Tyler, the Creator just dropped his seventh studio album on Monday, October 28th in the highly anticipated release of CHROMAKOPIA. Aside from the project being an intensely compelling narrative project, (argue with your mother, that album is a work of art) it continued one the most intriguing trends in music of late: hidden features.
He’s not the first person to hide the features on an album in recent years. Notable rap and hip-hop artists have done the same including Kanye West on Life of Pablo, Travis Scott on ASTROWORLD, and even Drake, unlisting certain guest vocals and lines on Scorpion. It’s good for music, and it’s good for the listening experience. And it’s smart from artists like Tyler, the Creator who want fans to listen to every track, all the way through. For a highly narrative project like CHROMAKOPIA, the storytelling elements and thematic motifs are crucial for listeners to understand the overall message. The practice of finding a new album from one of your favorite artists, pressing play, and enjoying from front to back is less common now – as we all collectively suffer from shorter attention spans.
Some fans might be used to listening solely to the big-name collaborations, but hidden features require fans to sit through each work as a whole. It contributes to a better listening experience, too. It creates a sense of anticipation, listening to a new drop from a favorite artist and not knowing whose voice is coming next. Real music heads know the feeling of hearing a hit for the first time, knowing it’s the beginning of that song being in your rotation for at least the next month. And listening this way creates the best reactions.
While I may have dissed some of the current listening behaviors earlier, one of the more encouraging habits to arise lately is the ability to see and engage in other people’s genuine reactions. Combine real-time capabilities with the live viewing aspect provided by streaming services like Twitch and social media, and you get some of the best clips caught on camera. Take ImDontai, a popular creator known for music reactions and reviews, and his reaction to unlisted features from GloRilla, Sexyy Red, and Lil Wayne on Sticky, one of the headline songs off Tyler’s album. Might just have been the calmest reaction I’ve seen yet.
Despite elevating the listening experience and encouraging the art to be heard and absorbed front to back, as originally intended, unlisted and hidden features are a trend that likely won’t become the norm. Artists with the notoriety of Tyler, Travis Scott, and Ye can get away with their names being the only ones listed on a project – they know they’ll get streams, sales, and success regardless. Smaller artists aren’t in the same boat. They have to consider aspects like timing, distribution, promotion, and, most significantly, the features and collaborations involved more heavily. Just think, any smaller artist with a J. Cole verse would be a fool not to list his name and use that track as the headliner for the release. It would be counterproductive.
What should purely be an artistic decision is then massively influenced by the business considerations of the music industry – a dimension that has been a standard clash as long as artists started getting paid. A balance has to be considered – and it’s a shame to see certain “B-Side” tracks overlooked due to a prominent feature. I hope to see more artists consider the art and emulate Tyler, and for the sake of your playlists, you should too.
Writer Maxwell Wright, who played Division 1 soccer at American University and Coastal Carolina University, works for a full-service sports and entertainment firm. He has a passion for exploring the convergence of music, culture, and sport and an eye for seeing what’s at the forefront of all three.