Tyler, The Creator’s new album “Chromakopia” dropped yesterday, and this new project delves into the more personal sides of Tyler – including pregnancy scares, the maturity of age, and the consequences of fame, while also touching on previously explored topics like Tyler’s absent father.

The lead up to this album has been comparatively short but incredibly exciting for fans of the previously dormant Tyler. Tyler began teasing this album just 12 days ago by releasing short music videos showcasing snippets of “St. Chroma” and later “Noid”.

He officially announced the vinyl release of the album on Oct.17, where he played very small portions of three different songs including “Like Him”, “Rah Tah Tah”, and “Take Your Mask Off”. Soon after came an announcement for the Chromakopia Tour, including industry veteran Lil Yachty and underground group act Paris Texas. To cap it off, he released his last music video with a snippet of his song “Thought I Was Dead”.

I listened to the album as soon as it came out, as I was very excited about it. Tyler has been a favorite artist of mine for some time now, and so I came in with high expectations and I’m pleased to say that they were met.

Here are my thoughts on each song in order as they appear on the album:

1. St. Chroma, an incredible opening which marches our way into the album, and perfectly transitions into…
2. Rah Tah Tah, a bombastic joy ride of a track resembling tracks like “LUMBERJACK” or “STUNTMAN”. The outro again seamlessly leads into…
3. Noid, the lead single and fantastic piece exploring the paranoia of fame and laying the seeds on a key theme of the album: the fear of parenting.
4. Darling, I, a beautiful song exploring and discussing polyamory, or at least the non committal relationships Tyler chooses to have. Teezo Touchdown’s vocals are a noteworthy element.
5. Hey Jane, an emotionally packed story about Tyler and one of his many partners, Jane, having a pregnancy scare and the emotions attached to it, with Tyler playing both sides of the situation.
6. I Killed You, not a personal favorite specifically because of the instrumentation, but nonetheless a good track with the surprising contribution of Childish Gambino.
7. Judge Judy, another emotional story about another former partner of Tyler’s, the chorus is very catchy and the story itself is very tragic.
8. Sticky, my prediction for the break out hit of the album, with its many wonderful features from Glorilla, Sexxy Redd, and Lil Wayne, this track is just fun and exhilarating
9. Take Your Mask Off, a gorgeous song where Tyler explores different scenarios of people not being not true to themselves, culminating in Tyler taking his critical eye inward. Truly beautiful in its vocals, orchestration, and themes.
10. Tomorrow, a hauntingly beautiful track about the steady aging of Tyler with some of the most heartbreaking lines from the album.
11. Thought I Was Dead, a comeback to haters and overall another ostentatious track with a great verse from SchoolboyQ.
12. Like Him, a song that goes from a piano led ballad to a neo-soul epic, this song shows off both Tylers vocals and his vulnerability.
13. Balloon, a bouncy comeback from the previous track, starts the uplifting end of the album. A great verse from Deochii and overall a great penultimate track.
14. I Hope You Find Your Way Home, a perfect closer to this album, which both recapps the last 50 minutes while also reaffirming Tyler’s skill with both instrumentation and lyrics.

Georgia Southern freshman, DeMartys Williams, talked about her love of the album.

“I’m all here for it,” she exclaimed. “The features were interesting to hear but they meshed together nicely. The album has no skips.” She also said that her favorite tracks were “Sticky” for its catchyness, features and overall hype, “Hey Jane” for its format and emotional weight, and Darling, I for its unexpected inclusion of Teezo Touchdown (who is a favorite artist of hers). Although Williams wished to hear a Frank Ocean feature, she saw zero drawbacks in the album.

Overall, this album is a beautiful blend of experimental Neo-Soul that we have come to expect from modern Tyler, with some infusion of different styles to spice things up. For example, the heavy metal influence on the opening of “Noid” along with the song sampling from Zababwian rock group Ngozi Family, the marching band energy of “Sticky” and “Thought I Was Dead”, and the acoustic vibes of “I Killed You” and “Tomorrow”.

The whole album achieves the balancing act of being hardcore and bombastic at points, to uplifting and provocative, to solemn and introspective on whim, something Tyler has been known to do very well.