Keep Your Music Mysterious
When Tyler, The Creator gave fans 12 days to prepare for the release of his eighth studio album CHROMAKOPIA; an unnamed male singer on the chorus quickly stirred up conversation on who was featured on “St. Chroma”, the first song teased with the announcement of this new era.
The victorious, Daniel Caesar assisted “St. Chroma” set the tone to a kaleidoscope of emotions, charged production and raw storytelling from an artist at the top of his game and as we got closer to the release date, Tyler maintained the secret of who else blessed CHROMAKOPIA with a visit.
A feature-less tracklist for CHROMAKOPIA was unveiled when the album dropped on October 28th and listeners got to experience an artist they’ve grown alongside share some intimate moments and harsh lessons he’s learned from his childhood days in Hawthorne, California to the reality of a global star still trying to figure shit out in his 30s.
Daniel Caesar, Teezo Touchdown, Glorilla and Lil Wayne’s appearance on the album were quickly recognized and highlighted on social media but it took some listeners days before they pinpointed Solange’s background vocals on “I Hope You Find Your Way Home” or Donald Glover’s unmistakable ad-libs on the bridge of “Judge Judy”.
Being genuinely surprised to hear my fave Doechii demolish her spot on “Ballon” reminds me of the first time I heard Beyoncé’s heavenly vocals on Frank Ocean’s “Pink and White” or Kendrick’s haunting interlude for Drake’s “Buried Alive”.
Discovering a hidden feature on an album feels like being a kid and finding a $5 bill in a plastic pink egg on easter. In the age of streaming, the process of crate digging and trying to find the name of a new song playing on the radio has been traded in for shazaming songs at the bar and waiting six months for that random 15 seconds of a song that went viral on tiktok to drop but I appreciate Tyler for keeping the thrill in experiencing a body of work alive.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8LU3tNC/