From the Margins to the Mainstream: Tyler, the Creator
Rapper Tyler, the Creator first gained cult status due to his “politically incorrect” rap lyrics labeled as shock humor. During his early career, Tyler had a few viral moments and songs, but he was far from reaching mainstream success due to the content of his music. His use of shock humor catered directly to mostly male teenagers who ate up anything inherently offensive. The “punchline” of these lyrics regularly came to the expense of marginalized groups such as the queer community. According to entertainment magazine NME, Tyler used “the word ‘f*****’ [f-slur] and its variants a total of 213 times” in his 2011 album Goblin (Martin 2011). His rampant use of homophobic slurs in his early music did face criticism, but it was mostly embraced by his growingly radical audience. The essay “Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online” traverses the complex world of memes and how internet “trolling” persists in the digital age. Tyler, during his time on the margins of popular culture, perfectly embodied the definition of an “internet troll”. He used “deliberately offensive language” whilst accomplishing “the preservation of his ambiguity” (Marwick and Lewis 2017). To Tyler’s audience it was “impossible to tell” if his offensive lyrics displayed “an expression of sincere extremism” or “a parody of extremism”. This phenomenon is called “Poe’s Law” (p. 5). This ambiguity allowed Tyler to make as many vile comments as he wanted in his music, as it was labeled as mere trolling. Tyler has gone onto state in an interview with NME magazine, “I don’t want anyone to think I am homophobic” despite his trolling of the queer community through the utilization of slurs (Martin 2011). The offensive nature of Tyler’s music at this time, protected by Poe’s Law, coincided with his position on the margins. In his 2011 song, “Yonkers” Tyler makes threats against mainstream pop stars B.O.B. and Bruno Mars, threatening to “stab” Mars in his “esophagus” (Okonma 2011). His resent for mainstream “pop” is clear through these disturbing lyrics. Ironically, Tyler would eventually need to cease trolling to cultivate a more desirable audience and eventually become a mainstream artist like Mars.
Tyler’s second studio album “Wolf” released two years after “Yonkers”. The 2013 album explores themes of love, revenge, and Tyler’s response to his audience. The latter of which I will be exploring further. The album’s ninth track, “Colossus”, presents a fictionalized tale of an obsessive fan that Tyler claims is based off a true experience. “Colossus” is best understood as a satire of perceived interconnectedness between fans and creators. Crystal Abidin explores “parasocial relationships” in her essay “Communicative Intimacies: Influencers and Perceived Interconnectedness”. Drawing upon the work of Horton and Wohl, Abidin explains “parasocial relations enable the audience to cultivate an extensive knowledge of the television or radio personality, without any actual reciprocity involved” (Abidin 2015). The obsessive fan of “Colossus” demonstrates extensive knowledge of Tyler’s personal life. The fan refers to Tyler’s failed relationship with a girl named “Raquel”, stating he “should’ve killed that bitch” (Okonma 2013). The fan feels entitled to the knowledge he has of Tyler’s personal life and feels comfortable making this horrifying assertion due to the perceived interpersonal connection he has with the artist. The fan feels Tyler will support this violent sentiment due to the shock humor Tyler is known for employing. Additionally, Tyler explores the one-sided intimacy of a para social relationships, taking it to the extreme once again. The fan first claims that himself and Tyler “go together like snare and a beat” before expressing his desire to kidnap Tyler and wishes he “had a basement meant for” hiding Tyler away (Okonma 1). The fan, seeking an intimate relationship with Tyler, eventually expresses his sexual desires with the rapper as well. Although “Colossus” was fictious song, Tyler demonstrates a clear discomfort for the community he created through his inappropriate lyricism and antics. Tyler sought to appeal to rebellious teenagers, but he cultivated an extreme side of his audience who perceived Tyler’s trolling as reality. To further adapt into the mainstream as well as nurture a more desirable audience, he would need to go through an artistic revival. That is exactly what he did.
In Tyler’s ensuing projects, he ditched the use of shock humor completely. He instead opted for the exploration of socials issues. On his 2017 album, “Flowerboy”, Tyler both explores the black experience and his own reluctance to come to terms with his sexuality. While Tyler’s previous work seemed to belittle the marginalized groups that he was reluctant to claim, “Flowerboy” illustrates Tyler’s true self. On the second track, Tyler raps about letting black children express themselves despite suppression by heteronormative cultural expectations. He pushes back against hypermasculinity, which he once preached, stating “tell these black kids they can be who they are. Dye your hair blue, shit I’ll do it too” (Okonma 2017). Additionally, he builds off this rejection of normalized homophobia in the black community with track 7: “Garden Shed”. In the song, Tyler equates his hidden attraction to men to a physical garden shed storing tools. Tyler utilizes this track to formally come out to his audience as queer: an audience that knowingly sang along to his homophobic lyrics for years. So, what happened after this dramatic shift? Tyler absolutely exploded. Tyler’s fan base multiplied rapidly following the release of Floweboy, and he know boasts over 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify. If we draw further upon the work of Abidin, we can see how Tyler was able to cultivate intimacy with a much broader audience due to preaching inclusion not exclusion. Flowerboy brought in a much more progressive, desirable audience for Tyler who did not resonate with him due to his problematic “troll” persona, but they listened because of his acceptance. After the commercial success of Flowerboy, Tyler’s next two albums followed suit in both popularity and themes of being true to oneself.
Of course, Tyler’s dramatic shift does not excuse his past behavior. At the time, Tyler was presenting as straight, and his use of hate speech directly fueled conservative radicalism. However, it is encouraging to see an artist both recognize their faults and correct them. Tyler is not without flaw, but his rise into the mainstream is a fascinating one to study as it pushes against the notion that “one has to suppress their personal beliefs to become popular”. Tyler, the Creator did the opposite.
References
Abidin, C. (n.d.). Communicative ❤ Intimacies: Influencers and Perceived Interconnectedness. A Journal of Gender, New Media, & Technology 8.
Martin, D. (2011, June 16). Tyler, the creator: 'My gay fans don't find my language offensive'. NME. Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://www.nme.com/news/music/odd-future-82-1278567
Marwick, A., & Lewis, R. (2017). Media manipulation and disinformation online. Data & Society Research Institute.
Tyler, the Creator. (2011). Yonkers. On Goblin. Odd Future.
Tyler, the Creator. (2013). Colossus. On Wolf. Odd Future.
Tyler, the Creator. (2017). Flowerboy [Album]. Columbia.
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