Rapper and Odd Future member Tyler, The Creator has never been one to shy away from using social media to discuss and combat his many vocal critics. So when 19-year-old Reddit user cokomok left a post yesterday on /r/OFWGKTA, declaring him or herself “done” with the Cherry Bomb rapper and citing the latest album’s move away from darker, more relatable material in favor of aspirational braggadocio, it wasn’t wholly surprising to hear that Tyler had taken to the internet to fire back.
Writing on his Spring.me—formerly Formspring—account, Tyler launched a 924-word response against the five-paragraph post, refuting claims that he talked too much about jewelry or cars on Cherry Bomb, or that he should still be expected to rap about his depressing past four years after Odd Future broke big:
he said he releated to me when i was depressed and living with my grandmother.
dude, that was in 2011. its 2015, if he really thinks that 4 years later i would still be living on my dead grandmothers floor, and still be sad with all these amazing things happening around me, then he is stuck in 2011. and i dont mean that in a bad way, when you have a favorite artist, you tend to grasp onto an era, trust me i do that with artist that i love but i also know they grow and see new things and change and mature and all of that. im sorry that im not in the same place to talk about those things that were happening in 2011. i dont know what to tell you, my life is in a different spot right now and like on every album, i talk about whats going on in my life AT THAT MOMENT.
(What’s going on AT THE MOMENT apparently being Tyler, The Creator’s ongoing love/hate relationship with his keyboard’s Shift key.)
For a long internet screed written in response to a teenager’s dismissal of his craft, Tyler’s essay is remarkably calm and understanding, addressing each of cokomok’s issues and often conceding that they have a point. Still, he did take issue with the idea that he shouldn’t be talking so much about his new-found happiness, for fear that it might alienate his hitherto-unalienatable fans:
and being hapy doesnt mean you have to say it all the time? why not? why cant i share my joy with the world? ohhh, it was cool when i was raping girls and telling you how sad i was on records, but when shit changes and im feeling great and i fuck with myself you cant deal with it? cause you cant relate? is that why? or maybe its my ego talking. idk know what it is, but after a while you realize you dont want to be around people who isnt positive, who isnt focused who dont want more. why would you want to be around someone is is a downer?
It’s a fair point, especially since nothing establishes someone as a happy person more clearly than loudly and repeatedly declaring their happiness, then writing long essays in response to simple criticisms from strangers. In any case, Tyler doesn’t plan on changing soon, declaring that he’ll continue to be himself forever (and also, amazingly, that he’ll “maybe open a movie theater or a park”), then reiterating that point with a merchandising plug that’s either completely tone deaf or a hilarious joke, depending on where you stand.
sorry im not sad, sorry i didnt have a story line to cover up my flaws of sound b, sorry the last album was 100 percent me and not from the perspective of a bunch of made up people, sorry that i can gives all my boys jobs and my mother and sister have a roof over their head, sorry i have big plans to do stuff outside of rap like maybe open a movie theater or a park, sorry that im getting started on those things now, sorry that im into stones now ( its a video from 2011 sxsw where i had the icy GOLF pendant, but yall prolly dont remember that, didnt i wear chains in yonkers?) sorry that i like cars and like to talk about it, soooo sorry that ive turned into the guy i hated ( idk if thats true but that what yall think , i have not worn leather pants or been to the club ha) sorry for being me, i apologize in advance cause IM GONNA CONTINUE TO DO THAT FOREVER
PS: i am making overalls for F/W GOLF