Tyler, The Creator, Noid | Song Review 🎵

Grammy-winning rapper and singer Tyler, The Creator is ambitious on his fame-leery, ultra-paranoid single, “Noid.”

“Feel it in my aura / Living between cameras and recorders, ah, yeah / I want peace but can’t afford ya.” Grammy-winning rapper Tyler, The Creator captures the plight of fame superbly in his ambitious single, “Noid”.  The nearly five-minute track arrives ahead of his off-cycle released studio album, Chromakopia. “Noid” was written by Tyler, The Creator, and Paul “Ngozi” Nyirongo.  Tyler produced the colorful gem itself.  Unique from the beginning, the backdrop of “Noid” incorporates rock, rap, and African music.

Early on, the tone is set with the repeated lyrics, “Paranoid, paranoid, paranoid.” Following the intro which references the necessity for security, the chorus is performed by Ngozi.  Quite difficult to decipher, the lyrics are in Nyanja. This gives “Noid” a distinct sound. Things settle in more before the one-and-a-half-minute mark, where Tyler, The Creator starts rapping about the effects of fame:

“I can’t even buy a home in private

Home invasions got my brothers dyin’

… I got a cannon underneath the bed

Triple checkin’ if I locked the door

I know every creak that’s in the floor

Motherfucker, I’m paranoid.”

Tyler, The Creator is clear and passionate in his message. In an interlude, performed by his mom, Bonita Smith, she urges her son “Keep to yourself, keep your business to yourself / Don’t even trust these motherfuckin’ accountants.” There is a beat switch within the final minute of the cut. Once again, Tyler, The Creator raps agilely, continuing a paranoid, fame-leery message: “They wanna know where I close my eyes at, I keep my eyes wide.” “Noid” is a captivating song by Tyler, The Creator.  Is it odd and a bit hard to follow? Yes, but its ambition is also part of its charm.  The message is on-point.

Tyler, The Creator // Chromakopia // Columbia // 10.28.24

Tyler, The Creator, Noid [📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Columbia Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Królestwo Nauki, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pete Linforth, Tumisu from Pixabay]