By Jordan Bond / The Jambar
Of all eight Album of the Year nominees for the 2026 Grammy Awards, none feel as powerful as Tyler Okonma’s, known professionally as Tyler, The Creator, “Chromakopia.”
Tyler’s eighth album has been nominated for Album of the Year, Best Rap Album and Best Album Cover, with “Darling, I” nominated for Best Rap Performance and “Sticky” for Best Rap Song. In the year since its release, “Chromakopia” has amassed over 2.7 billion streams on Spotify alone.
According to a 2024 Instagram post from Rap, “Chromakopia” garnered over 1 billion streams on Spotify alone — under 50 days since its release — as the quickest rap album to achieve that many streams in 2024.
The opening run of songs feels like someone emptying their brain in real time. “St. Chroma” is the thesis of the entire album disguised as a warm-up. With Tyler’s mom opening the song, pretty chords, Daniel Caesar’s voice in the background and the biggest question of the album, “Can you feel the light?,” Tyler sets the tone that his personality and success are the light and that he should never dim it for anybody.
Afterwards, the album rolls straight into “Rah Tah Tah,” where he gets to have fun spitting braggy, bodacious lyrics over one of the more hype beats of the album. This tone contrasts itself against “Noid,” where all that bravado turns into side-eyes and the kind of paranoia that coincides with his fame.
The middle of the record is very story-based, a section that allows Tyler to open up about some experiences in his life and connect with the audience — with “Darling, I” being the big one for the Grammys.
This leads into “Hey Jane,” which shows an anxious side of Tyler the audience hasn’t seen before. The lyrics tell a story of Tyler accidentally getting a girl pregnant and struggling with the fear that he isn’t ready for it.
He closes out this story section with “Judge Judy,” where Tyler gives us the tale of a woman he met and chose not to judge for her interests or desires. The song ends in a shocking twist of a letter Judy wrote, thanking Tyler for the time they had together, revealing that she died from brain cancer.
That’s when “Sticky” kicks the door in full force. Featuring GloRilla, known personally as Gloria Woods, Lil Wayne, or Dwayne Carter Jr. and Sexyy Red, known personally as Janae Wherry, it’s a halftime-show band sound that has the energy to hype anyone up.
The back stretch is truly where Chromakopia shines. “Take Your Mask Off” slows the record back down and tells the stories of people hiding who they are behind a mask, including Tyler himself. It feels like he tells people to tell the truth and talk about it. Then,“Tomorrow” shows Tyler’s adult perspective of feeling like he’s no longer a kid anymore.
However, this self-reflection does not last long, as “Thought I Was Dead” cuts through the introspection with a heavy flow of bars. The track showcases that Tyler is truly at the height of his career.
“Like Him” might be the emotional center of the album, though. His mom tells him all the ways he reminds her of his father — who left after Tyler was born — and leads Tyler to wonder, “Do I look like him?”
Finally, “I Hope You Find Your Way Home” closes with a blessing. Tyler starts the song reflecting on all the events of the album and includes a phone call he had with his mom where she reminds Tyler to keep shining.
But the big question remains — will it be the album of the year? The Grammys will reveal the answer Feb. 1, 2026.