Tyler, The Creator

Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), better known as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer.

Following a large contribution to Odd Future's early work, Tyler released his debut solo mixtape, Bastard, in 2009. After releasing his debut studio album, Goblin, via XL Recordings in April 2011, he signed a joint deal with RED Distribution and Sony Music Entertainment for himself and his label, Odd Future Records. With his gritty, horrorcore-influenced earlier releases, Tyler was often criticized for his use of homophobic and misogynistic slurs in his lyrics. He released the albums Wolf (2013) and Cherry Bomb (2015), the latter of which was considered to be a contrast from his previous releases as he experimented with melody-focused and jazz-fused sounds. Tyler's following albums, Flower Boy (2017), Igor (2019) were all released to widespread critical acclaim, with the latter two also debuting at number one on the Billboard 200.

Tyler, The Creator is a rap artist and a talented part-time provocateur. He is not like any celebrity, while very organically fits into the modern entertainment industry.

Starting to play music, the guy eventually expanded the scope of his professional activities and literally created a cult around his own clothing brand called Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (abbreviated as OFWGKTA). Thus, Tyler became something of a multimedia musician-businessman.

CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH

Tyler Gregory Okonma was born on March 6, 1991 in the tiny American town of Ladera Heights, located in California. From his father, he inherited Nigerian roots, and from his mother - European-Canadian. The performer said that he had never seen his father and did not communicate with him.

As a child, he lived in Ladera Heights and Hawthorne (located in southwest Los Angeles). Already at the age of 7, the future rap artist was drawing in his imagination the cover design for fictional music albums, including songs that were not even written. By the age of 14, Tyler, without the help of a teacher, mastered playing the classical keyboard instrument.

During 12 years of study in Los Angeles and Sacramento, the rapper constantly changed schools, as a result, their number reached 12. The performer has a 2-week experience in the FedEx postal company and a 2-year experience in the world-famous Starbucks coffee shop.

With the help of the international social network Myspace, the rapper came up with a stage name for himself. As an ordinary user, he posted various media content on the Web and added the prefix The Creator to the main name Tyler. Over time, the name in the artist's profile was displayed as Tyler, The Creator.

MUSIC

The creative biography of a talented hip-hop artist is associated with collaboration with the British independent label XL Recordings, as well as with his own record company Odd Future Records. In addition to building a solo career, Tyler, The Creator is developing as the leader of the OFWGKTA team, which performs songs in the alternative hip-hop genre.

Okonma himself rapped for a large number of the group's compositions, as well as producing them and creating photos for the covers of all OFWGKTA releases. The guy said in an interview with DJ Semtex that he designs all the costumes and paraphernalia of the members.

On December 25, 2009, Tyler Gregory, without anyone's help, prepared the first mixtape for release, which was entitled Bastard. The editors of the glossy publication Pitchfork Media awarded the musical work of the aspiring solo musician the 32nd position in the "Best Release of the Year" rating.

In the winter of 2011, Okonma presented a video for the song Yonkers, which is the first single from his debut studio album Goblin, which hit stores on May 10 of the same year. The visual work attracted the attention of some media and was later nominated for the music award of the popular television channel MTV.

Tyler Gregory Okonma is ranked #9 in Complex's Top 25 Rappers Under 25 in the World. In 2015 and 2016, the hip-hop artist flew to Russia and gave several successful concerts in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

Tyler has been criticized for controversial homophobic language in his songs and tweets. The performer quickly responded to criticism and stated that he is not a homophobe and uses epithets of this kind as an adjective to describe worthless nonsense, and among his fans there are people with a non-traditional sexual orientation who are not offended by texts of this nature.

After the release of the album Scum Fuck Flower in the songs Garden Shed, Foreword, I Ain't Got Time and Ziploc, which were released separately, critics discovered the hidden meaning and considered that the artist confessed his orientation. In the summer of 2017, Tyler told one publication that he was in a relationship with a young man when he was 15 years old, but over time he denied his own words and said that he used it as a figurative expression.

PERSONAL LIFE

None of the official sources contain reliable information about the artist's personal life and the presence of a girlfriend, but rumors about non-traditional orientation are constantly fueled by various events.

For example, a mixed reaction followed after a public statement by the singer and actor Jaden Smith, who is a friend of Tyler. At the rapper's concert, the son of a famous actor very emotionally announced that Okonma is not only his best friend, but also a boyfriend. The performer himself translated it all as a joke and continued to develop this topic on his pages on Instagram and Twitter.

In the fall of 2018, the young man got into a car accident when he tried to park his snow-white Tesla X in one of the districts of Los Angeles. Tyler's fans sounded the alarm, but later it became known that no one was injured during the incident. The musician denied rumors that he was drunk at that time, saying that he allegedly simply did not get enough sleep the day before.

TYLER, THE CREATOR TODAY

In 2020, the artist received a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album of the Year. Recall that the victory was brought to him by the disc Igor, consisting of 12 tracks. During this period of time, he held several concerts in his native country. At the end of June 2021. The LP topped 16 tracks.

Pharrell Williams, 21 Savage and Tyler, the Creator have acquired a joint track. The release of the work took place on all component structures on June 10.