Tyler, the creator of the new album Chromakopia: Everything We Know

Photo: Tyler, The Creator via YouTube

Tyler Season finally arrived in 2024. This spring, before headlining Coachella, Tyler, the Creator angered fans by saying he wouldn't be releasing new music this year. Maybe that was a fake or maybe his plans changed, but it's clear that the fall Is will give us a musical harvest. Tyler began announcing his seventh album, ChromacopyEarly October, and even by his standards the concept is high-caliber. So far Tyler has released the opening track “St. Chroma” and the single “Noid” and introduced us to a masked protagonist in a grayscale world. Even the vinyl and tour promos are part of the world building! Ahead of the album's release on October 28th – more on that below – we've put together the following Chromacopy until now.

Is it a state of being? A place? A condition we should talk to our doctors about? As always with Tyler, we can't be sure. What is obvious is that he is using it Chroma as in chromatic – similar colors. Some fans have noted that “St. “Chroma,” the name of the first song, may be a reference to Chroma the Great, a character from Norton Juster's classic children's book The Phantom Toll Booth. In Juster's fantasy world, Chroma is an orchestra conductor whose music brings color into the world. And Tyler’s video for “St. “Chroma” is set in a monochromatic black and white world until a bassy beat drop brightens everything up in the final seconds as Daniel Caesar sings, “Can you feel the light?” (coincidentally – or probably not – the word chromatic also refers to the chromatic scale, the 12 pitches that form the basis of most Western music.) The color green also seems important, between the album's promotional art and the vinyl teaser.

This appears to be Tyler – or at least a character played by Tyler. The “St. The “Chroma” video suggests that our protagonist is the masked man in a military jacket who leads everyone into the shipping container, which he then blows up. So is he just evil, or is there more to the story? The video for “Noid” could be a clue. Back in black and white, we see St. Chroma, now in street clothes but still wearing a mask, being accosted by crazy fans. Chroma drives to a remote house, where he locks about a million bolts on the door. However, he still doesn't feel safe – but it might just be in his head, because we watch him see figures in the mirror, but we don't actually see those figures in the house. “Someone's keeping watch/I feel them in my shadow,” sings Tyler/Chroma between verses detailing his paranoia.

So is this the reason Chroma blew up those people in the shipping container, or is his paranoia the result? The “Noid” video has no answer. At the end, we see Chroma in full color again, but still masked, moving around a seemingly empty parking lot. What's going on there? We'll have to wait and see.

A few old friends and many new ones. R&B singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar turned out to be the mystery singer on “St. Chroma” on his Instagram Story, suggesting he made further contributions to the album. Noid's credits, meanwhile, include Thundercat, who Tyler has been orbiting for some time, on bass and Willow on backing vocals. The “Noid” video also stars Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri as one of those obsessed fans who taunt Chroma with a gun. Let's go her Side of the story please!

Fans noticed that the masked people who represent Chroma in “St. Chroma” look like some of the collaborators on the album. The first man's dreads resemble Caesar. Could one of these others be Frank Ocean? Right now we can dream!

We still have a few days left. Tyler defies convention Chromacopy and releasing the album on Monday, October 28th, rather than a typical Friday release date. And he doesn't even do it at midnight – Chromacopy is out promptly at 6 a.m. ET. We might get some clarity the night before when Tyler presents the album to fans in Los Angeles. Until then we see green.