By Carlos Gutierrez and Jean-Manuel Granda
It has been since March 31, 2023, since we last heard about any new project from singer-rapper Tyler, the Creator after his release of the deluxe Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale. However, this changed on October 16 when he released St. Chroma on his Instagram and YouTube, alongside ominous visuals, and it eventually went viral on TikTok.
Excited about the album, fans developed theories for what to expect from Tyler’s new album, with a popular theory saying that the people entering the shipping container in the video were the features in the album, claiming that the likes of Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar and more. Tyler officially stated that the album would contain no features. He later stated it would be released officially on October 28, with the singles Noid and Thought I Was Dead being released on Instagram and YouTube as well on October 21 and October 26, respectively.
Contrary to what he said before, the album features other artists like Teezo Touchdown, Sexyy Red, Lil Wayne and other upcoming artists.
Now as for the album, we feel this album blended some aspects of Tyler’s old sound with songs like St. Chroma and Hey Jane but later it transitioned to the warm synths similar to his earlier album Flower Boy, while still keeping it fresh and innovative, proving why he is still claimed to be one of the best artists in the modern day.
"I really like the album, I’d rate it an 8/10, the sound of it reminded me of Flower Boy, and yeah, I really liked it," said Eric Fernandez ‘26.
Noid paints a dark image, what it is truly like to be a public figure, with lyrics casting a shadow over your shoulders sampling Zambian band Ngozi Family’s Nizakupanga Ngozi, Tyler shares how little privacy he has, and being paranoid about being in the limelight whenever he goes out, and that he is human too. This song was particularly different from anything he had released before, blending rock aspects with his gravely, harsh rap flow.
The main deepened theme of this project is relationships, and Tyler’s storytelling throughout Chromakopia is second to none, really capturing listeners in a raw, unfiltered manner, as he is in real life.
This made the album feel more personal, with songs like Like Him showing his resentment towards his dad not being present in his life even though they share features, with Lola Young providing amazing background vocals towards the end of the track, which we found to be moving and strong with the beat of the song gaining tempo as well. The two songs that stuck the most though were Tomorrow and Take Your Mask Off, as Tomorrow relates to the pressures of social expectations put on by the world around us when we get older, like having kids, but Tyler says he’s on his social clock, and everything will be OK, so do not fall behind or go ahead trying to follow others.
We think high schoolers can relate to this Because pressure for us to be successful in life is at its highest right now, and we are expected to know what we want to do for the rest of our lives from the time we graduate, which is insane to think about, and Tyler executed this perfectly. Take Your Mask Off would have to be our favorite song on the album. Without mentioning Daniel Caesar’s amazing vocal performance in the song, this song really calls out the falseness of the industry, calling out people indirectly to be a good father and to be authentic, something that he takes pride in being. His flow in the song and the harmony Daniel Caesar has in the song really mixed his rough style with delicate voices to make this perfect blend of a song.
Where the album falls short is Sticky and Balloon. Sticky, with features from GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne, unlike the rest of the album, lacks depth and storytelling. This unusual take to a song by Tyler gives the impression that the song was made for the sole purpose of going viral online due to its obnoxious catchiness like Drake did in 2023 with Rich Baby Daddy off the For All The Dogs album, featuring SZA and Sexyy Red respectively.
Balloon, on the other hand, sounded like it had nothing to do with the theme of the innovative album. The beat of the song sounded like something from a child’s cartoon, sticking out on the track list like a sore thumb.
We also hear the more aggressive side of Tyler on songs like Rah Tah Tah and Thought I Was Dead. Reminding us of Tyler’s earlier music and persona of Tron Cat and Wolf Haley.
Some other complaints are that there aren’t as many features from major artists, compared to other albums. Coming from the theories from earlier, large artists like Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar did not appear on the album, .
"The album was really good," said Daniel Gonzalez ‘26. "I thought it was going to be worse than I expected, but, when it came out it was solid, so yeah, 8/10."
Overall, this album was very well-rounded and gives us a bit more of a window into Tyler’s creative side through his film and music production.
Although overhyped and slightly disappointing due to the lack of strong features, Tyler, The Creator has delivered yet again with another strong album that proves his unique visionary approach to music.
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