“I have gay fans,” Tyler, the Creator told MTV earlier this week. “They don’t really take it offensive, so I don’t know. If it offends you, it offends you.” This was his latest response to the accusations of homophobia that have dogged him over his short career, accusations largely catalysed by his persistent and casual use of the word “faggot” in his rhymes and his Tweets. “If you call me a nigger,” he continued, “I really don’t care, but that’s just me, personally. Some people might take it the other way; I personally don’t give a shit.” The implication: they’re just words. But here’s the thing. Words are precious, powerful things. We dismiss and devalue them at our peril. And Tyler, the Creator needs to a) grow up and b) think about what he says.
In a way, Tyler’s bluster is pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a 20-year-old with the world at his feet and a bunch of people telling him he’s the best thing to happen to hip hop since, well, the last big thing to happen to hip hop. As kids (and given America’s ever-extending adolescence, that’s exactly what Tyler still is), we all said stupid things that we now regret, and we often responded aggressively when someone called us out on it. But that doesn’t change the fact: Tyler, the Creator needs to grow the fuck up.
As a rapper, Tyler’s stock in trade is words. And yet he throws them around with no thought for what they mean. This is a problem in a number of ways. First, of course, it’s just plain lazy. If the best you can use your words for is shock value, then perhaps you should just say nothing. More importantly, though, the fact that you think a word means nothing, doesn’t necessarily make it so. Words carry a whole weight of historical and cultural baggage, and it’s baggage you open every time you utter them.
Before he tweets casually about “that fag BET cahnnel”, Tyler would do well to remember that there are still parts of the world where you can be sentenced to death for being gay. He (and, perhaps, the gay fans he’s allegedly spoken to) are lucky enough to live in a country that isn’t Uganda. America isn’t this way by accident; it’s this way because people have stood up against the sort of prejudice and hatred Tyler tosses off so thoughtlessly in his rhymes. And so, perversely enough, the fact Tyler and his fans are in a position to think the word “faggot” could ever be harmless can ultimately be traced back to Stonewall and the gay rights movement. And even with the benefit of generations of hard work, growing up gay in America can still constitute a death sentence. Consistent use of words that equate homosexuality with negative connotations don’t exactly help.
You can draw a parallel with the other word that Tyler dismisses so easily – because perhaps he should be upset if someone calls him a nigger. For all that its mutant misspelled counterpart “nigga” has become part of a different lexicon, the original word still carries all the connotations it ever has. Used as an insult, it carries the weight of centuries of prejudice, and oppression, and discrimination. As the scion of a comfortably middle class black family, Tyler is lucky enough to be in the position to be able to just blow it off if someone racially abuses him. We suspect that Rosa Parks might have felt differently. That Tyler can be so blasé about the use of the word “nigger” is, again, down to the work of generations of civil rights activists who refused to accept oppression and discrimination on the basis of race. Again, not everyone is so lucky.
These words aren’t as harmless as Tyler thinks they are. When you open your mouth, when you choose your words, you embrace the weight of their meaning. And when you’re speaking to anyone apart from yourself in the mirror, that choice carries a responsibility. We don’t want to come over all curmudgeonly uncle here, but here in America, we’re lucky: we can say whatever we want. We take our First Amendment rights very seriously, and rightly so. We’re less inclined to consider their attendant responsibilities, which can be conveniently summarized in about four words: “Don’t be a dickhead.” When we use our hard-won freedom of speech for shock value, to purvey racial and sexual epithets for no purpose other than proving how naughty we are, we devalue that freedom.
Words are powerful things. And Tyler knows this. As the Wall Street Journal noted perceptively in their review of an Odd Futures show last month, “[Tyler] uses epithets like “faggot” in a way that seems to recognize how hurtful they can be, but without acknowledging why.” And, just as importantly, without asking why. And as far as we’re concerned, that’s the worst sort of intellectual cowardice there is.
Comments (55)
Dear Tyler, the Creator,
You do NOT have gay fans.
