On Chromakopia, Tyler, the Creator grows up

With the release of his latest album, Chromakopia, rap's enfant terrible Tyler, the Creator shows us just how much he's matured since the start of his career almost 20 years ago.

On his eighth studio album, Tyler trades in his penchant for twisted, depraved and sometimes offensive lyrics for more mature themes like an unexpected pregnancy and the influence of women in his life. But will this character evolution change the quality of his music?

Today on Commotion, culture critic Pablo The Don and rapper Rollie Pemberton (a.k.a. Cadence Weapon) join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to weigh in on the new album and his ongoing transformation to one of hip-hop's most esteemed auteurs.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: From Chromakopia, Tyler, the Creator's new record, Hey Jane is the track that does it for you, Rollie. What's sticking out for you about this song?

Rollie: It's a song that I didn't know that Tyler was capable of. It just shows a level of maturity beyond a lot of rappers. If you know hip-hop, talking about pregnancy or any kind of women's issues, it's been a struggle for the entire history.

Elamin: Explain the concept a little bit, of Hey Jane, because I think it's a really fascinating concept. 

Rollie: For sure. So Tyler, in the verses, he represents himself and his partner discussing an accidental pregnancy. And they're having, actually, a very respectful, measured conversation about this, which is something that you wouldn't really expect in a hip-hop track — especially from Tyler, somebody who's known for being shocking and impish and this wild character. 

I feel like a lot of this stuff is very intentional: the fact he's got his mom's voice throughout the album, he's platforming women in his life, he's having all these women doing features and stuff. It really is showing a level of growth and maturity. He's trying to drag hip-hop to the future with him.

Elamin: Yeah, there's something to that evolution, Pablo, right? We kind of go from Tyler, the Creator being, I think reasonably, accused of some of the most sexist lyrics of the early 2010s, to this album — having your mom narrate this thing, having all of these songs like Hey Jane that is this really sophisticated representation of pregnancy that you don't often get in hip-hop, but also the choices of features, as Rollie was just alluding to, right? The women that show up on this album, Santigold, Sexyy Red, GloRilla, a lot more. What do you make of Tyler, the Creator trying to reckon with his own history here, but not even necessarily doing it explicitly? Just doing it in terms of the creative choices that he's making?

Pablo: I think this is what happens when we give people who are truly capable of growing the opportunity to grow up — giving them the space and time to learn about who they are, who they want to be in this world, and to really take in everything that's going on, and be that person. And I think this is just adding another wrinkle to his character. It shows that … he can make more music that appeals to women while at the same time staying tapped in with his dominantly male audience. 

He's doing the things that I think a lot of artists want to be doing: he's speaking to men, being open and honest about these conversations, and truthfully he's being influential about these things. He's one of the first rappers to really tackle this topic of women's reproductive rights in a meaningful, sensitive and considerate way…. My favourite line in that song is when he says whatever you decide to do, just know I fully support you. It's just like, yes, do that more. Tell your friends to do that more. I look at this as like, whoa. To come from where we were in 2010 — the dude breaking his foot on the stage at the VMAs because he won an award — to hey, we need to be more considerate of the women in our lives and actually, my mom's been my guiding light this entire time to make sure I get to this point, is incredible.

Elamin: I can't emphasize the arc of that enough: where Tyler started, to where Tyler got to, which is this really compelling, thoughtful, introspective place. I'm really grateful to have this album. I've been spending a lot of time with this album, particularly because I'm thinking about Tyler's history here. I think we're sometimes a little too quick to say I've heard enough songs to know what box I should put that artist in. Sometimes the evolution is incredibly worth it, you know, in terms of where that journey ends up.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Stuart Berman.