Behind the Song: Why Tyler, The Creator Is Paranoid on “Noid”

Tyler, The Creator previews his seventh studio album Chromakopia with the nightmarish lead single “Noid.”

Backed with a chopped guitar riff, Tyler samples the Zambian rock band Ngozi Family and their 1977 song “Nizakupanga Ngozi.” The guitar break echoes the Birmingham doom of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”

However, in “Noid,” Tyler is gripped by paranoia from the kind of fame that’s impossible to outrun.

Somebody’s Watching Me

In 1984, Rockwell released his defining hit “Somebody’s Watching Me.” Rockwell’s song also became a perennial Halloween jam, with the singer name-checking The Twilight Zone, convinced someone’s lurking in the shadows.

“Noid” borrows its theme from “Somebody’s Watching Me,” but Tyler suffers from celebrity status, forever trailed by overeager fans and paparazzi.

I can’t even buy a home in private
Home invasions got my brothers dying
Notice every car that’s driving by
I think my neighbors want me dead
I got a cannon underneath the bed
Triple-checking if I locked the door
I know every creak that’s in the floor
Motherf—-r I’m paranoid

Then Tyler returns to Rockwell’s despair: Someone’s keeping watch / I feel them in my shadow.

Ngozi Family

“Noid” also borrows its chorus hook from “Nizakupanga Ngozi.” Paul Ngozi’s lyrics ask for respect in his home. He also cautions against gossip.

Pobwela panyumba panga, uyenela ku nkala ndi ulemu
Chifukwa, ine sinifuna vokamba, Kamba
Vokamba kamba vileta pa mulomo
(Wotangozi, wotangozi)

“Nizakupanga Ngozi” appears on Ngozi Family’s album 45,000 Volts. Ngozi and his band were essential to the ’70s Zamrock genre. They borrowed from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Cream to create a fusion of African music and psychedelic soul rock.

Blessed (and Cursed)

On his previous album Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler swaggers like an artist comfortable at the top of his game. If “Noid” is truly a preview of what to expect from Chromakopia, the rewards of Tyler’s success are permanently tethered to claustrophobia.

Tyler Okonma debuted with Goblin in 2011. He soon became a prominent alt-rapper and his song “She,” featuring Frank Ocean, follows a stalker who watches a woman while she sleeps.

More than a decade later, paranoia still lingers. The subject in “She” tried to escape a jealous and violent ex. But Tyler stars in a new nightmare in “Noid.” In the music video, Tyler hides behind a mask and locked doors. He peers nervously from behind the curtains, convinced someone is out there.

There’s a scene where the rapper sees ominous figures in the mirror, but the reality of the room reveals he’s alone.

Watch Your Surroundings

The people chasing Tyler could be real or fake. He spirals against the rap-rock track, with its spiraling groove and panicked synths. Everywhere he turns, there’s another monster around the corner—hunting its prey of recognition and talent.

Privacy? Yeah, right, I got a better shot in the NBA

“Noid” ends with an unresolved piano as Tyler begs for peace: Leave me alone / What you want?

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Photo by SYDNEY KRANTZ/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock