9 min read · Mar 7, 2023
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10:25- “It’s crazy that people saw s**t like that and didn’t think there was thought or actual talent behind it. So, when people are like, I wouldn’t have thought that you’d be where you are today’, I’m like, that’s because you’re a surface level idiot.”
55:38- “It’s like, alright cool, I just do my s**t and they try to push you to the side and keep doing that and it’s like 10 years later, I’m still here bro. My career has only been doing this. It’s n***s who was the hottest sh*t in 2012, where the f**k they at right now? N****s pushed me to the side, that n****a weird, blah-blah and I’m f*****g here, right now- Tyler The Creator on Hot 97
In this clip from Tyler The Creator’s revelatory visit to Hot 97 in 2021, the keys to what has made Tyler such a compelling master of metamorphosis and the building blocks behind how you too can successfully switch up your style gradually come into view.
When Tyler, The Creator and his Odd Future collective burst onto the scene, everyone apart from their borderline fanatical audience and a few choice artists who saw the value in their frenzied, youthfully insubordinate music looked to impose a ceiling on them.
Left aggravated by attempts to define what he and the crew were doing as “horrorcore” or “alternative hip-hop”, much of Tyler’s career has been an exercise in outpacing his own shadow and over time, he’s gone from a bile-spewing enfant terrible who relished the disdain of others to a man who makes some of the most cutting-edge music in hip-hop, or any other genre for that matter.
From the fuzziness of “Cherry Bomb” and “Flower Boy”’s majestic soundscapes through to the breakneck sonic journey of IGOR and the out-and-out rap masterclass of Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler is always straddling multiple lanes at once.
And this, at its core, is one of the most important lessons that we can take from Tyler in terms of how to not only ensure that your material remains fresh and vital, but how to circumvent any idea about what you as an artist can and can’t do within your output.
What’s more, this has been at the forefront of his mind since the days where he was better known for outlandish antics than the thoughtful music teamed with luscious instrumentation that he delivers today.
“I don’t like being put in a box, I just make music, you know?” He told Interview Magazine way back in 2011. “When you’re put in a box, people have a set mind-state of what your music could sound like before they even look into it. Like, if no one ever heard of me, but I’m hip-hop-metal-rock, then they’re already gonna have an expectation of what the music will sound like. Then, when they go in and finally listen to it, it might be different from what they thought, and they could automatically hate it because they already had expectations.”
Having revealed in the same interview that “usually, when I’m rappin’, I’m creating a big story or a concept song that sounds like a movie to me”, Tyler doesn’t see things on a microcosmic level.
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At all times, he’s focused on the big picture which governs everything he does and that is achieving the renown that has been so regularly withheld from him on the grounds that he is a self-professed “weirdo” who has always felt like the odd man out, both artistically and in his personal life.
“Our fans relate to our music, but most of the time the people who say that our music is dark and weird and sh*t like that — it doesn’t relate to them so they judge it based on what shocks them the most”, he said back in 2011. “I’ll be readin’ sh*t where people say, ‘He’s not lyrical, and rap is supposed to be lyrical and have passion,’ and I’m sitting there like, ‘He’s rappin’ about his life and how he misses his brother [on the song “Nightmare” from Goblin]’... So the fans walk away as fans who are relatin’ to the s**t, knowin’ what the f**k I’m talking that’s not passionate? But I guess those people just don’t relate to anything we’re saying, so they’re quick to judge.”
Where others would’ve been discouraged by these ideological blockades, Tyler extracted strength and maybe, just a healthy amount of spite, from the experience of being counted out so thoroughly... And in doing so, he’s utilized each deft reinvention as a way to thumb his nose at the critics.
“He was never that good of a rapper anyway, that’s why he had to pitch his voice and sing. Oh, really? Ok. Gave n****s a whole rap project- Tyler talks Call Me If You Get Lost.
Clearly, this undeterred spirit is exactly what’s needed if you are to successfully redraw the boundaries of your artistry. But, as Tyler’s next lesson reveals, you shouldn’t expect all the pieces to harmoniously come together.
People try to know what to do before they see the s**t and it just fully hinders everything and i’m so ok with failing and f****g up it’s like ok, that didn’t work, what’s next. Surrounding yourself with people who feel like that is the illest- Tyler on Converse Talk- 2:00-
In hip-hop, self-assurance is a quality that’s often viewed next to godliness and as a result, rappers are often unwilling to tread too far out of their comfort zones for fear of plummeting back to earth in a hail of jeers from theri listeners.
In Tyler’s book, this mindset is basically artistic strangulation. Instead, experimentation is where the joy, and most often, the spoils, are more likely to be found.
2:36- Me and my friend talk about it all the time, it’s like nature vs nurture. Just that idea and I’ve always been super curious, what’s that over there? Person. I’ve just always been that way.”
Always eager to explore any avenue and see what it yields, Tyler’s capacity for remodeling himself and subverting audience expectations is directly linked to this fearlessness to pursue ideas, even if they don’t always come to fruition. And as he detailed, there’s no shame in changing course or putting a pin in something that isn’t fully realized yet as you never know if it might lead to you striking gold at a later date.
