Chromakopia: Tyler The Creator’s New Noir Phase
Growing up is no small feat: Los Angeles rapper Tyler The Creator uses a new horror-inspired persona to share his experiences of turning thirty
Tyler The Creator – Chromakopia’s Release Date and Halloween Appeal
Before we even hear a single note, Tyler The Creator’s latest album, Chromakopia, makes a striking impression by releasing on Monday, October 28, instead of the usual industry standard Friday. This choice alone sets his seventh album (eighth if we count his debut mixtape, Bastard) apart from the crowd.
This is no coincidence. The entire visual concept of the album seems centered around Halloween. The sepia-tone of the videos, the eerie mask Tyler wears, and the greenish hues of the graphics all evoke a Frankenstein-like world. Even the spiked hairstyle he’s created for this new persona brings to mind the bride of Frankenstein from the iconic 1931 film. Waiting until Friday, November 1, would simply have been too late—by the day after Halloween, Americans are already thinking about Christmas.
Tyler The Creator vs. New Music Friday
Beyond conceptual reasons, there’s also a personal vendetta at play here. Tyler Okonma (his real name) has been railing for years against the 2015 shift that led the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry to move global album releases from Tuesdays to Fridays. In a 2023 interview with Nardwuar the Human Serviette (a journalist-turned-comic book character), Tyler expressed his frustration with New Music Friday. “I think we should go back to releasing music on Tuesdays instead of Fridays,” he said. “Don’t you think? People assume weekend releases boost streams, but it’s passive listening, at parties or the gym. They’re not really listening.”
The Monday Release Decision for Chromakopia
Moreover, Tyler finds the standard midnight release “disrespectful,” both to the artist and to those who’ve worked all day and would rather sleep than stay up with a fear of missing out. So Chromakopia arrived on a Monday at 6 a.m. Pacific Time. “This way, people can listen to it on their way to work or school. That’s when real people actually listen to music.”
“St. Chroma” as the Album’s Manifesto
The result? He’s got a point. A devoted, focused listen doesn’t belong to the weekend. By releasing on a Monday, Chromakopia fully displays its eccentric splendor—a darker vision than its predecessor, Call Me If You Get Lost (2021). The first single, St. Chroma, which dropped with a music video a few days earlier, doubles as an album manifesto.
A Tribute to Chroma the Great and the Symbolism of Chromakopia
The driving rhythm of St. Chroma is punctuated by the sound of soldiers’ heavy boots marching on asphalt, a painfully clear allusion to war, an omnipresent specter in these post-pandemic years. Tyler’s voice, however, is hushed, as though something is holding him back from shouting epic lines like, “Give a fuck about traditions / Stop impressing the dead.” These verses are whispered instead of roared.
The true highlight is Tyler’s new character. Dressed in an aviator uniform, likely crafted by Louis Vuitton under the hand of his friend and mentor Pharrell, St. Chroma leads a slow-moving march of men into a container emblazoned with Chromakopia. Once everyone has entered, he slams the container door shut. A second later, someone sets off a detonator, blowing the huge metal box sky-high. At the precise moment of the explosion, the sepia world bursts into color.
The leading theory suggests that St. Chroma pays homage to Chroma the Great, a character in Norton Juster’s 1961 children’s book The Phantom Tollbooth. In this fantastical story, young Milo receives a miniature tollbooth that transports him to the Kingdom of Wisdom, where he meets various characters who impart life lessons through their gifts. Chroma the conductor, however, doesn’t give him anything material. Instead, he entrusts him with a responsibility: Milo must wake him in time for sunrise, as Chroma’s role is to create each day’s colors with his magical orchestra.
Tyler The Creator’s Musical Evolution in Chromakopia
Breaking down Chromakopia further, the word appears to be a blend of “Chroma” and “Cornucopia.” In music, “chroma” represents an eighth note, and in visual art, it refers to saturation or vividness of color. The cornucopia, on the other hand, is the classic symbol of abundance. Like a sunrise at the start of the album, Tyler conjures up a Chromakopia—a wealth of colors, emerging from a black-and-white world.
And as it happens, the classic chroma key used in film production is green, a contrasting color often used for green screens. In Tyler’s world, green also opposes pink, a hue featured in many of his past characters or albums, like Igor. So, is Chroma meant to be a villainous counterpart to his predecessors? Perhaps not a villain, but the contrast is undeniable.
What sets Chromakopia apart is its seamless flow, with songs written and arranged with meticulous care. Tracks often segue into each other as a continuous story. For instance, the second track, Rah Tah Tah, ends with Tyler chanting, “I’m paranoid now ‘cause n****s weird and really bums,” which leads straight into Noid, a track with paranoia both in title and theme, echoing the sound of the legendary Paranoid album by Black Sabbath. The beauty of these works lies in the details, the subtle references, and hidden meanings like Easter eggs.
Pharrell and the Neptunes’ Influence on Chromakopia
The album is unmistakably Tyler’s creation, laden with nostalgic synths and Rhodes piano that carry a jazzy flavor, often accented by melancholic seventh chords. There’s also an R&B style that feels aligned with the sounds Pharrell and the Neptunes pioneered 15-20 years ago. Take Darling I, for instance. It’s no wonder that in 2016, for Pharrell’s In My Mind ten-year anniversary, Tyler shared a heartfelt tribute on social media, crediting the album as life-changing and hailing Pharrell as the father figure he never had. No small praise.
The Lyrics of Chromakopia: Maturity and Nostalgia
Lyrically, Tyler covers a spectrum from existential dilemmas of adulthood to classic throwbacks to his mischievous younger self (a must when you have a track named Sticky featuring GloRilla, Sexxy Red, and Lil Wayne). As a millennial born in 1990, raised on Odd Future records, Frank Ocean’s music, and the absurdist sketches of Loiter Squad, it’s comforting to find Tyler navigating this same territory. We’re both wrestling with this inner conflict between adulthood and the wild spirit of our twenties. Each of us, in our own way, wonders who to prioritize, fearing that choosing one means losing the other. Like Tyler, I’m trying to keep my twenties’ spirit alive while embracing healthier habits for my thirties. Here’s hoping it works.
Tyler The Creator and the Meaning of Growing Up in Los Angeles
“Born and raised in LA. Inglewood, Hawthorne to be exact,” our hero said on Monday at his $5-per-ticket listening party at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. “This album is, at first, about growing up in those neighborhoods. I thought, ‘Damn, nobody knew anything about me before I was seventeen. People think I’m from the suburbs, but I was right here.’ I don’t match what they expect. But then the album became this realization of what my mom used to tell me as a kid. Now that I’m thirty-three, I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s what the hell she was talking about! I’m not who I was at twenty. People are getting older, starting families. Meanwhile, I bought a new Ferrari, and it feels kinda weird. I’m putting on weight, I’ve got gray chest hair. Life is lifing.”
