CHROMAKOPIA and Tyler the Creator’s Backstory

The renowned artist Tyler, the Creator released an album titled CHROMAKOPIA on October 28th, 2024. Many Tyler fans around the world have opened their own streaming services to listen to the album. Songs on the album such as β€œSticky,” β€œLike Him,” β€œNoid,” β€œRah Tah Tah,” and β€œSt. Chroma” hit the top 30. The response of the album’s drop has been overwhelmingly positive, the album’s tour only highlights the positivity. Social media has completely blown up when it comes to CHROMAKOPIA – Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter have been talking about it since its release, along with Spotify wrapped and Apple Replay as their annual report recently came out.Β Β 

CHROMAKOPIA is full of wonderful storytelling, great uses of tone and vocabulary, and complex instrumentals. Diving into β€œLike Him,” the 12th song on the album, Tyler tells a story about his struggles with his absent father. The song starts out with a vocal recording from Lola Young, the woman playing his mother. She compares Tyler to his father, and how they look similar. He asks β€œHow can I miss something I’ve never had?” wondering why he feels this way. β€œDo I look like him?” is repeated throughout the song as he searches for any form of clarification. At the very end, there is a final voice recording from Tyler’s mother, providing him with that clarification. β€œIt was my fault, not him, β€˜cause he always wanted to be there for you.” Tyler’s mom was the one keeping his father away from him. β€œLike Him” builds on the song β€œAnswer” from his 2013 album Wolf. In β€œAnswer,” Tyler blames his father for never being there for him and never answering when he called. β€œLike Him” shows his mother was really to blame.

β€œSticky,” the 8th song on the album is his most popular, a stark contrast from β€œLike Him,” β€œSticky” is an upbeat, aggressive song. Lil Wayne, GloRilla, and Sexxy Red are featured with their own individual verses as well. β€œSticky” is meant to sound like a song made around a cafeteria table.Β 

The Big Questions:Β 

Does he have split personalities? Does he make alter egos and act as if it is a character he’s talking about in his lyrics/songs?

According to Sugar High: Tyler the Creator Talks Cookies, Clothes, and Crying to Kanye’s β€œViolent Crimes” article he discusses touchy topics dealing with mental illnesses and human feelings. β€œHis musical catalog is full of complicated explorations of suicide, love, angst, and [suggestive] jokes. In his videos, one minute he’s glossy-faced while butterflies gracefully land on his neck, while the next, he’s wearing a man’s surgically removed face to escape the cops. His world is lawless, limitless, and lucrative. So you can’t blame him if he’s bored with the one that the rest of us are stuck in.” He has no particular structure for writing his songs talking in his songs.

He also has been somewhat open about being β€œwild” when he was youngerβ€”suggesting self-harm.

Β β€œWow. How’d you get that scar on your left arm?
β€œIn 2010 my friend Travis bought a knife. We didn’t know if it was sharp enough, so I got it and put it in my arm and carved it like that and was like, β€˜Yeah, it’s sharp enough.’ Seriously? No lie. I have no reason to lie to you. Why the f**k would you do that? I don’t know. I was wild when I was younger.” Tyler the creator also suggested that he is not depressed so how does he speak on his characters so well? β€œI MAKE SONG EXACTLY ABOUT MY LIFE NOW UNFORTUNATELY….AND IM NOT DEPRESSED SO YOU WON’T BE HEARING NO SAD SHIT FROM ME AT ALL. SMILE BABY”

β€” Tyler, The Creator 

His song Gone Gone Thank you, analyzing it is a good example of depression being exhibited in his song. Acording too The Watoto Speak! β€œ Tyler, The Creator makes each section of the song. In the beginning, he’s depressed because someone left him and he thinks all of his love is gone. In the middle, he realizes why the relationship didn’t work in the first place and finds peace. In the end, he says that he is grateful β€œfor the love and the joy” but he’s β€œnever gonna fall in love again.” This song touches on the last two stages of grief, which are depression and acceptance, both important parts of finding inner peace.” Summarizing this maybe he was dealing with mental health in the past but doesn’t anymore and can speak on relating experiences not necessarily meaning he’s depressed but deals with depressing incidents or can tell a story by his songs from past incidents.