Photo by Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock
"Mom is getting jealous, I see my manager more than I see her before I go on tour and it hurts. I miss the days when this was fun but now it turned into work" Golden by Tyler, The Creator
Tyler Gregory Okonma, or stage name, Tyler The Creator, just finished at the Something In The Water festival in Washington D.C. Where he crowned Pharrell the “greatest of all time.” After debuting his latest single, Cash In Cash Out with Pharrell and 21 savage.
Tyler was born on March 6th, 1991, in Ladera Heights, California. He spent most of his childhood bouncing from Hawthorne and Ladera Heights, but that wouldn’t stop him from pursuing a music career. In 2008, Tyler's’ name was known because the LA Times ran a “teen on the street” article. It wasn’t the best of circumstances, but he was given a second chance at 16. Around the same time this article was published, he created Odd Future (OF), a music group for teens ages 16-19, which later became a clothing line. In 2009 Tyler released his first mixtape titled Bastard. A couple of months later, he worked with Earl Sweatshirt from OF and received a million views on a mixtape, drawing a good amount of attention and bringing him to fame.
Tyler is now getting 22.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify. His album Call Me If You Get Lost was released on June 25th, 2021. His most popular song on the album is, “WusYaName,” which has received 7.5 million audio listens on Youtube and 12 million views on his official music video. This song features NBA Young Boy and Ty Dolla $ign. This album is one of the best, which would make sense since it received a Grammy.
His first Grammy was for Best Rap Album (Igor), and he received it in 2020. And, in 2022, he’s receiving his second Grammy for best album of the year. Upon receiving these two Grammys, he was nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance but was beaten by Kanye West, The Weeknd, and Lil Baby. His accomplishments thus far have been grand, but one of the most spectacular is his sold-out tour. The North American “Call Me If You Get Lost” tour featured three other artists: Kali Uchis, Vince Staples, and Teezo Touchdown and was completely sold out.
If you missed out on his sold-out tour and the something in the water festival, you’re in luck because he will be doing a second round for Call Me If You Get Lost in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia from June 3rd to August 3rd. If you don’t want to travel internationally, he is also set to headline at the Made In America 2022 Festival with Bad Bunny during Labor Day weekend, September 3-4, 2022. So don’t miss your chance; get your tickets now!
Tyler The Creator isn’t only known for music. He’s also known for fashion and for being a skateboard enthusiast. Odd Future, his first clothing line, is a clear example of this. OF, which looks like two dripping donuts, can be seen all over skateparks. You can find skate decks, shirts and hoodies. You can also find the clothes at Zumiez, a store that sells skateboarding gear. Tyler’s fashion speaks for itself, and you won’t find other modern-day rappers dressing the same. Tyler usually wears pastel colors, similar to what he sells on his second clothing line, Golf Wang.
Golf Wang was established in 2011 and was highly affiliated with Odd Future. Golf Wang then publicly separated in 2013. Shortly after the separation, Golf Wang took a life of its own. It started to generate sales and followed Tyler around as his main clothing line. It then began collaborating with big-name companies like Vans, Converse, Suicoke, Lacoste, and most recently, Levi’s. They drop new merchandise twice a year, one for spring/summer and one for autumn/winter. Their spring/summer collection just dropped last Saturday 6/18 at 9 am PST. Follow them on Instagram to find the latest update.
It’s easy to say that Tyler has done it all. He shows us his accomplishments, time and time again. Is he a perfect human? We all think so, and here’s why; Tyler, who owns a lot of clothes, and has two stores, drove to downtown L.A and donated a good portion of his clothes to homeless people. He sets it down and says, “there’s a big a-s box with fresh a-s clothes right here if any of you motherf–kers need it”. Tyler is doing it all right now, he almost seems undefeatable.
Cash In Cash Out debuted live for the first time yesterday, and is trending at #14 on Youtube. The collaboration between the three artists Pharrell, Tyler and 21 Savage. Is out of this world, and their music video says it all. Is this another one for the books? It definitely seems like it.
By Kevin Romero