Chromakopia

About

As someone who invited fame and courted infamy, first with inflammatory albums like <i>Wolf</i> and later with his flamboyant fashion sense via GOLF WANG, Tyler Okonma is less knowable than most stars in the music world. While most celebrities of his caliber and notoriety either curate their public lives to near-plasticized extremes or become defined by tabloid exploit, the erstwhile Odd Futurian chiefly shares what he cares to via his art and the occasional yet ever-quotable interview. As his Tyler, The Creator albums pivoted away from persona-building and toward personal narrative, as on the acclaimed <i>IGOR</i> and <i>CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST</i>, his mystique grew grandiose, with the undesirable side effect of greater speculation. The impact of fan fixation plays no small part on <i>CHROMAKOPIA</i>, his seventh studio album and first in more than three year. Reacting to the weirdne, opening track “St. Chroma” finds Tyler literally whispering the details of his upbringing, while lead single “Noid” more directly rages against outsiders who overstep both online and offline. As on his prior effort, character work plays its part, particularly on “I Killed You” and the two-hander “Hey Jane.” Yet the veil between truth and fiction feels thinner than ever on family-oriented cuts like “Like Him” and “Tomorrow.” Lest things get too damn seriou, Tyler provocatively leans into sexual proclivities on “Judge Judy” and “Rah Tah Tah,” both of which should satisfy those who’ve been around since the <i>Goblin</i> day. When monologue no longer suit, he calls upon others in the greater hip-hop pantheon. GloRilla, Lil Wayne, and Sexyy Red all bring their star power to “Sticky,” a bombastic number that evolves into a Young Buck interpolation. A kindred spirit, it seem, Doechii does the most on “Balloon,” amplifying Tyler’s energy with her boisterous and profane bar. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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