Picture this: the year is 2007, and you’re a rambunctious seventeen-year-old kid from Los Angeles trying to find your place in the world. Cycling from school to school and job to job, you never seem to be able to fit in. In the midst of this, you find a safe place in music. Soon, you become completely obsessed with it and manage to surround yourself with other like-minded people. You even have ideas of fictional albums along with their tracklists; hell, maybe you have a shot to make them come to life. This is what happened to Tyler, the Creator, who just released Chromakopia on October 28, his eighth musical project in his career spanning over fifteen years. Tyler has constantly adapted to his surroundings and reinventing himself, which evolved him into a creative powerhouse. Chromakopia, in essence, is a culmination of his success that is only starting to take the world by storm.
Coming from an almost nomadic upbringing, Tyler, the Creator, born Tyler Okonma on March 6, 1991, found a permanent residence in Odd Future, a hip-hop collective he formed in 2007 with his peers. The group kicked off their run with their first mixtape The Odd Future Tape in November of 2008. One year later, Tyler dropped his debut, Bastard, which the music magazine Pitchfork deemed a “masterpiece of shock art.” His next release, Goblin, in 2011, as well as Odd Future’s The OF Tape Vol. 2, drew more attention to the up-and-coming rap collective. Tyler and Odd Future heavily relied on wild publicity stunts, violent lyrics, and general shock value, making their work appealing to celebrities like Rick Ross and Jay-Z. He would also try his hand at fashion, launching his clothing brand Golf Wang in 2011, and later teaming up with Supreme, Converse, and Louis Vuitton. Wolf in April of 2013 and Cherry Bomb in April of 2015 would see the first signs of musical maturity, but both albums received mixed reviews despite gaining a cult following. Here, Tyler began to collaborate with the likes of Kanye West, Lil Wayne, ScHoolboy Q, and Erykah Badu. Unfortunately, Odd Future had disbanded by 2016 and Tyler was now on his own. The years following saw Flower Boy in 2017, Igor in 2019, Call Me If You Get Lost in 2021, and the latter’s deluxe edition in 2023; all of which received excellent reception. All aforementioned albums were nominated for Grammys, with Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost receiving awards. Tyler would also announce his involvement in the upcoming A24 movie Marty Supreme in 2024, starring him, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Timothée Chalamet. In turn, these immense successes developed towards the production, release, and promotion of Chromakopia.
In October 2024, Tyler, the Creator posted three music videos in a span of less than two weeks on social media. Fans immediately latched onto them, assuming that something new was on the horizon. The next day, Tyler announced that an album titled Chromakopia would be released on Monday, October 28. In a 2023 interview with Nardwuar, he expressed that dropping music at the beginning of the week promotes deeper listening, stating that “[people have] that commute to work or school [or] that hour and thirty minutes to really dive in.” In tandem with online content, trucks carrying shipping containers promoting the album were spotted in cities around the country. Eventually, on October 28, Chromakopia was released on all streaming platforms. Despite having more intimate, down-to-earth subject matter compared to the unapologetic braggadocio fans were used to in his previous album, people loved it. It sold almost 300,000 copies in its first week, making it the biggest debut of his career.
“The album is heavily lyric-based, focusing less on making more complex beats to give the lyrics more attention. Cooper Fiske-Kneafsey ’26 said. “Lyrically, this is one of the best albums I’ve listened to.” Narration of Tyler’s past experiences by his mother, Bonita Smith, accentuated the diary-like aspect of the album. Oona Lyons ’26 commented: “Tyler’s mom’s monologues were odd at first to me, but they tie everything together in a really interesting way.” Embedded with Smith’s commentary, “Like Him” is an especially emotional track. The song depicts Tyler contemplating his resemblance to his resentful, absent father and his whereabouts, only for Smith to reveal that his absence was her fault all along.
Aerynne Cannan ’26 mentioned, “I love how most of the songs seamlessly transition into each other,” As an example, the aggressive, anthemic “Rah Tah Tah” transforms into “Noid,” a song that portrays the struggle for privacy as a celebrity over a simple drum beat filled with an urgent Zambian guitar sample. “Hey Jane,” from both Tyler and his partner’s perspectives, reflects on the couple’s unexpected pregnancy, the decision whether to keep or abort the baby, and their will to support each other through it. The rest of the magic, however, was in the features, all of which were hidden during the record’s debut. Daniel Caesar, Lil Wayne, Childish Gambino, Teezo Touchdown, Doechii, and GloRilla were only some of the many contributors. Chromakopia also featured many different blends of hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and soul music. “There’s a lot of different sounds and vibes, yet it’s still distinct and cohesive,” Lyons elaborates. Although he keeps seamlessly molding these genres into his own recognizable sound, Tyler hasn’t made much boundary-pushing music since his previous work. Standout tracks like “Darling, I,” “Take Your Mask Off,” and “Like Him” sound like they could fit into Wolf, Flower Boy, or Call Me If You Get Lost. Nonetheless, the reintroduction of old soundscapes creates a full-circle moment for him, emphasizing his long journey to the top of the charts. Chromakopia allows Tyler to reflect on his past, build momentum for future projects, and remake an old sound into something aesthetically new.
So, what’s next for Tyler, the Creator? Considering his unpredictable attitude, nobody knows. If anything, his next album might just be his last. Correspondingly, many fans are speculating that Chromakopia is his final album. Tyler himself has expressed his desire to take his foot off the gas, stating in 2023 that he wants to “add one more [final album] to [his] catalog,” according to an Amazon Music interview for his annual festival Camp Flog Gnaw. With an A24-produced movie in the works and numerous fashion collaborations with famous brands under his belt, we never know what direction Tyler will go next; whether it’s music, fashion, film, or any other wacky endeavor. But for now, we’ll just have to stick around and watch.
