Since the beginning of his career, outrageous and courageous Tyler, the Creator has turned heads with his bold lyrics and surprising talent for writing and producing rap music. In 2011, the twenty-two year old rap artist released his debut studio album entitled Goblin (“Tyler, the Creator”, n.d.). It was the second album in his trilogy and it immediately had people talking. One of the standalone songs on the album, “She” is an R&B rap song written by Tyler and features Frank Ocean on the chorus (“Tyler, the Creator”, n.d.). Lyrically, the song explores dark themes, such as a relationship between sex and violence, and it is beneficial to examine and explore different interpretations of its meaning in relation to its audience in order to
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In an article done for “Creative Cultures”, author Nick Catucci explains that XL Recordings picks up artists that already have an established sound and personality. Seeing that Tyler had already become a well-developed rap artist, the independent record label admired his individuality and did not want to censor him and his message (2011). Tyler, the Creator writes the majority of his own lyrics, produces his own music videos and took an active role in nearly every part of producing Goblin (Plagenhoef, 2011). With little censorship, Tyler was able to say nearly everything he wanted to and in an interview with Larry King, he voiced that freedom of expression is very important to him (Okonma, 2014). Tyler, the Creator is a character. He calls this character Wolf Haley and describes that he is the sexist, homophobic, murderer who headlines nearly every song. His manager, Christian Clancey states that Tyler is not for everyone; Tyler becomes this character because it pushes boundaries and gets attention (Battan, 2013). This says something about society and the music industry, additionally demonstrating that Tyler is not completely to blame for his obscene …show more content…
One must question if Tyler was not so shocking and offensive, would he have made such a splash and evoked a similar fame (Pollack, 2011)? The music industry pressures artists to turn heads and be different and for Tyler, this means being blunt and offensive; and his fans love it (Pollack, 2011). Tyler admits he is outrageous and is not afraid to say anything no matter the consequences (Okonma, 2014). This personality draws attention to him, whether positive or negative, and society supports it by buying his records or products from his clothing line and watching his television show (“Tyler, the Creator”, n.d.). In addition, he is a maven on social media and to his core fans, Tyler is accessible, relatable and approachable. Tyler created Wolf Haley as an instrument to ruffle the feathers of a sensitive society and his fans now expect it, support it, and pay for it. Furthermore, it is easy for some people to understand that this offensive character is just trying to make money. While this is surely true in my mind, my alternative perspective points out that its patriarchal nature is destructive for a humanist
In an article done for “Creative Cultures”, author Nick Catucci explains that XL Recordings picks up artists that already have an established sound and personality. Seeing that Tyler had already become a well-developed rap artist, the independent record label admired his individuality and did not want to censor him and his message (2011). Tyler, the Creator writes the majority of his own lyrics, produces his own music videos and took an active role in nearly every part of producing Goblin (Plagenhoef, 2011). With little censorship, Tyler was able to say nearly everything he wanted to and in an interview with Larry King, he voiced that freedom of expression is very important to him (Okonma, 2014). Tyler, the Creator is a character. He calls this character Wolf Haley and describes that he is the sexist, homophobic, murderer who headlines nearly every song. His manager, Christian Clancey states that Tyler is not for everyone; Tyler becomes this character because it pushes boundaries and gets attention (Battan, 2013). This says something about society and the music industry, additionally demonstrating that Tyler is not completely to blame for his obscene …show more content…
One must question if Tyler was not so shocking and offensive, would he have made such a splash and evoked a similar fame (Pollack, 2011)? The music industry pressures artists to turn heads and be different and for Tyler, this means being blunt and offensive; and his fans love it (Pollack, 2011). Tyler admits he is outrageous and is not afraid to say anything no matter the consequences (Okonma, 2014). This personality draws attention to him, whether positive or negative, and society supports it by buying his records or products from his clothing line and watching his television show (“Tyler, the Creator”, n.d.). In addition, he is a maven on social media and to his core fans, Tyler is accessible, relatable and approachable. Tyler created Wolf Haley as an instrument to ruffle the feathers of a sensitive society and his fans now expect it, support it, and pay for it. Furthermore, it is easy for some people to understand that this offensive character is just trying to make money. While this is surely true in my mind, my alternative perspective points out that its patriarchal nature is destructive for a humanist