One of the reasons why I love this time of year is watching every music elitist out there sum up the best of 2011 with their own appraisal of new music that graced the year. As I was perusing the top countdowns (from Pitchfork to MTV), I noticed one disturbing trend: Tyler, the Creator in the top spots.
Although not always #1, the loud-mouthed leader of OFWGKTA made serious waves this year with the release of his album Goblin. If you’re a 16-year-old white male or particularly engaged in the indier-than-thou music world, you’ve known about Tyler’s unique, offensive, and brutish style since his self-released album Bastard. But for many of us, his fame really came into light when he won MTV’s Best New Artist for his song “Yonkers.” It’s cooler than cool to think of Tyler as the next great visionary, with provocative lyrics and a sound unlike anything else.
And before I start: yes, I “get” it. His overall sound is reminiscent of good old-school hip-hop, with no auto-tuning. I appreciate how real his music sounds without industry frills or needing a Nicki Minaj verse or two to get people to listen. That’s not why you should hate him.
What MTV (and what seems like a majority of the hip music critics out there) fails to find fault in is Tyler’s sickeningly violent persona steeped in his lyrics – which many in the industry praise obscenely for being so innovative and creative. “Although these lyrics are violent, that’s the point,” says Olivia Sledzik of The Blue and Grey. That seems to be the argument of many music reviewers, at least. The industry can’t seem to get enough of his edginess, dripping with violent homophobic and misogynistic lyrics. And when he’s not making a joke about killing himself, he’s rapping from a perspective of a rapist, or making jokes about rape and domestic violence in general.
Tyler, the Creator — “Yonkers”
His lyrics are at time cringe-worthy, with rhymes like “I’ll crash that fucking airplane that that fucking nigga B.o.B. is in / And stab Bruno Mars in his goddamn esophagus.” And while at times the hipsters of the world agree that auto-tuning and Top-40 jams are killing music as we know it, his overtly aggressive lyric – featured in the song that earned Tyler an MTV award in the first place – is deemed by the industry to be so raw and real that we should be praising his free speech, not demonizing it. Consider these telling lyrics from his eloquently titled “Bitch Suck Dick:”
Beat your bitch in her mouth just for talkin’ shit
You lurkin’ bitch? Well, I see that shit
Once again I gotta punch a bitch in her shit
I’m icy bitch, don’t look at my wrist
Because if you do, I might blind you bitch
It’s not just his lyrics – it’s his personality, too. His Twitter account is drenched in homophobic slurs such as “faggot” and “gay” (as an adjective). In any interview I have watched of him, such as this one in Interview magazine, Tyler drops the f-bomb like it’s his job.
I don’t think Tyler, the Creator is actually a bad guy. In one interview in particular, he even seems harmless: “Everyone thinks about dark shit, why when somebody fuckin’ says it is it such a big deal, you know?” His jokes about rape, he says, are supposed to be “a storyline.” “I’m writing this song from the mind of some fuckin’ serial killer from thirty years ago who’s a white male. Like, really? If they sit back and actually listen to the fuckin’ coolness and genius of it, like, shit, that’s what irks me.” He even compares his “art” to that of Quentin Tarantino, claiming that the violence in both Tarantino’s iconic films and his music that of the same genre of “art.”
Tyler also says that he’s not homophobic. “I just say ‘faggot’ and use ‘gay’ as an adjective to describe stupid shit.” He goes on to explain that things just do not offend him the way it might offend someone else, that he just “doesn’t give a shit.”
Perhaps the most public condemnation of Tyler’s music came from Sara Quin of the band Tegan and Sara. She wrote a very eloquent piece titled “A Call for Change,” saying that “In any other industry would I be expected to tolerate, overlook, and find deeper meaning in this kid’s sickening rhetoric? Why should I care about this music or its ‘brilliance’ when the message is so repulsive and irresponsible?” to which, Tyler responded with a simple Tweet: “If Tegan And Sara Need Some Hard Dick, Hit Me Up!”
And yet, this still is not why you should hate Tyler, the Creator.
To be perfectly honest, Tyler’s just a kid. He has no idea what impact his lyrics have on society, especially when his music is praised so openly by a plethora of young minds, listening to his songs as an example of how to think and act. Perhaps, you say, someone should combat this young and disturbed rapper’s culture of violence with words of wisdom; something like, “Now Tyler, even though the industry is praising your innovation, this gives you more power than you really know what to do with, and your violent, homophobic and misogynistic lyrics, even if they are with a twistedly ‘good’ intention, are perpetuating a culture which is accepting of these offenses and makes them seemingly okay to your fans, other listeners, and society as a whole.” But alas, Tyler would probably retort with a similarly juvenile comeback that he gave Sara Quin.
You shouldn’t hate Tyler, the Creator for being sexist, or homophobic, or violent because in the end, we as a society of listeners are merely making it okay for him to keep making music by accepting this culture of violence into our Top 50 Albums of the Year, et cetera. Tyler isn’t edgy, he isn’t fighting the system, he’s an obnoxious kid, who thinks making art consists of taking all of the confused feelings or jokes he and his friends think are clever and making music with them. In the end, we should hate ourselves for even paying attention to him.
Photo by mehan via Flickr.
Your misquote of Yonkers (it’s actually “fa**ot ni**a”, not “fuck*ng ni**a”) is indicative of your general lack of understanding of this music.
