On his seventh studio album, “Chromakopia,” the multi-hyphenate Tyler, the Creator pulls back the curtain. Across 14 tracks, the rapper born Tyler Okonma interrogates the anxieties that come with age and fame, intertwining them with his own wisdom and some that arrive via carefully-placed voice messages. Tyler is a jack of all trades excelling across industries in music, fashion and television.
Like his hero Pharrell Williams, Tyler is known for his unconventional fashion sense as the founder of luxury label’s Golf Wang and Golf le Fleur, along with his television work on the Adult Swim sketch comedy series “Loiter Squad.” He established his role as a counter cultural tastemaker and controversial rule breaker with his first mixtape, 2009's “Bastard," and continues to push the boundaries of music — it's no wonder his latest release continues to break barriers. “Chromakopia” starts off strong with “St.
Chroma” — an introduction to the new masked persona on the album's cover — with forceful military cadences in the background of both Tyler and R & B singer Daniel Caesar’s vocals. A reassuring woman's voice is heard at the beginning, “You are the light. It’s not on you.
It’s in you.” “I ain’t never had a doubt inside me,” he raps. “And if I ever told you that I did, I’m (expletive) lyin’.
” As a whole, the album “Chromakopia” represents the two-time Grammy-award winning artist as he delves into his 30s. In this new era, he seek.
