For the first stretch of his career, I didn’t think much of Tyler and wasn’t particularly impressed by his approach to creating shock value. However, I thought he deserved a lot of credit for maturing as an artist and changing with the times. Where lesser creatives would have dug in their heels and fought against being “canceled,” Tyler chose to evolve, and make songs that were more thoughtful and focused, while still keeping them edgy and abrasive. 

All of this is to say that I really loved 2017’s “Flower Boy,” one of the best albums of that year, and still one of my favorite albums ever. In fact, I think Tyler’s maturity is best exemplified in the title of that album; it was originally called “Scum Fuck Flower Boy,” but the name was changed during the promotional cycle. Sadly, “Flower Boy” remains the only truly great moment in his career. 

He followed it up with “Igor,” which was a vague suggestion of a concept album about incels. But this was just beginning to be a prominent subject at the time, and since there was very little to go off of, Tyler ended up saying nothing about it. So “Igor” was ahead of its time in a bad way, something I’ve never been able to say before. 

Concept albums are difficult to define, but you know them when you hear them. Going beyond a theme or a musical style, they often have some sort of narrative element, some abstract framing or idea. The consensus is that albums like “Animal Farm” and “Dark Side of the Moon” qualify as more notable examples. They’re more rare in Hip-Hop, with albums like “To Pimp a Butterfly and Madvillain” setting the standard. 

Despite being underwhelmed with most of his discography, I was excited when Tyler announced “Chromakopia” because I thought he was going to lock in and make the type of project I knew he was capable of. Something on the level of these aforementioned works. Instead, we got another “Igor,” another half-measure. It solidified my problem with Tyler’s music: I always like what he’s going for, but not what he’s actually doing. 

There are a plethora of examples of “Chromakopia.”

“Sticky” is pretty clearly the best track, and I think a four-person cypher with Lil Wayne over a marching band instrumental is a perfect idea for a song. But it doesn’t commit to itself, giving Wayne a brief cameo, and devoting half of its short runtime to terrible verses from Sexy Redd and Glorilla. 

“Hey Jane” is an incredibly touching song about pregnancy, and a couple debating whether they’re ready to raise a child. It’s the lyrical high point of the album, but paradoxically, it’s where it’s made the most clear that Tyler isn’t a particularly good lyricist. The observations he makes are all obvious, and not presented in any memorable or clever ways. 

“Balloon” is a more upbeat and surreal track, but the instrumental is over-seasoned with unnecessary samples, and Doechii’s verse is grating. Tyler lied about there being no features on this album, trying to play a little trick on us, but I wish he was telling the truth since most of the features here are just stupid.  

“Judge Judy” tells the story of Tyler hooking up with a woman who eventually dies from cancer. The central idea here is someone desperately grabbing onto a few moments of pleasure before they die, and that is a disturbingly tragic theme, almost literary in its intensity. But it comes out of left field, a bomb dropped in an otherwise perfectly normal song. Something like this should be impressive, but under the circumstances, it feels artificial and abrupt. 

Only a few of these songs have anything to do with the one major theme on the album: Tyler’s struggles with maturity. It’s there, and it’s important, but like “Igor“, it’s all very vague, scattered, and half-baked. 

I know this is my fault for expecting something different. When I saw the cover and title, it clearly read to me as the setup for something special. “Chromakopia” means “an abundance of color.” And Tyler’s look on the cover is a character in the music video for “Noid,” who, from what I gather, is named St. Chroma. But unless I’m missing something, there is nothing tying anything together. 

This is going to sound cynical, but I really do think that Tyler wants to give off the impression of being a much better artist than he is. He suggests that there will be a lot more going on creatively than there actually is. He makes solid, enjoyable Hip-Hop/R&B albums, but seems to think that he’s doing something else, a type of high art that goes beyond labels and genres. 

The thing is, I wish he was actually doing that. He’s clearly a smart, talented guy. And with the right team of writers and producers around him, I bet he could make the type of legendary concept album on the level of “To Pimp a Butterfly or Madvillainy.” I don’t think that’s out of the picture, but I’m not going to hold my breath for it anymore. 

7/10

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