Tyler Okonma, alternatively known as Tyler, the Creator, released his long-awaited album CHROMAKOPIA on October 28th, ending a three-year hiatus; the album followed 2021’s CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST (CMIGYL). The album depicts Tyler balancing bravado and self-doubt; the looming truth that he’s not getting any younger only adds to his turmoil.
The appeal of Tyler’s evolution as an artist has always been its symbiotic relationship with his maturity as an individual. His previous albums have grappled with the struggle of external perception and his desire to succeed without compromising his authenticity. More recent projects have also focused more closely on his relationships, using the objects of his attraction to represent a more general desire for validation. On the 2019 project IGOR’s “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” for example, he calls them “too cool,” claiming he “ ain’t trying to freeze up,” referring to the vulnerability of opening up. While IGOR confronts the futility of seeking love from someone who will never offer it and CMIGYL shifts to a place of self-assurance, CHROMAKOPIA illustrates Tyler finally receiving love and validation and asks, “What now?”
The grass has always been greener on the other side for Tyler, and this is even more true now that he’s hopped the fence from unrequited feelings to mutual ones. Despite IGOR’s gloomy tone, Tyler is exclusively dealing in hypotheticals throughout the album, reflected by tracks with names like “Running out of Time (to Make you Love me)” and “Exactly What you Run From, You end up Chasing.”
CHROMAKOPIA’s propensity for hindsight sharply contrasts his earlier release. His actions and their consequences are front and center, including in songs such as “Hey Jane,” where he considers the novel possibility of settling down with a woman he has gotten pregnant–a situation that requires true responsibility, and “I Killed You,” where neglecting aspects of his identity proves harmful to him.
Tracks such as “I Hope You Find Your Way Home,” “Thought I was Dead,” “Sticky,” and “Rah Tah Tah” feature Tyler boasting about his accomplishments and the distance he has traveled, physically and metaphorically, to reach his commercial and ideological success. However, unlike similar pieces on previous albums, these songs seem less like challenges of his detractors and more akin to desperate attempts to convince himself that what he’s saying is true.
Tyler’s grappling with time is a driving force throughout the album. It forces listeners to examine themselves under the same grungy green light featured prominently in the album’s music video and alternate cover. Tyler starts the track “Tomorrow” with the line “My mother’s hands don’t look the same… these jet black hairs are turning grey,” suggesting a fear of getting old. Tyler elaborates later in the song, saying “my brodie had another baby that’s like number 2… and all I got is photos of my ‘rari and some silly suits.”
While it might be tempting to claim the album or song’s subject matter excludes younger listeners from relating to it, the opposite is true. While not every listener is approaching middle age or watching their friends start families, the fear of letting life pass you by is one that spans generations.
