Tyler, the Creator Criticizes ‘Meme’ Musicians: ‘You’re Taking Up Space’

Tyler, the Creator has recently voiced some strong opinions about the current state of rap and media in a new interview. Despite his criticisms, these sentiments stem from a place of deep respect for the genre and its culture.

In a teaser for an upcoming episode of the web series, Mavericks with Mav Carter, Tyler critiques artists whom he perceives to have motivations other than genuine musical expression. He stated, “There’s so many niggas out right now that aren’t musicians that are getting treated like musicians because they make meme records — publicly will be like, ‘I don’t give a fuck about music. I just do this shit for money.’”

Tyler used the popular triple Spider-Man meme to illustrate how these artists are overshadowing those who are truly passionate about their craft. He admitted, “I don’t want to seem like a hater. Sometimes I have hater energy because I just think I’m that good.”

In the interview, Mav Carter, LeBron James’ business partner at SpringHill, asked Tyler if his frustration was due to his care for the art form. Tyler passionately responded, “I love this art form so much, bro.” The full interview is set to premiere on YouTube on August 14.

Adding to the discourse, rapper Russ shared the clip on X, agreeing with Tyler’s take. “Spot on,” Russ commented. “Making music solely to get rich is why the majority of the music sucks ass.”

Last year, Tyler made headlines when he appeared to criticize Complex’s interview shows like Hot Ones and Sneaker Shopping. Speaking with Nardwuar at his Camp Flog Gnaw festival, Tyler urged for a return to focusing on music. “We need to stop fucking going sneaker shopping or fucking deep-throating hot wings for an hour,” he said. “Talk about your album. Talk about music. Talk about the 15 songs that you guys have spent time to get mixed and mastered and put your heart into and produced and did all these things.”

Tyler later clarified his comments, stating his frustration wasn’t targeted specifically at Hot Ones but at the broader trend of gimmicky artist interviews. He explained in an Instagram story, “I could’ve said one of the podcast/outlets that really pushes the more negative stuff, but in the moment I didn’t.” He added, “So Sean [Evans] you didn’t really deserve the energy that comes off, wasn’t my intention at all. Although, ‘deep throating chicken’ sounds hilarious to me.”

Source: Particlenews, YouTube, Complex, Instagram