“Oh no dude, you can come back to it. Like, I don’t get married to things. It’s like, oh this’ll work better here. It’s ok to move on and switch things up, come back to it later. See You Again, that came out in 2017, I think I started writing that in 2014, right when I first met Kali [Uchis]. Gone, Gone/Thank You off of Igor, those drum patterns were for Wolf. Sometimes I’m just not ready for things. I wore all black to an event two weeks ago and I was like, ah I’ll probably do that in two years and really dive into it.”- Tyler talks abandoning work- 4:10-
A man whose idiosyncrasies are integral to his appeal, Tyler knows that perceptions aren’t overturned overnight either. Once as well known for his comedic hijinks as he was for his capacity to intermingle the world of hip-hop with jazz-fusion inspired chord progressions, the notion that he was “funny” had the capacity to limit his appeal.
And over time, he realized that with some effort, this could be overturned, paving the way for the most successful eras of his career to take shape.
“People online tend to focus on what goes viral”, he said, “It takes all their attention. If I’m doing stupid stuff on social media, it will be more emphasized than my talent. Then, when I’ll go out for a walk, I’ll hear: “Hey, you are the guy who ate dog sh*t!”. I don’t want to be known for that. In 2017, I decided to stop my bullsh*t and make sure my music would come first. And it changed everything. Now, I can be silly and fun again”, he continued. “I’d rather have people think I’m the super talented guy who cracks a joke than the super funny guy who makes music.”
Although he could’ve spent his entire career retreading the joyful juvenile delinquency that helped to make him a star, Tyler wanted more and cajoled his audience into going along for the ride. In doing so, he found new recruits along the way.
This, in a nutshell, is the outlook that has led to the last but by no means least important step in Tyler’s method and it’s one that comes all down to having the courage to take the reins and light the way.
“People want something to believe in and it can either be positive or negative, but it’s just how you carry yourself. if you carry yourself with those leader qualities, like, I don’t need to listen to anyone, i’m gonna do this, I believe in this. Some people will be like ‘oh sh*t I guess…’ That’s how a lot of the greats are. I just notice similar qualities. Like, they’re themselves no matter what and some need that- Tyler on Big Boy– 2:00
An artist who came around in the dawning of the internet age, Tyler didn’t have to wait for any tastemakers nor industry gatekeepers to permit him to garner an audience.
In fact, he actively derided them at every opportunity. Instead, what has allowed Tyler to usher his fanbase from one productive period of his career to another– and what will be just as vital if you hope to mimic his career trajectory– is to always carry himself with such confidence that others are all too happy to come along for the ride.
For all intents and purposes, his decision to don a blonde wig and a multi-tonal suit for the IGOR era of his career should’ve raised eyebrows. But, because he threw himself into it with such zeal and energy, audiences came along with him.
In keeping with this deeply interwoven confidence, a tie-in which helps to make Tyler’s powers of reinvention so potent is that he aims high, uncompromisingly.
So, by the time that he was winning Grammys, the fact that he was the self-professed weirdo that was running rings around artists whose purpose is to garner commercial success such as DJ Khaled, it didn’t feel like a fluke, but the pay-off of years spent making himself a master of his own, ever-changing lane.
“Bro that Khaled thing was like…it was fun, it was just watching a man die inside. The weirdo was winning, I was moonwalking in a wig,” “This n***a had everyone on his album. Everyone. … He wasn’t wrong, I’m not in the barbershop, I’m not at the club, I’m not in the back of the Maybach. He’s not wrong, but what now?”I didn’t say nothing, I just let that №1 speak. N***a ego had to deal with that, because his whole identity is being №1. And when he didn’t get that, that sat with him longer in real-life time than that moment. I moved on, did some shows, went to London, went on with it- Tyler on Hot 97
Flanked by those who’ve looked to devalue the merits of the music since the outset of his career, DJ Khaled referring to his music “mysterious” probably felt like an accolade more than a jibe.
And because of the gravitas that he carries himself with, Tyler knew that he could head off in any direction he liked and still have the same appeal to an audience who’ve been conditioned to expect daring sonic leap
After all, Tyler’s output has created a revolution and spawned no shortage of artist who’ve followed his DIY-oriented path.
But ultimately, it was one that occurred with a degree of passivity about how it affected the wider musical landscape and was all about getting out his own creativity.
“I’m not trying to change the direction of anything”, he remarked. “I’m just doing what I wanna do, saying what I wanna say, and if the sh*t happens to change, then that’s cool. But I just like making the music I like making.”
In Tyler’s stellar run, we see that trying to consciously change the culture is less liable to work than simply leading with what inspires you. Not to mention, it teaches you that you don’t have to make concessions towards what’s popular or pander to the mainstream in order to succeed.
Instead, Tyler’s example teaches us to unflinchingly carry out our own visions as if his own string of successes are anything to go by, you’re liable to find that it strikes an emphatic chord with seemingly ‘different’ people around the world who are left unmoved by what’s occurring elsewhere in the genre.
So, when it comes time for you to switch up, they’ll be thrilled by the prospect, rather than scared of what’s waiting round the corner.
