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After three long years, Tyler, The Creator’s eighth studio album, “CHROMAKOPIA” released on Oct. 28. The 53-minute album contains 14 songs.
The album features performances from Daniel Caesar, Teezo Touchdown, GloRilla, Sexyy Red, Lil Wayne, LaToiya Williams, ScHoolboy Q, Santigold, Lola Young and Doechii.
“St. Chroma” starts off strong, the beat behind the lyrics is loud and grabs the attention of the listener. It is a good introduction to the album, with it containing aspects that each subsequent song will incorporate throughout the album.
“CHROMAKOPIA” as a whole doesn’t have a clear focus, making it sound like two different albums mashed together. An example of this would be the transition from “Judge Judy” to “Sticky.”
“Sticky” is modern sounding: it has features from currently popular artists Sexxy Red, GloRilla and Lil Wayne. It talks about how wealthy Tyler is and how each artist handles confrontation which was already discussed in this album previously. “Judge Judy,” however, is a mellow sounding song with lyrics hinting at the death of a woman that Tyler dated.
The album is all over the place, lyrically and emotionally, with certain beats leaving a bewildering feeling. The intro to “Balloon” sounds like stepping into a circus; the backing track is childish.
“Balloon” has an erratic beat and is one of the weaker songs of the album. It comes between two of the most emotionally heavy songs. With Tyler’s work, a stronger beat elevates the lyrics, with “Balloon” the backing track feels misplaced with the lyrics and it takes away from the story being told. It is the worst sounding in the album and feels like it will fall out of public discourse quickly.
“Like Him,” the song before “Balloon,” is the crowning jewel of the album. Here, Tyler sings about his absent father and how he felt like he was the ghost of a man never present in his life. The feature with Lola Young and the piano used is a moving piece of music that stands on its own.
The album could be placed dead center in Tyler’s discography. The low’s in the album hurt the overall flow, but the highs stand out as his strongest work. “CHROMAKOPIA” is another milestone in his career, and the change in the development of his sound is still apparent for Tyler’s growth as an artist.
“CHROMAKOPIA” has a couple of songs that sound like they were made with current trends in mind, like the use of currently popular artists. This feeling is carried throughout the album with “Rah Tah Tah,” “NOID,” “I Killed You” and “Balloon.” The experimental instrumentation was unusual, hurting their replayability. The lyrics and topics are strong but the beats behind the lyrics are alienating.
Rating: 3.8/5
