Tyler, The Creator pushed out his first teaser for Chromakopia on Wednesday, October 16th, just 12 days before the album itself would become public on Monday, October 28th.
“I love Chromakopia so much. I also love the cover,” said Isabella Glinoga, a junior.
Its cover art features a black-and-white photo of Tyler as his alter-ego, St Chroma. This mask-wearing saint is depicted in Tyler’s multiple teasers.
“St Chroma, played by Tyler, is the only one not wearing a suit or all black,” said senior Drew Sheleheda about the first teaser for the album. “All of the other people look the same but with different hairstyles. That represents the hip hop and rap industry churning out people who are basically the same.”
Sheleheda went on to say, “Even with the different hair styles, they are still the same, walking the same, moving the same. And Tyler is conducting them. Then he has them all go into a shipping crate because they are just products. He blows the crate up. He is breaking down the industry and remaking it. In the other trailer, with the plane, he pulls specific people out of the line that are different. Everyone that conforms, everyone useless to him, gets blown up. He’s destroying the industry to save it.”
Tyler, The Creator knows how to hype his fans in more than one way. He sent trucks to many cities that carried what seemed to be the same containers he exploded with people inside. They were spotted in Tyler (the city in Texas), Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Columbus, Philadelphia, Roswell, Phoenix, Hawthorne (Tyler’s hometown), and Los Angeles.
“When he was doing the Chromakopia trucks around the country, that was insane,” NASH senior Maya Scott said. “And the listening party with Jaden Smith and the Kardashians was awesome, too. I think the whole thing, not just the album, is phenomenal.”
Chromakopia was released on a Monday, even though the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) declares the day of the week when music is released worldwide should be Friday.
“People that listen to him know that he doesn’t conform to any regular trend,” said Glinoga, “so him putting it out on a Monday is his norm of not following the norm.”
All of this made junior Jackson Wasielewski say, “I was so excited for Chromakopia. Tyler is my favorite artist, so I was super excited. I think it totally lived up to that. The songs are what I expected. And it’s great. It will definitely get better, too!”
It is safe to say that Chromakopia lived up to fans’ expectations. Mr. Schall, the NASH AP Psychology and American History teacher, said that it will most likely only go up from here.
“The Mere Exposure Effect suggests that the more that we encounter something, the more we like it, whether that’s a song, a person, a product, Schall said. “I think the album will gain even more traction. I think that even if people are a little bit hesitant, it will grow on them through more and more exposure.”
“There is also probably a little bit of conformity normative social influence in the mix,” he added. “If they hear that everyone is liking it, they are going to be compelled to like it just because that is what they are supposed to do. See Stanley water bottles.
But NASH is not unanimously positive about Chromakopia.
“It is a mid album. The first four songs are great, but the rest are lackluster,” Santino Scialabba said before adding. “‘However, ‘Take Your Mask Off’ is my favorite song in the album.”
Scialabba, in the end, returned to “I don’t think that any of the other songs in the second half were very good. Tyler isn’t typically very good at transitioning between songs, but I thought that they are at least adequate in the first half of the album. Still no Igor.”
Others, like senior Andrew Mura, really like the flow of the album.
“The transitions between songs are very very good,” Mura said. “I like them a lot, especially the transition from ‘Rah Tah Tah’ into ‘Noid.’”
While many of these songs can be viewed as stand alone hits, the album is certainly a single project meant to be listened to as a whole.
Glinoga said, “Tyler’s music is super diverse. Each of his albums are so different to each other and within themselves.”
Scott further bolstered this view.
“From the beginning with ‘St Chroma’ with his mother on the track to the transition from ‘Rah Tah Tah’ to ‘Noid’ to, my favorite, ‘Sticky’ with GloRilla, SexyyRad, and Lil Wayne, all of it is so diverse,” she said. “I like ‘Sticky’ even more because it has trumpets and different beats that he has never really done before. And then there’s “Balloon” and “Tomorrow,” just so different. They are actual slow songs.”
Scott went on to say, “You can hear where he wants to input different things and variety into his songs, which is actually amazing. The album itself is diverse and great.”
Sheleheda added, “I like ‘St Chroma’ a lot. It is the key piece of the album. I love how the marching is the rhythm of the song. ‘Rah Tah Tah’ is just very intense and rash, but I like that. There are some really good intense songs. ‘Thought I Was Dead’ is also really good too. It’s one of those brash sounding songs. ‘Darling, I’ and ‘Like Him’ are very tonally different from the rest, much more reflecting on his life.”
“When you hear Tyler talking to his mom through the songs, it is very introspective,” he continued. “That is very interesting. And it’s just calming, you know. ‘Balloon’ was really the only one that I didn’t like because I was just kinda weird. The notes used sounded very off, maybe jaunty”
Tyler, The Creator was able to do whatever he wanted with this album because he produced it himself. He also directed and starred in his teasers and music videos, so every minor detail is intentional and riddled with meaning.
“The fact that he produced it and directed his own videos, does matter, at the end of the day, because a lot of times, in the music industry, people try to screw you over to better themselves,” said Sheleheda, “but this shows everyone that he can do this himself, name a product people actually like, a lot, and they can too. You don’t need to rely on others to have success. He’s building up everything the way he wants it to.”
Ryder Boles, a NASH senior, agrees with this.
“Everything is better because Tyler is making it completely by himself,” Boles said. “I think it is 100% better. He is one of the more creative people in music right now. He does something different with every release, and this is no exception.”
A day before the official collaborations on the songs in Chromakopia were released, Wasielewski commented, “It’s one of the albums that you have to listen closely to understand a lot of the lyrics and nuances. “Sticky” has a lot of features. Tyler does blind features where, in a week or so, he will reveal who is on each song. Definitely Childish Gambino is on it, and just to say Frank Ocean is not on the album.”
He was correct.
Many fans’ thoughts have been directed toward who would be and who is on the album. As of Wednesday October 30th at midnight, the names of who Tyler has collaborated with is public. The list includes Daniel Caesar, Teezo Touchdown, GloRilla, Lil Wayne, Sexyy Red, LaToiya Williams, ScHoolboy, Santigold, Playboi Carti, Doechii, Willow, Jazmine Freeman, Laila S. Freeman, Donald Glover, Rex Orange County, Thundercat, Steve Lacy, and more.
“I did think that Kanye was going to be on it because of the White Ferrari in the video, but I guess not,” Scott said.
Fan theories, like the Frank Ocean one, continue to appear and demand attention. Boles heard a few and felt that they helped make Chromakopia more than just a music album.
“By itself, I think the album is great. I really think it is one of his better projects for sure,” he said. “I like the concept of the album and some of the fan theories, too. Especially the ones with this new alter ego of St Chroma. His character is basically spreading the color for the day via song.”
Boles elaborated, “That is why in the music videos, he is the only one not in all black and white. And then it shifts to color because he’s doing something to help that.”
Sheleheda specified, “The album wasn’t generationally impactful. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure if it has had the impact that he has wanted.”
Along with Schall’s explanation of the Mere Exposure Effect, Sheleheda continued, “If there is more time for people to listen and understand the lyrics, maybe, it could accomplish this better. We’ll see.”
Nevertheless, for now, though, Chromakopia has widely impressed the students and staff at NASH.
“I really like the first four songs, and the last four songs, and I like “Judge Judy,” and “Tomorrow,” senior Dan Hilbert said. “They are all pretty good.”
