Photo Credit: YouTube (Tyler, The Creator)
Tyler, the Creator has taken to social media to reassure fans he is working to get copyright strikes against reactions to his new album ‘Chromakopia’ lifted. Here’s the latest.
‘Chromakopia’ dropped at the end of October, with fans sharing their reactions on social media like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. However, many of these fans said their reactions were copyright stricken and blocked—either with the sound being removed or the video removed completely.
After a fan posted their frustration about having the video removed, Tyler commented personally, “Gonna make sure the block gets lifted man, hit my squad up early this am.” The fan Tyler originally responded to replied to his comment stating, “Video is up and all blocks lifted. Appreciate you helping.”
The Instagram account SleepingonGems reported the news, “Many fans were experiencing issues when uploading videos of them listening to ‘Chromakopia,’ so Tyler decided to step in and remove the copyright strikes,” the report reads. “More artists need to do this. Kendrick did the same with ‘Not Like Us.’ Love to see it.”
Both Kendrick Lamar and Drake removed copyright strikes on their respective diss tracks, helping the rap beef explode to national attention earlier this year. The back-and-forth dropping of new diss tracks created a situation in which fans of either artist were waiting online with bated breath for the next diss track to drop. Those with a YouTube or TikTok presence covering the hidden meanings behind the lyrics made a killing—notably because artists released their copyright claims so social media posts could proliferate.
Tyler, the Creator wants to create hype online about his new album and one of the best ways to do that is to allow fans to create reaction videos discussing the lyrics. It involves snippets of the songs behind made available in YouTube videos and on TikTok—but most works discussing an album are purely reactions to a specific lyric rather than a wholesale streaming of the song or album. The distinction here is allowing people to discuss the music while sharing bits of it creates more conversation around the track and album, rather than silencing it completely with copyright strikes.