Track 17: Noid - Tyler, the Creator
He, him, they, them, or anybody, I don't trust 'em...
Picking up with the inherent sadness of Black & Blue comes Noid, chock full of Sabbath-like guitar riffs courtesy of a sick Ngozi Family sample, with sped up lyrics sung in the original Nyanja increasing the tension, especially as the translation matches perfectly with Tyler’s mood:
When you come at my house, please be respectful / Because I don’t like talking too much /
Talking too much breeds gossip /
Never mind talking too much, Tyler doesn’t want you close to his damn house at all. The days of inviting you to call him if you get lost are over. Now he actively wants you to get lost, literally begging you to leave him alone.
What’s fascinating is that after the blistering opening of Noid, you can still hear the same stellar sun-soaked production that was behind Tyler’s travelogue as personal diary masterpiece; those cooing vocals, bright keys, and funky production, all the while punctuated by that guitar riff and Tyler insisting that someone is watching him. It’s a constant reminder that he can’t enjoy the freedom he may have expressed on Call Me If You Get Lost, because his mother’s voice (repeated here and throughout Chromakopia as a motif) warns him not to trust anyone, with valid reasons, which in the context of the album might have done more harm than good in the grand scheme of things.
This is the most paranoid hit hip hop single since the Geto Boys Mind Playing Tricks On Me, and if the whole album was like this, you might get burned out before the first half dozen tracks. Thankfully the song is just a sample of the overall tapestry that goes into Chromakopia, which is really about coming to terms with who you really are, becoming an adult, and being comfortable with vulnerability.
It’s hard to imagine that Tyler was once that edgelord leader of Odd Future who seemed to say shit just because it could shock. Not only has he developed into an incredible artist in his own right, each album has its own theme, characters, conception, and overall thought put into it. He trades personas like Bowie and pulls them all off flawlessly.
Click here for the Infinite Mixtape on Spotify.
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