From the strange mind of an even stranger man, Tyler, the Creator’s latest, Chromakopia is another serviceable album that gives listeners plenty to chow down and ruminate on. Chromakopia comes with grand expectations upon release as a follow up to Tyler’s recent albums which faced significant criticism. The hype built up for the album by the opening song, “St. Chroma” sent shockwaves through the music community like the heavy footsteps that accompanied the song itself. However, though Chromakopia has potential, it ends up being your typical Tyler, the Creator album.
The album starts out fast, but loses steam over time. The first two tracks, “St. Chroma” and “Rah Tah Tah” serve as a potent one-two punch of eeriness and oddity that seemingly was only the start of more to come just like it. However, the album starts to become slightly disappointing at the arrival of the third track “Darling, I.”
While “Darling, I” is satisfactory, it breaks away from the dark and eerie journey many listeners expect. By no means is it and the following track “Hey Jane” bad songs, but don’t reach for the same feeling of unearthlyness established by the first three tracks. While “I Killed You” briefly offers a glimmer of hope that the album will ultimately take that turn down the dark path, the rest of the album ultimately doesn’t follow through.
By the back half of the Chromakopia, it has transitioned into any other Tyler, the Creator album. There’s nothing in tracks such as “Sticky” and “Balloon” that you cannot find in his past works. Though Chromakopia is worth it as a listen, don’t expect to be wowed by an evolved sound. What should be expected instead is standard Tyler, the Creator flare with some hints of evolution tucked away in the tracks.