With Tyler, The Creator’s world tour treading through Boston in July, some may need a second opinion on whether or not they should consider spending the $140 for a concert ticket.

CHROMAKOPIA is a very different album and will be featured prominently in his upcoming shows.

“”CHROMAKOPIA” can’t really compare to other hip hop/rap albums just because it’s so experimental,” said Triton senior Aiden Moriarty, a regular Tyler listener. 

Tyler, the Creator’s “CHROMAKOPIA” differs intensely from his previous seven albums as Tyler explores a different approach to what fans have come to love. “CHROMAKOPIA” starts off with “St. Chroma”, With the words of Tyler’s mother telling him “you are the light, it’s not on you, it’s in you.” Her words haunt near every track, and makes her influence over Tyler known with advice and confessions of what she means to Tyler.

This is immediately followed by the loud marching of Tyler’s different personalities as they stomp along to the words “I promise I’m gonna make it out.” This crash into reality sets the tone for the album, as Tyler is done running from himself as he comes to confront what he has made himself to be. These messages are backed by Daniel Caesars incredible orchestral performance asking “Can you feel the light inside?/Can you feel that fire?” as the song switches to a much more moody and aggressive “Rah Tah Tah”

“Rah Tah Tah” is a step into familiarity that Tyler’s fans have come to expect from him, with him boasting with a proud attitude “I could never ride no hellcat, s*** don’t cost enough/20 thousand on me/100 thousand on me”. This is followed by “Noid”, a track that dives into Tyler being afraid of the fame that he’s gathered, worried about what the media and public will dig up on him next “satellites, screenshots, paparazzi, NDAs/privacy? Yeah right, I got a better shot in the NBA”. 

One of the largest themes in “CHROMAKOPIA” is that of fatherhood. Tyler’s father was absent for his entire life, leading Tyler to develop a deep hatred for him. This can be seen riddled throughout Tyler’s previous discography and has been a vendetta pursued by Tyler for his entire professional career.

“CHROMAKOPIA” explores this topic on “Like Him” where Tyler comes to the realization that after the a pregnancy scare talked previously on “Hey Jane”, and his mothers tearful confession that his father really did want to be part of his life, he has essentially become the very thing he had sworn to destroy for so many years. He fears that if he becomes a father, he will end up following the same path as his father because he is not ready or fit to be one. This experience is very personal to Tyler, which adds so much more impact when you realize he is confiding these personal experiences with the public that he had stated he feared.

A confession like this is also very humbling as Tyler acknowledges, as he now has to decide if he should keep hating his father knowing that he had the right intentions in mind. He relays how the hatred towards his father has turned into nothing on “Like him” where he melodies “Mama, I’m chasing a ghost, I don’t know who he is,”.

What we had to say:

Adam: Personally, I think “CHROMAKOPIA” is a solid album when it comes to storytelling, but there is not much else I enjoy. None of the songs besides “St. Chroma” and “Like Him” really boasts any replay-ability, something Tyler’s songs have had an effect on me for his past albums like “Flower Boy” and “Call Me if You Get Lost”. 

The storytelling is phenomenal, delving into how Tyler has put himself in a position he fears as it resembles that of his absentee father, as well as how he has dealt with fame. Unfortunately, the storytelling comes at the expense of playlist worthy songs. An example of a storytelling album that succeeds in both standalone songs and story is Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN.”. It brags a complete story of Kendrick’s life growing up in the projects whilst also featuring some of hip hop’s greatest and most influential standalone tracks like “DNA” and “HUMBLE”.

 One thing I will really praise Tyler for is his usage of orchestra within these tracks. This is a big reason the previous tracks I listed have such an impact on me, and I think it was executed really well and in good taste. On “St. Chroma”, the orchestra is absolutely incredible, as well as “like him”. 

The orchestra used in these tracks really helps convey the emotions Tyler is trying to push upon the listener in this album and really helps them to understand not only what Tyler is going through, but how it makes him feel. I enjoyed listening to “CHROMAKOPIA“, but I doubt I will revisit it any time soon.

Beckham: When I listened to the album I had a lot of mixed feelings. The first song, “St. Chroma,” was a huge hit for me. The melody felt out of this world and his lyrics matched it perfectly. Daniel Caesar is featured on it and his voice was angelic at his parts. His tone perfectly fit in with the beat which made it ten times better. I would put this song in my top 5 any time.

 Listening to “St. Chroma” gave me such high hopes for the rest of the album but it really drops off from there on. Tyler’s next song “Rah Tah Tah” has a decent beat but the tone of his lyrics just don’t match the melody. From then on I listened to the whole rest of the album without adding another song to one of my playlists. Some of his features played a decent part in his songs like Teezo Touchdown in “Darling, I”. His background singing in it was good but the lyrics are repetitive and Tyler’s lyrics don’t match the melody again so it takes away from Touchdown’s performance.

Taken together, the Triton Voice feels”CHROMAKOPIA” is a solid album, but falls into forgetfulness with too many throw-away songs. Other than the main story covered previously, the album really has few redeeming moments. The additional songs either have shallow stories, or just straight up bad songs like “Balloon”. If “CHROMAKOPIA” had eight fewer songs, it would surely go down as album of the year. Unfortunately, the album simply cannot compete with the rest of hip hop/rap, especially with Kendrick Lamar dropping his sixth studio album “GNX” only weeks after to much better reception than Tyler’s. Although this album fell a little flat to some, Tyler should still be commended for his effort to try a new style and where he succeeded in the process.