-creator-chromakopia-album-noir-music-rapper-horror-new-phase-turning-thirty/. Accessed 4 November 2024.

Caulfield, Keith. “Tyler, the Creator’s ‘CHROMAKOPIA’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200.” Billboard, 3 November 2024, https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/tyler-the-creator-chromakopia-debuts-no-1-billboard-200-1235818700/. Accessed 4 November 2024.

Chen, Min, and Sarah Cascone. “Behind the Noir Stylings of Tyler, the Creator’s ‘Chromakopia’ Album Art.” Artnet News, 1 November 2024, https://news.artnet.com/art-world/tyler-the-creator-chromakopia-luis-perez-2562254. Accessed 4 November 2024.

Curto, Justin. “Tyler, the Creator New Album Chromakopia: Everything We Know.” Vulture, 28 October 2024, https://www.vulture.com/article/tyler-the-creator-chromakopia-meaning-everything-we-know.html. Accessed 4 November 2024.

Mishra, Sparsh. “Tyler, the Creator returns with new release ‘Chromokopia.’” The Badger Herald, 3 November 2024, https://badgerherald.com/music/2024/11/03/tyler-the-creator-returns-with-new-release-chromokopia/. Accessed 4 November 2024.

Young, Alex. “Tyler, the Creator Announces “CHROMAKOPIA World Tour” [Updated].” Tyler, the Creator Details “CHROMAKOPIA” World Tour, 30 October 2024, https://consequence.net/2024/10/tyler-the-creator-chromakopia-world-tour/. Accessed 5 November 2024.