Setting aside my own “indier than thou” attitude, I am sincerely sorry that you don’t like Tyler. Much art is meant to be edgy, to challenge (read some Guy Debord, the concept is integral to his work), and at times to offend. The perverse acts of violence depicted in the lyrics are ironic, and I really, actually, not-sarcastically lament your inability to read farther into the music than that.
Oh well, your loss. As much as you hate to hear it, this reactionary article is exactly what Tyler and all of us KTA fans want. More than want, we need it. How are we supposed to think this is cool if people like you do?
First off, my apologies for misquoting one word in a fog of slurred offenses Tyler makes in his song; for the record, I don’t think a misquote is a representation of a lack of interest rather than a genuine mistake – for that, I am sorry.
However, your response is particularly curious considering the fact that I do, in fact, quote Tyler’s defense of his violent lyrics (tell the story from the mind of a “fuckin’ serial killer from thirty years ago who’s a white male.) My argument here is not that his art lacks a justification, but rather the harm is in the lyrics themselves, not their backstory.
My critique of his music comes from the overwhelmingly positive response to it in the mainstream music industry. It’s concerning to me, as a writer and music appreciator, that such horrifyingly violent lyrics are broadcast to an audience who may not be able to decipher “deeper meaning” from surface reality.
On that note, I appreciate your response. We have different tastes in music, obviously, and as you read, my frustration is not with Tyler himself but rather society’s approval of such a negative message. You could come back and argue to me that every artist could be misconstrued as having a negative message, but this article was meant as a response to one I find most upsetting.
I was going to write an incredibly snarky response, but I don’t want to try and convince you of anything, as you clearly have your mind set. I just hope you recognize, at least a little, how harmful such a widespread acceptance of this culture of violence can be.
Eminem was doing this 10 years ago. This aggressive style of hip-hop is nothing new. If you recall, the CD cover (back in the glorious days of CDs) of The Slim Shady LP, is Em on a dock walking away from a body in his trunk. That very CD, in fact, won a Grammy for Best Hip Hop Album so you can see where my confusion lies.
Tyler’s persona is that he is a, “fucking walking paradox” and that often, his lyrics are filled with hypocrisies and vulgar language that once looked at from a analytical standpoint convey many meanings.
Part of art (pardon the rhyme) is that it exists to offend and constantly recalibrate where the line of acceptance is. One can say the same thing about violent video games and movies, that the violent undertones are ruining the very morals of society although I whole heartedly disagree. It should be the responsibility of parents/guardians to police what their kids absorb, but as a legal adult who knows, just like TYLER, the very difference between perception and reality, I think this art is nothing new and isn’t going anywhere.
Articles like this just pour lighter fluid on the fire….Tyler’s loving this
In the words of crazy Sinead, “fight the real enemy.” There are people out there who are espousing misogyny and homophobia in their own voices: politicians comparing gay sex to bestiality, college men e-mailing date rape tips to their fraternity brothers, pharmacists refusing to fill birth control prescriptions, and so forth.
Tyler, the Creator, like Eminem and Madonna and countless other artists, is a provocateur. He says over-the-top and often revolting things. But if you listen to the album in its entirety, you’ll find that it’s framed as a hallucinatory conversation between a psychotic man and his therapist, who turns out to also be a hallucination. At the beginning of “Radicals,” Tyler even provides a disclaimer reminding the listener that the whole album is fiction.
Of course, just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean it’s not hateful. It most certainly is, and I wouldn’t argue with anyone who said that they couldn’t stomach listening to it. He conveys vile, disgusting fantasies symptomatic of pervasive rape culture and deep-seated homophobia. But anyone who rapes another person and then says that it’s because they listened to Tyler, the Creator is just as crazy as John Hinckley, Jr. was when he said Taxi Driver made him shoot Ronald Reagan.
I understand your dislike for Tyler, and you are certainly entitled to hate him. But I always think it’s misguided when self-professed progressives attack artists for representations of violence instead of real people for actually committing violent acts. You inadvertently align yourself with Tipper Gore and the Moral Majority going after Twisted Sister, or Bush and Quayle panicking over Ice-T singing “Cop Killer.” There are bigger and more important fish to fry, people.
“Tyler’s just a kid.”
Yes, and so is the person giving their opinions in this worthless article.
Tyler, Earl, Hodgy, Taco, Domo, Left Brain, and Syd (WHO IS A LESBIAN AND THEIR MAIN BEAT ARTIST) are kids who are lyrically great rappers. Just because the lyrics are things you don’t like to hear does not mean they are not woven together really well.
GOLFWANG
I think my problem with this article starts with the title: Why You Should Hate Tyler, the Creator. You write an article saying that this artist is a bad person because he perpetuates a culture of violence, but does that justify you feeling hate for him? Or trying to convince others to hate him as well? If you disagree with his message then say so, you have every right to voice your opinion. But a disagreement on what is appropriate to rap about should not be a justification for hate. How can you hate someone without even knowing them? He is just another musician trying to make a name for himself and he has found his niche and it sells. Dont hate the player, hate the game.
Why You Should Hate Tyler, the Creator | American Way of Life Magazine – just great!
Nice post. For me I dont usually stop shopping until someone tells me to, its most of my wages!