We don’t look UP to you, we PITY you as an African American man who understands the pain of being treated badly for being black, yet so eagerly passes that pain onto others for being gay.
A rather large distinction, no?
Stay classy, Tyler, the Creator. Always do stay classy.
The last thing I would associate OFWGKTA with is the word “intellectual”…
this article is soo off base.. how much maturity and empathy are you supposed to have at 20? No disputing that his way of writing and statements are not reflective of the tolerant society that we’d like to live in.. but is HipHop supposed to be that? or is it a reflection of the writers/artist world.. and can’t it be said that dropping N’bombs and spewing nonsense is completely appropriate for the artist based on his/her perspective..
its absurd to force our values onto a musical form that was created to buck mainstream values….
Like Louis Ck’s point on Tracy morgan, I don’t want to live in a world where a Rapper can’t say crazy shit in the context of rapping!
Cmon guys we went through this with NWA?!
“how much maturity and empathy are you supposed to have at 20?”
Lots. You’re a fucking adult, for God’s sake.
“I don’t want to live in a world where a Rapper can’t say crazy shit…”
You don’t. As I pointed out, he can say whatever he wants. But I suggest that he should think about how he exercises that right.
Humm.. i had absolutely no context for empathy at 20? i hadn’t traveld.. had yet to go off to school.. hadn’t really had my first real relationship.. Sure you supposed to be an adult, but are you?
my main point is, is it right to apply our views of “acceptable” and “mature” to a culture that was created as a response to values forced on urban youth.. values like “acceptable Beauty” “acceptable Speech” “acceptable ways of making a living”
I don’t think so, I think rap is an art because it can exist outside of societal norms, be they good or bad..
btw, i am not a tyler fan.. mainly cause i’m not 20 and i can’t relate to his content..
Hey I have an idea, how about you stop covering this tool?
@Taskrokone: sure, I agree with you up to a point – and like I said, we all did dumb shit when we were his age (I know I did). But if I’d called anyone a faggot, my parents (and friends) would have come down on me like a ton of bricks, and rightly so. If he says this sort of stuff, people are going to call him out on it, and instead of just blowing them off, he might want to actually think about why the things he says upset people.
Music content in general is hard to monitor considering the whole freedom of speech thing. There are ALL kinds of words that are used in the rap world and other types of music that are offensive. I think the use of both the n word and the f word shouldn’t be used. So I don’t use them. When I hear someone using them I let them know it offends me. Both are ignorant and not very creative for a so called “artist”. The only thing that you can do is treat him just as you would treat a child throwing a tantrum. IGNORE HIM. When I say ignore I mean don’t buy his albums, turn the channel when he pops up on MTV. Side note: Do people still watch MTV? Sad.. I would just hope that the kid grows up sooner than later and understand that the, “shock jock” Eminem/Jackass shit went out like 10 years ago. Pick up a goddamn book. Learn new words.
When I was 20 (or 15), I had the intelligence to know that “faggot” is a stupid thing to say. 1) It makes you sound like a middle-school aged jackass. 2) It’s offensive and hate-filled.
Sure, I can acknowledge that most men aged 18-30 are essentially hairier versions of their 12 year old selves, but COME ON.
Here’s a better idea for an article: “Why People Should Acknowledge Tyler, the Creator as a Talentless Kid Who Produces Material That Could Easily Be Bested in the Backyard of a College Party.” Or, “Tyler, the Creator, Why the Hell Are We Even Giving This Child Press?”
He does need to grow up, but if you think he sucks (and he does), stop writing articles about him.
………at which point joe and Cameron arrive to CONCLUSIVELY PROVE MY POINT.
He is using the word pejoratively.
Get the fuck over it.
“He is using the word pejoratively.”
Um, well, yes. That’s kind of the point.
