Tyler, The Creator Talks Meme Rappers And Ian: “He’s, Like, Mocking Future And Gucci Mane”
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Recently, Tyler, The Creator sat for an interview on Mav Carter’s Mavericks podcast. A few days ago, a preview of that interview went viral. In the clip, Tyler vented about “so many n***as out right now that aren’t musicians that are getting treated like musicians ’cause they make meme records.” The full interview came out yesterday, and it’s got Tyler going into greater depth about what he meant. As it turns out, he meant Ian.
Ian, the preppy-looking white guy who raps like an Atlanta trap artist, has had a bunch of viral moments lately. (His Lil Yachty collab “Hate Me” came out a few weeks ago.) In the Mavericks interview, Tyler makes it clear that he’s not a fan. That part of the interview comes up after Tyler complains about rap’s current attention economy — the way that music itself has taken a backseat to gossip and virality. Tyler calls himself “a music nerd and a musician,” and he says that music is the only thing he wants to talk about.
In the interview, Tyler accuses certain rappers of “taking up space from people who really care about this artform,” and he brings up Ian as an example. He never says Ian’s name, but it’s pretty clear who he’s talking about:
It’s some kid right now — this white kid, regular caucasian man. And he’s, like, mocking Future and Gucci Mane — like, rap music — and people are like, “This shit hard!” It’s not even, like, satire, like “I’m just joking, I’m just mocking.” And I hold rap music so close to my heart ’cause this shit changed my life and everyone’s life around me, and I’m a nerd about the shit. This is, like, weird. I’m looking at it, and something about it don’t even sit well, in comparison to someone like a Mac Miller or Eminem, who it didn’t seem like they was mocking it. They had a genuine love for it.
Tyler goes on to apologize to Eminem for dissing his Recovery album. Watch the interview below; that part starts around the 18:24 mark.