Just this past week on one of our hot, summer Michigan days I had half hour drive ahead of me to pick up the kids I babysit, so I went old school and popped a CD in my car, picked a random track number - five - and turned the volume all the way up. After eight seconds of intro and mumbling, the lyrics started: "SICK TO MY MOTHERF*CKING TUMMY, B*TCH MUST THINK I'M A MOTHERF*CKING DUMMY" and soon I was rapping the first few versus only to glance at my dash revealing that I was going 20 over the speed limit. I felt unstoppable and reckless. All thanks to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler,_The_CreatorTyler, The Creator.
Some of you may have first heard of Tyler, The Creator when he rushed the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lcWhADEX-E2011 MTV Video Music Awards stage after being announced the winner of Best New Artist, surpassing popular indie obsession, Foster the People. This is when I fell in love.
Some of you may recognize him from his first big break song, Yonkers. Although black and white, and looks to be filmed as a continuous shot, the video gets deep real quick. This is the video that pretty much made his first impression on the viewers outside of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd_FutureOdd Future fans. The beat is sick and sounds hardcore with a lot of edge. In http://pitchfork.com/news/63619-tyler-the-creator-yonkers-was-made-as-a-joke/this article from Pitchfork, Tyler explains that the beat was actually made as joke, but people really started to like it.
In that same article there is a video of Odd Future's performance of "Radicals" at Pitchfork Music Festival, which can also be viewed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8uhvZblhW4here. I encourage you to take a minute, or four to watch it. Tyler is hype as hell with a hard cast around his foot ending below his knee. He leaps into the at the audience attempting to crowd surf. The whole scene seems insane, and as someone who has seen Tyler live twice, it's so true.
Any late night TV watchers, particularly Adult Swim fans, have probably caught a few episodes of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6i6BHvSEGc&list=PL47E76E49198E9179Loiter Squad. One of Tyler's other passions is filming and directing. On this show he is able to get his friends together and do stupid sh*t in front of a camera.
I could go on about this crazy dude, but I really want to express that even though he comes off as reckless and crazy, and has the stereotype as that destructive kid in a skater boy group, he is actually super artistic, creative, and intelligent. I spend hours watching interviews on YouTube trying to decode his mind. Whether the interview is him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3_4rMqX_zYsitting there eating a pizza being asked questions by 'a thirsty girl,' or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyFVxDTLQc4giving smart*ss comments to a reporter, or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6TPijZgzYA&list=PL_aM6zT_VC5ZXFh8xT9T5vdiXtZ4htW9sgetting serious with Larry King, Tyler is so intriguing.
Tyler's music can be described as different. His sound is very unique, along with his words. His last album, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl1fXAToGbLQzRtcaf4z2C6UQBLeHzuCRCherry Bomb, is one of the hardest albums for me to listen to, to this day. I'm not saying that it's bad, because it isn't. In this album Tyler really is exploring his sound and taking risks.
Aside from music, Tyler also designs his own clothing. The http://www.oddfuture.comOF website is full of what his brain probably looks like. The fact that this kid has made a majority of his money based on the selling of socks and shirts with donuts on them is pretty legit.
Tyler also created his first ever fashion show this summer of 2016 that took place in LA. It was beyond successful, even Kanye made an appearance.
You can also keep up with Tyler through his https://twitter.com/fucktylertwitter. He is known for tweeting in all caps. He will rant then delete every tweet once the rant is over. You can also download his app, https://subscribe.golfwang.comGOLF MEDIA. This is an excellent place to see all things Tyler. It is literally described as, "Tyler and his brain without restrictions and bullshit."
That question that is commonly asked: if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? I chose Tyler. It seems I am not the only one trying to decode his mind. As he states in interviews that he just made beats up as jokes, and says random things to "piss old white people off," I can't help but wonder if there really is a story line and he really is a mastermind. For all of you conspiracy theorists out there, http://noisey.vice.com/blog/the-conspiracy-theorists-guide-to-tyler-the-creators-wolf-trilogythis article written by Ryan Bassil is super interesting. He dives into the trilogy of albums WOLF, BASTARD, and GOBLIN. Personally, I'm not getting into it, but you can have a read.
However, a part of me sort of sides with him. What if there really is no plot behind his music? What if he's expressing himself through these words and sounds in the moment, and thats what he was feeling at the time he recorded? Even bigger what if - because he is famous, and he knows that us fans as consumers automatically assume that every celebrity has a reasoning behind their actions and words, he is messing with us. Maybe he knows exactly what he is doing and he's sitting back watching everyone freak out. I don't have answers, but this is exactly why I need to have dinner with Tyler, The Creator.
