Tyler, The Creator talks success of ‘Chromakopia’: ‘I didn’t expect this’

Tyler, The Creator always knew he wanted his next album to drop on a Monday and that it would draw people’s attention, but one thing he didn’t know was how fans would receive that project: Chromakopia.

“I knew people would be interested. But I didn’t expect this,” he tells Billboard of the album, which debuted atop the Hot 100. 

“I’m a super extrovert, but I’m a very private person with my life, so putting some of this stuff on wax was a lot for me,” he said of the album. “It’s so honest that I think I had to wear a mask on my own face to get that s*** out.”

According to Tyler, who is 33 years old, Chromakopia is “the 30s album,” though he understands he’s probably mentally younger than others his age. “I’ve lived a different life. N**** me around me are having kids and families and really being adults and I’m over here like, ‘I think I’m going to paint my car pink.’ That feels crazy, but it’s all I know.”

Despite that, Tyler says his 30s have been “so much iller than my 20s,” and the album has reached more people than he thought.

“People are connecting with the words in a way that feels bigger than me,” he says. “I’ve never hit people at this level.”

“I’m so blessed and fortunate. Thirteen years in and my latest s*** is my biggest. Sometimes it’s like, ‘What the f***, this can’t be real.’ But then it’s also like, ‘I told y’all.’ It’s beautiful.”

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