I want to begin by saying I don’t condone Tyler’s use of the word faggot, but I want to defend his music nevertheless. The main reason being that while people focus on his use of “faggot”, that hardly comprises the majority of the language in his songs. The title track from his most recent album, Goblin, is a pointed view into the life of somebody climbing into fame and backlash without a steady background. He tells stories, and paints pictures, and yeah, maybe he uses a bad word way more than he should. One of my best friends, who is gay, hates the word, however he listens to and enjoys Tyler’s music. I’m not saying he should keep using the word, he shouldn’t. But to strip an entire career down to one word is completely dismissive of the positive work he does, the good music he makes, and the intricacies of his lyrics. I also find it interesting that in the same week many (and not you necessarily Tom) agree that Tracy Morgan was wrong to make anti-gay jokes, but hey, we’ll still enjoy him on 30 Rock, we are still discussing why Tyler’s use of the word faggot means anything he ever does is immature and unworthy of praise.
@Josh – a good point. For the record, I don’t think everything he ever does is immature and unworthy of praise – otherwise, I just wouldn’t bother writing about him. I think it’s the same with a lot of critics – people can see his talent, and also his flaws. I fall into the “he’s a talented producer who’s made some great beats and clearly also has a way with a rhyme” camp, which is why I dearly wish he wasn’t also such a dickhead.
“As an African American man who understands the pain of being treated badly for being black” here goes the race card which is ALWAYS throw out in cases such as this. When people are hurt they immediately go to race because it’s so easy. How about taking another tack? How about… Tyler the Creator is representative of the “Me Generation” and an American culture that thinks it has transcended racism and sexism and has now moved on to other things like being carefree and throwing caution to the wind (until it impacts cash flow)?
Plus, I surely don’t want to censor him. I want to embrace him and send him to college (outside of the U.S. because U.S. education is part of the problem).
2 things:
One) could all the immature OFWGKTA fans stop posting vile comments and generally acting in a fashion akin to WHAT THE PRECONCEIVED NOTION OF YOUR BEHAVIOR IS? PLEASE? It makes it REALLY HARD TO DEFEND THIS MUSIC AROUND HERE.
Two) if that was really Hodgy that just posted all that vulgar stuff and got deleted, email me, I have some music for you. Actually, don’t. No, do. Wait…
I agree, stripping down Tyler’s career to the his excessive use of the word “faggot” is just as ignorant. Yes, I do know the history behind the word “nigger” and “faggot”. Don’t forget, Richard Pryor use to throw around that word like it was spitfire. Fact of the matter is, rap uses that word, now. On to the word, “faggot”, however. That word has two meanings, but for some of those who identify with the LBGT scene, me being one of them, they take it offensively, which shouldn’t be taken as such unless it’s a direct attack on someone’s sexuality. C’mon, everybody’s afraid to say it, but it’s take a new meaning and we can’t please everybody. That word or any other offensive or even double-meaning word isn’t going away. You people sometimes forget that an artist is an artist. They are writing through their voice. Tyler is himself. He preaches that. He isn’t trying to be anyone else. Simple solution: If you don’t like Tyler, the Creator. Don’t listen to him. He’s not for everyone, and I’m sure he’d be on the defensive if one of his fans started attacking homosexuals and attributed it to him. Case closed.
faggot, nigger, cunt, all just words until you give them power. stop being offended at words; you give them power out of context.. if no one is spitting these words towards you directly in a hateful manner, you need not take up arms. I give people the thumbs up gesture more crudely than he uses words, and the recipients get the picture. It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.
shut the fuck up about telling him he needs to grow up. he has every right to do whatever the fuck he wants as does everyone. his and OF’s real message that dumbasses like you overlook is to do whatever makes you happy and fuck whoever tells you that you cant. he doesn’t hate gays he’s just using a word he’s grown up around his whole life that hasn’t been used to discriminate or encourage hate against homosexuals but just to joke around with his friends. it’s stupid to get caught up and take words so seriously in this day and age. he’s living his dream doing what makes him happy and you’re wasting your time being upset and all focused on a word he uses. you’re the one who needs to grow up and do something with your life, faggot.
