Fans Want to Know What the Title of Tyler, the Creator's Latest Album Means
Tyler, the Creator's new album title is a portmanteau and an invented word.
Published Oct. 28 2024, 11:39 a.m. ET
Few musicians are as fond of creating elaborate worlds through their music as Tyler, the Creator. It's part of what makes his music so rewarding and challenging for his many fans. The rapper's latest album, "Chromakopia," has a riddle in it before you even get to any of the music.
The album title features a word that most people don't understand, so what does the word "Chromakopia" actually mean? Here's what we know about what the title is referring to.
What does "Chromakopia" mean?
The word appears to have been invented by Tyler, the Creator for this album, and it seems to be a portmanteau of the words "chroma," which is used in connection with colors, and "kopia." Kopia doesn't have a single definition, although many fans think it might be meant to evoke copying or duplication, so the portmanteau together suggests a replication of color or representation.
In the album's lead-off single, "St. Chroma," many suspect that Tyler is making reference to Chroma the Great, a character from The Phantom Tollbooth, a widely popular children's book by Norton Juster. In the book, Chroma is an orchestra conductor whose music brings color to the world, and it seems like Tyler is taking on a similar role in the video for "St. Chroma," which starts in black and white before moving into color.
Not coincidentally, "chroma" is also the prefix used in music to refer to the chromatic scale, which represents all 12 notes between octaves in music. It seems that Tyler is attempting to evoke a wide cross-section of humanity through this album, and his use of the word "chroma" is meant to remind us of the color that music can bring into an otherwise lifeless world.
Tyler the Creator has not released an album in three years.
Tyler bucked convention by dropping "Chromakopia" on Monday, Oct. 28 instead of one of the more traditional music release days. The album is his first in three years, and it seems to be filled with many of the same high-concept ideas that his fans have come to love from the musician.
Fans and fellow musicians expressed plenty of excitement following the news that the album was coming.
"THIS IS BEAUTIFUL HOLY S--T I LOVE YOU TYLER," one person wrote under his post announcing that the album was out.
"BRO T YOU OUTDID YOURSELF!!" another person added.
In addition to releasing new music, Tyler has also been cast in his first film project and will star alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Timothee Chalamet in A24's Marty Supreme, which is reportedly set in the world of professional table tennis.
Until that movie's release, though, fans will have plenty to chew over on "Chromakopia," and it seems like Tyler wanted to keep people guessing with even basic things like the meaning of the title. The album is now available, and it can be poured over for hints and clues as to what Tyler was thinking as he put the tracks together.