Exonian Review: Chromakopia, Tyler The Creator

By JILLIAN CHENG and LOGAN LIU

St. Chroma 9/10

Saint Chroma is Tyler’s main alter ego of this album, opposed to Igor from his 2019 album titled Igor. “Can you feel the light inside, can you feel that fire?” St. Chroma asks. Light seems to represent Tyler’s creativity, blooming within him. Daniel Caesar is featured on the track, and his voice blends beautifully with Tyler and the underlying piano. Additionally, his mother, who is featured often in the album, has a few encouraging words to share: “Don’t you ever stop being who you are / And dimmin’ your light for none of these ***** out here.” St. Chroma is currently the most popular track of the album, and personally uplifts me when I’m feeling uninspired. 

Rah Tah Tah 6/10

Rah Tah Tah is a 180 from St. Chroma, seeming to be more of a hype track. “She ain’t never met no one who talk like that / And if you hang up on a ***, **** call right back,” Tyler proclaims in an aggressive rap. It’s rumbling, noisy, and chaotic, with bells, snaps, and squeals all clashing. The message of the song feels a bit flat,

Noid 8/10

Noid, short for paranoid, features Tyler’s usual drums and siren sounds. “Someone’s keepin’ watch / I feel them on my shoulder,” Tyler sings. This song covers his character St. Chroma’s literal paranoia. He keeps looking behind his shoulder, thinking the police are after him or his “neighbors want me dead.” I think this paranoia is an interesting parallel between Tyler’s actual paranoia of creepy fans, and I think these habits and compulsive thoughts described in the songs are accurate to his real life feelings. 

I loved the beat and the overall vibe of this song. The ball never stopped rolling, and I especially enjoyed the transitions from hard-core rapping to a gentler singing. 

Darling, I 8/10

Tyler’s falsetto flows throughout the song, wondering wistfully why he cannot commit to relationships. The song additionally echoes the continuous theme throughout the album of sexuality. He questions monogamy, asking “how can I get everything from one person?” He also wonders whether his love for music is enough to keep him fulfilled, saying “nobody can fulfill me like this music ***** does  / So i’ll be lonely with these Grammys when it’s all said and done.” This song was like a throwback to Igor for me. 

Hey Jane 6/10

By this point, I noticed a pattern of a voice clip of Tyler’s mother preaching a general theme of the song. In Hey Jane, that voice note is “Always, always, always, wear a condom.” The song is centered around Tyler and a new character Jane, whom he accidentally impregnates. I thought it was interesting Tyler’s verses represent both characters: Tyler, lamenting his own recklessness, and Jane, fearing that she may never have children again and deciding to keep the child. I thought the contrasting values of family between the two characters was captivating. I also thought the themes of pressure and decision-making was interesting in terms of abortion. Hey Jane is also an abortion organization, so I additionally wondered why the song was titled “Hey Jane” when Jane did not actually receive an abortion. 

Overall, the instrumental itself is pretty boring, but the story drives the song along. 

I Killed You 6/10

“If they see you on top of me, I gotta leave / **** I killed you / Your natural state is threatening / To the point that I point at myself and self-esteem.” When I first heard these lyrics, I wasn’t really sure what Tyler was talking about. I thought, a girl? An animal? A monster? I didn’t expect Tyler to be talking about the relationship between Black people and their natural hair. In “I Killed You,” “You” is really a personification of the tangles, curls, and beauty of Black peoples’ hair. I loved Tyler’s commentary on the need that many Black people feel to suppress their waves with heat and his disappointment when many end up damaging their natural hair. The song ends with a heartfelt message to all the natural curls of the world: “You’re so beautiful.”

I loved the addicting drums and the melody of the backing track, but it could get repetitive at times. Also, the “round and round” singing clip became annoying for me. 

Judge Judy 4/10

This song had more of a chill vibe. Tyler’s voice slid through the song like butter, recounting a tale of a one night stand and how it helped him explore his sexuality. The message of the song was pretty simple, the beat was slow. A great song to have in the background, but I found the melody very repetitive. 

Sticky 8/10

I liked this a lot. It was an enjoyable listen, and, more importantly, fun, and incredibly hype. The features, along with Tyler’s chorus, made for a great song. I found this to be one of Sexxy Red’s better features. GloRilla and Lil Wayne had great features that meshed well with Tyler’s background vocals, and the beat was on point. I think my heart rate when I first heard Sexxy Red’s iconic “It’s Sexxy!”

Take Your Mask Off 7/10

A good mix of narration and music. It is quite frankly not that dissimilar from some of the other songs on the album, but the song definitely felt like one of the highlights on the album. Tyler performs well before and after the beat switch and the background vocals work well.

Tomorrow 5.5/10

“My mother’s hands don’t look the same,” Tyler sings. The song spills Tyler’s true feelings of his age and “worry[ing] ‘bout tomorrow.”  He expresses his fear in growing old, his commitment in relationships and settling down, and his aversion to children. He seems hyper aware to his lack of lack of a parter and children and continuously questions himself whether he should or shouldn’t pursue a family. However, Tyler knows he’s running out of time. 

This felt like some of Tyler’s better rapping on the album. His bars are on point, albeit making up a small part of the song. It feels like a song that is part of an album, but not necessarily one that is strong by itself.

Thought I Was Dead 6/10

ScHoolboy Q doesn’t have the same intensity that, I feel, usually sets him apart. This feature should have, for me, been one of the highlights of the album, but I felt like it was a bit disappointing. Tyler’s verse in the second half of the song really carries it, but I found the chorus to be a little bit repetitive and annoying.

Like Him 6/10

“Mama, I’m chasing a ghost / I don’t know who he is.”

Tyler’s father left him in his early childhood, and ever since then he has not had a full grasp on his character. For a long time, Tyler believed that his father refused to contact him, but really his mother had been keeping the father away from Tyler, believing it was best for him. 

“Like Him” explores Tyler’s relationship between his father, or as he puts it, a ghost. Tyler has no memories of his father, so he doesn’t particularly miss him, asking “how could I ever miss something that I’ve never had?” However, at the same time, he craves a relationship and can only find one by asking his mother of the similarities between him and his father.  In the chorus of the song, Tyler asks, “do I look like him?”

This is definitely one of Tyler’s more emotional songs on the album. It feels like a personal opinion, but I was not that much of a fan of the vocal-only song. It’s a solid listen, but not one of the stronger songs on the album.

Balloon 4.5/10

I wasn’t totally sure how to feel about this song. It was my first time listening to Doechii and I was intrigued. Her lyrics were funny (if a bit crude) but it wasn’t a great listen for me. It definitely wouldn’t be a song I would go out of my way to listen to. 

I Hope You Find Your Way Home  5/10

This felt like pretty average verse from Tyler, but nothing exceptional. It was definitely intended as an outro, and did its job as one.