The first phase of Tyler, the Creatorâs Chromakopia opens in the middle of a bad dream. If Call Me If You Get Lost was a victory lap that lauded his titanic success with luxurious swagger, then âNOIDââthe first full song from the forthcoming albumâmakes a sharp turn to the flip side with his own mangled version of Rockwellâs âSomebodyâs Watching Me.â All around the walls are closing in: The sample, from a 1977 track by the Zambian rock band Ngozi Family, brings little more than truncated guitar riffs. The drum beat hits like a metronome in a Twilight Zone episode. The kinetic vocal sample swoops in like an intrusive thought. Itâs a nice marriage of Tylerâs rock-rap sensibilities, with guitar vamps punctuating frenetic, panicked bars that feel as though heâs losing control with each syllable. Everywhere he turns, the panopticon of celebrity is staring right back. âTriple checking if I locked the door/I know every creak thatâs in the floor/Motherfucker Iâm paranoid,â he growls, eerily reminiscent of the version of Tyler that spit on Wolf or Cherry Bomb: unable to find peace, checking under the bed and down every hall for monsters real or imaginary.
