‘CHROMAKOPIA’: How Tyler, The Creator Unmasks His Facades

Written by Ashlyn Sorrells

Graphic by Mikayla Buneta

As Tyler, The Creator's CHROMAKOPIA: WORLD TOUR has kicked off, many of us are excessively streaming his latest album, “CHROMAKOPIA.” Whether that be to learn as many lyrics as we possibly can before an upcoming show, or relish in the long-awaited release, it is almost impossible not to reflect on the complexity of his album.  

Throughout the years, Tyler’s music career has seen vast differences within each of his albums, aside from one single feature, each portrays a new character. In his first three studio albums, Tyler became “Wolf Haley.” “Cherry Bomb” features a character called “Chur Bum,” however he is more of a mascot rather than an alter-ego. In “Flower Boy,” Tyler refers to himself as “Flower Boy,” — a softer, less defiant character compared to “Wolf Haley.” “Igor” is embodied in the album “IGOR.” In “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST,” as well as “The Estate Sale,” Tyler becomes “Tyler Baudelaire.” 

Unlike all albums before “CHROMAKOPIA,” Tyler plays both “St.Chroma,” the character he becomes when wearing the mask pictured on his album cover, as well as a part of himself, reintroducing who he is as a person to his listeners. It is suggested that the mask Tyler wears acts as a mediator; many of the stories told in “CHROMAKOPIA" were so vulnerable he felt he needed to wear a mask in order to tell them. Throughout the album, we see recurring contrasts within Tyler’s attitude and tone during each song, which may allude to him switching between wearing his mask and taking it off. The album begins with the introduction of his newest persona, “St. Chroma.”

The track “St. Chroma” begins with a message from Tyler’s mother, Bonita Smith, telling him never to “dim your light for nobody,” followed by aggressive whispering from Tyler, or more so “St. Chroma,” proclaiming his wealth and success. Similarly to “Rah Tah Tah,” loaded with flaunty lines cleverly disguised, as well as portions of “Sticky,” Tyler is excessively parading his achievements which may not come from a genuine place, but instead being used to cover his own insecurities and vulnerabilities. 

We hear anecdotes from his mother many times throughout the album, creating an idea that this album reviews life lessons and advice Tyler either followed or ignored. She appears at the beginning of “Darling, I,” telling him to never tell a woman he loves her if he does not mean it. The lyrics, “Darling, I keep (keep falling in love),” follows Smith’s message, hinting that he did not take her advice. Another time when we hear Smith is during the intro of “Hey Jane,” which is followed by lyrics immediately showing us that Tyler, once again, ignored his mother’s wise words. “Tomorrow” intros with Smith, this time without advice but rather her pushing Tyler to start a family, followed by him lyricising his anxieties about time passing.

The lyrics of “Tomorrow” are accompanied by soft guitar strums and piano keys, setting the tone of this song. Tyler reflects on both his and his mother’s aging with “my mother’s hands dont look the same/these jet black strands are turning grey,” further indicating his awareness of time passing by. Tyler also notes that his friends have begun families and share photos of their memories to him, while all he has is “photos of my ‘Rari and some silly suits.” He questions if this phase in his life will ever pass, which follows the track, “Darling, I,” suggesting that he is constantly searching for a new partner and that, “monogamy, that is not for me.” He also uses his numerous cars as a loose metaphor for the people he has relationships with, explaining that everyone has different attributes and qualities he can benefit from, furthering his distaste for a monogamous relationship. In “Rah Tah Tah,” Tyler exposes another reason as to why he may feel apprehensive in romantic relationships. He raps “Never tell those men or those women where you breathe at,” conveying the idea that he is hesitant in relationships due to feeling a lack of trust within them. 

Along the same tone, “Noid,” shares his constant paranoia of being followed by fans. In this track, he expresses his struggle to find balance between maintaining connection with fans, while also preserving his private life. Lines like, “No cameras out, please, I wanna eat in peace,” indicates Tyler is unable to partake in mundane activities without potentially being approached by fans. He battles with feeling a lack of privacy in his daily life, and this song seems to be a plea for normalcy. 

In “Noid,” he includes a sample of Ngozi Family’s “Nizakupanga Ngozi,” which seems to be an embrace of his African heritage. The meaning of this sample’s lyrics is that we should remain respectful to ourselves and others, while also understanding that sometimes ‘they’ don’t want to talk, which further expresses the meaning of his song. We also see another instance where Tyler is delving into his African roots, and more so his experience as a Black man, during “I Killed You." The entire premise of this track is to reflect on social normalities around black identity through the discussion of “killing” Black hair. Lines like, “your natural state is threatening to the point that I point at myself and self esteem I killed you,” and “feel ashamed so we straighten you out without a doubt I killed you,” both exemplify the experiences that many Black people have in regard to their hair type. He grapples with these feelings throughout the track, but ends with, “...this is my crown…/you’re so beautiful,” alluding to finding security in his identity as a Black man, and specifically with his Black hair. This is further supported by "CHROMAKOPIA” being the first album cover that pictures his natural hair. 

The last few tracks round out the album well. In track nine, “Take Your Mask Off,” Tyler uses examples of various characters who are trying to become someone they are not to shed light on our battles with finding our own self-image. He turns this criticism onto himself, while recognizing that his testing of different characters was possibly to cover up self-doubt. The song ends with “And I hope you find yourself (2x)/And I hope you take your mask off.” Track 13, “Balloon,” emphatically shows Tyler as his true self without regret or hesitation, which is a perfect song to help close out the album. After reviewing many of his insecurities and struggles throughout early-adulthood, he feels ‘weightless,’ hence the title of this song. In “I Hope You Find Your Way Home,” the last song of the album, Tyler revisits the life obstacles he took us through with a more confident stance on them, showing that he has grown and evolved. The final portion of this song ends with one last memo from his mother, verbalizing how enamored she is with Tyler and how proud she is of him. Even though he has yet to find his way, he hopes that this album aids in you, the listener, in finding yours.