NEW MUSIC ALERT: Chromakopia by Tyler, The Creator

CHROMAKOPIA. CHROMAKOPIA.

I fell in love with Tyler, The Creator’s music when I first listened to Igor. And Igor is sensational, with the way it deals with the themes. In the last 20 years, rap has changed a lot. The genre deals feels like self medication on Jung. At least in the last decade, we have seen so many albums, that felt like exploration of the artist’s psyche. So, when I first listened to Igor, as a queer person, I felt accepted through the chaos that the record offered.

One more thing about Tyler is his consistency. And Chromakopia lives up to this. Tyler has more to offer about his own life, a slice of his own personality, as he grapples through a bigger form of stardom. St Chroma is the character which acts as a motif for this paranoia.

The album weaves its narrative like Arachne, with St Chroma playing the wrathful Athena subjecting her to the torment of hanging like a spider (or in this case, living through constant paranoia and blinding spotlights). Of course, we must talk about the single Noid. It is almost perfection. It samples the cult Zambian band Ngozi Family. And I can argue the same with every single track off this record, each one of them tightly knit with a seamless production style.

Throughout the album, Tyler’s mother Bonita Smith’s voice is heard, as she gives her son Tyler, advice about how “people are out there to trap her”. But it is also intermixed with Tyler’s very confusion about his own sexuality and his constantly switching between machismo and vulnerability.

The production on this one is rigid, but has enough space for the listener to breathe. One of my favourite track on this is Like Him, which is a smooth soul track about Tyler trying to come to terms with the absence of his father.

Being Tyler is not easy, you need to live up to the wild expectations of really good albums back to back. But he does it once again. CHROMAKOPIA is awesome. Just letting you know that.

FINAL VERDICT: Distinction

ON THE RADAR:

These are other records I have caught up during the same week.

Sub Rosa in Aeturnum-Tribulations (Heavy Metal):-

Honestly, I have never heard of this band before, but they got a great voice. Besides, the guitar work on this one goes handy (FIRST CLASS)

Virtual Dreams II- Ambient Explorations in the House and Techno Age,Japan 1993-1999- Various Artists(Ambient):-

Recommended for studying and record hunting. (PASS)