General Background:

“Chromokopia” is the seventh studio album by hip-hop artist Tyler, the Creator. It was released on Oct. 2 and contains 14 tracks with a runtime of 53 minutes. Notable featured artists include Daniel Caesar, Childish Gambino, Lil Wayne, Sexyy Red, ScHoolboy Q and Doechii.

How I Rated the Songs:

The review is a mix of first reactions and reflection on the songs after a couple listens. Songs are graded out of 10 on a decently arbitrary scale because every song in this album is high quality. If a track receives a low score, it doesn’t mean it’s unlistenable, it’s just subpar for the album.

All opinions are entirely subjective and there are obviously spoilers.

Tracklist: 

1. St. Chroma (feat. Daniel Caesar)

The track—the first promotion for the album— starts with an uplifting message from Tyler’s mother which was a nice sentiment. It then transitions into a chant of “Chromakopia” over marching with Tyler rapping in a whisper. It’s theatrical and works surprisingly well. Daniel Caesar’s background vocals sound angelic. The song then transitions to a dark beat, which Tyler’s rapping compliments nicely, ending with a choral interlude. I quite like the song, although I doubt I will revisit it often.

Rating: 8.5/10

2. Rah Tah Tah

The track has an insane-sounding trap beat with a wild flow. I have no idea how the strange background percussion notes were made but I like them. Tyler isn’t really saying much other than bragging about his cars but it’s entertaining. He references his former collective Odd Future in an acapella section at the end, which was a nice touch. “Rah Tah Tah” is a fun song if you don’t take it too seriously.

Rating: 9/10 – Added to playlist

3. Noid

Previously released as a single, “Noid” is an interesting and eclectic song that features a prominent sample of the song “Nizakupanga Ngozi” by Zambian artist Ngozi Family. It also has Tyler’s trademark vocal harmonies and pitched-up voice. The subject matter deals with Tyler’s fear of intrusive fans and paranoia about his safety due to his celebrity. It’s a compelling narrative as Tyler’s voice reflects his increasing fear throughout the song. I don’t love Tyler’s high-pitched rapping, though. It hurts the impact of the song by the end because it slightly trivializes the subject matter.

Rating: 8.5/10 – Added to playlist

4.   Darling, I (feat. Teezo Touchdown)

This song is pretty good. Teezo Touchdown’s voice sounds cheesy to me for some reason, so his singing ad-libs don’t do it. I like Tyler’s rapping and the refrain of “Darling, I keep falling in love.” It would’ve improved the song if the singing was more consistent like that, but that might be a nitpick. My opinion of this song has definitely improved since first listening to it. I think it could have been optimized, but the track gets better each time I hear it.

Rating: 8/10 – Added to playlist

5. Hey Jane

I was not expecting this song. Written in the form of a letter, Tyler addresses a sexual partner who he learns he had an unplanned pregnancy with. It’s a compelling and raw narrative that discusses the intricate realities of love and family with someone who he hadn’t fully gone through the processes of love with. The second part of the song is a response to Tyler from Jane. She offers to leave his life and raise the child alone as both of their moms did. This is a great song that provides commentary on the dynamics of unexpected pregnancy and the social expectations around it.

Rating: 9.5/10

6. I Killed You (feat. Childish Gambino)

The sentiment of the song is solid with Tyler discussing survival and cutting off toxic relationships. I just don’t like the production. It seems a little childish and the mariachi elements are out of place. It grew on me by the end but the track isn’t a highlight for me. I think that the vulgarity of the song clashes with the production. Childish Gambino’s feature doesn’t add much other than harmonies.

Rating: 6/10

7. Judge Judy

This song is weird. It’s about accepting a partner as they are without criticizing their actions in life which is a good message, but did he really need to be so explicit with it? I truly could’ve gone without knowing the sexual preferences of Judy. The song is just too graphic to broadcast the message well. It makes it nearly unlistenable. However, I do appreciate the callback to “Dogtooth”, an earlier song by Tyler. The end seems to hint at a tragic ending for Judy, and is a shift from the earlier sentiment.

Rating: 5/10

8. Sticky (feat. GloRilla, Lil Wayne, and Sexyy Red)

Give me these four minutes of my life back and put on an older Tyler song. The acapella section at the beginning is jarring and off-putting and the production coming in does nothing. “Sticky” is a strange and unnecessary song. Glorilla sounds fine, but her lyrics don’t do anything to help the song. Sexyy Red was physically fighting the idea of staying on beat — just stop giving her features — and the only coherent-sounding artists are Lil Wayne and Tyler in the final verse.

Rating: 3/10

9. Take Your Mask Off (feat. Daniel Caesar and LaToiya Williams)

Now this is peak Tyler, the Creator. I can’t express how much better this song is from the previous ones but I’m going to try. Let’s start with the amazing production. The piano and soft drums are great touches. I love the background harmonies and the refrains throughout the song. The message of the song discusses people from a rich upbringing who portray a gang lifestyle and argues that they minimize the struggle of those who grew up poor. It also touches on homophobia and gender roles. A great listen.

Note from a few days later: I realized that this song is partially about Tyler himself. It’s a great and subversive message that speaks to his ability to be self-reflective about his previous homophobia and controversial actions.

Rating: 10/10 – Added to playlist

10. Tomorrow

There’s not much here but it’s a fun song. I like the production as usual and Tyler’s singing works well. It’s a solid track with a message of moving on but making sure you prepare for what’s next.

Rating: 7/10

11. Thought I Was Dead (feat. ScHoolboy Q and Santigold)

This song is straight fun with engaging percussion and an impressive verse from ScHoolboy Q. It notably has a West Coast style of percussion and trumpet interjections from the background. Lyrically, there’s not much there but that’s ok. I thoroughly enjoyed this song.

Rating: 9/10 –Added to playlist

12. Like Him (feat. Lola Young)

I surprisingly enjoyed this song, which is predominantly singing based. It talks about Tyler’s struggle to grow up without knowing his father and mentions the consistent comparisons to him. It’s introspective and personally fascinating to see the perspective Tyler has on it. The song is quite pretty and is split into two halves by a random Baby Keem ad-lib, who I wish had a real role in the song.

Rating: 9/10

13. Balloon (feat. Doechii)

I like this song but the beat contains a weird sample that sounds like Mario Kart. It throws off the reflective aspect of the track. Doechii sounds pretty good but it’s not that memorable for me. It has the overly vulgar parts that plague other songs from the album.

Rating: 6/10

14. I Hope You Find Your Way Home

It wraps up the album decently well and explains the mentality behind Hey Jane. I think the album feels a little incomplete though. The character of Jane was compelling and she should’ve more heavily featured other than her two songs. This track sounds gorgeous in its production and I don’t mind the instrumental ending.

Rating: 8/10

Final Thoughts:

This is a great album. I sometimes felt like I was trying to find anything to criticize about a certain song because it was incredibly high quality. The production is consistently unique and the lyrics contain a good mix of introspection and brashness. Personally, the explicitness of some of the lyrics was off putting at times but overall did not ruin much of the work. I would definitely recommend this album.

Standouts from the album include:

• “Rah Tah Tah”
• “Hey Jane”
• “Take Off Your Mask”
• “Thought I Was Dead”

I didn’t love:

• “Judge Judy”
• “Sticky”