Tyler The Creator has always been outspoken. He's one of the most direct and cutting rappers of the last two decades, but his subject matter has notably shifted. Tyler initially made headlines for his trolling and mockery of others. Now, as an acclaimed, elder statesman, he feels compelled to defend hip hop against those he believes take the genre for granted. Tyler The Creator was asked about his feelings on hip hop in his latest Nardwuar interview, and he took the time to shade a few peers.
Tyler started out by vouching for his authenticity and musicality. He's one of the most acclaimed artists in the the genre, so it proved an easy sell. "I am rap. I am hip hop," the rapper asserted. "That’s all I know. It's in the house." Tyler The Creator then turned his focus toward those who are considered damaging to the genre. "Some of these folks look at this like a quick money-getting thing," he noted. "Y'all ain’t grow up the same." Tyler told Nardwuar that real rappers create and everyone one emulates. "We the coolest ever," he remarked. "And all these motherf*ckers wanna copy us."
Tyler The Creator Ian Diss
"Some n**gas be mimicking and mocking 'cuse they ain't got the juice," Tyler The Creator added. "They don't really believe it [in their heart]." The rapper noted that these unnamed artists find success, but he believes the fans can tell the difference between an imitation and the real thing. "You can see it, man," he asserted. "They look at it as a commodity, just to criticize it. Y'all ain't grow up the same." The former OF mastermind avoided citing specific artists, but this is not the first time he's criticized "inauthenticity" as an issue in hip hop.
Tyler The Creator called out Ian during an interview on SpringHill. He felt Ian blew up by mocking the genre and Black artists, in particular. "There’s this kid right now," he told Maverick Carter. "This white kid, regular Caucasian man, and he’s like mocking Future and Gucci Mane, like rap music... It's not even like satire, it’s like, 'I'm just joking, I’m just mocking it.'" Ian hit back to Tyler in a Lyrical Lemonade freestyle, but many still sided with the latter.