I don’t like when people call Tyler dumb, or ignorant. He was in gifted classes in school, the guy is literally a genius. He had a tough childhood and now he finally reaches his dream of having a successful album, with two hit videos, and you tell him to grow up? With that logic, you should tell Lil’ Wayne to stop being God-awful and Justin Bieber to stop being loved by everything with a vagina. It’s what they do, it’s their thing that makes them successes. He’s a hit, and he’s awesome; get over it. This is a shit article. People say “fag” not just for insulting homosexuals. When I say fag, it’s just to mean “stupid,” like how gay is said for that. This world sucks, Kobe gets fined for saying, “faggot,” and now Tyler is being told to change for it. Faggot has been used in hip-hop FOREVER. Just because this young, atheist kid uses it more frequently doesn’t mean he is doing any person wrong, or that he celebrates SATAN 666 OMG. Also, yes, he does have gay fans, his DJ (and background vocalist in some songs), Syd, is a lesbian. So, fuck off… faggots. Swag.
@Matt – “People say “fag” not just for insulting homosexuals. When I say fag, it’s just to mean “stupid,” like how gay is said for that.”
THAT’S EXACTLY THE FUCKING POINT.
*bashes head on desk in despair*
soo do yall want to address all the other rappers that use offensive language? the costant use of the word bitch to describe a woman and constant reminder that they good for nothin but sex? or how the word nigga is pumped into the brain every five seconds. music is self expression and tyler does that well doesnt matter if he’s famous he isnt anyones fuckin role model. you people steady bitchin about him, use your fuckin common sense and DONT FUCKIN LISTEN TO HIM.You all sound like FAGGOTS shut the fuck up
@Tom Hawking
you didn’t make any point ;D
l2debate
in LD you’d be given last place
whoever wrote this article is a lame bitch. this is a kid who living his dream and doing what he wants to do. pretty sure someone told you to stop doing this lame ass blog but you kept doing it. fucking loser. if you dont like his shit dont listen faggots. and who said that faggot had to be a gay slur dumb bitch. fuck all you hatin ass fuckers who dont understand shit about this group. how about you do some research whore. this cat that wrote this is prob like in his 40s and listens to bob dylan faggot. wolf gang
@sandra bullock
ok, by ending your paragraph with “wolf gang”, it’s already assumed you follow them. So your biased opinion doesn’t really resonate with an objective tone.
I get what you’re trying to say, but that defense is also hypocritical in a sense that words don’t mean anything, yet you typed it all out wanting to be heard. If it words have no value, why even communicate or let your voice be known?
“if you dont like his shit dont listen faggots.” – couldn’t that be said the same of you? Just replace “listen” with “read”
“fuck all you hatin ass fuckers” – and what exactly is this? Positive thinking?
lol, I get it. The mere fact I’m replying means that you won. Which is essentially how Tyler conducts himself…smiling inside with a troll face since any publicity is a good one.
[...] section is pretty much the sewer of the virtual world (along with the comments section on this post, obviously). Even so, it was disheartening to see the deluge of vitriol that arrived as soon as the [...]
Maybe you are all homosexuals!
to me, tyler the creator is a fucking genius ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg16groqSgE ) and shouldnt be frowned because of the use of a word (kind of like being frowned upon for being gay and no other reason). also, words are words, people with not understand them, or take them too seriously. By the way, being ‘grown up’ is not a perfectly good thing by any means. the people complaining about tyler being homophobic are turning into what they are complaining about tyler for being, a bully. why not just pick on almost every adolescent boy in America. Tyler has stated that he doesnt mean it that way, so grow the fuck up and stop picking on a twenty year old black rapper. their are tons of other rappers you could complain about. not to be blunt, but fuck you.
You’re a faggot.
First, I think Odd Future is garbage music.. but gays need to man the FUCK up and stop being cry babies… People will be saying “thats gay” and “faggot” for a long time so get over it… And if you think Tyler is bad.. you might want to check out other rappers who say “faggot”, like Jay-Z, Nas, Common, Busta, Ghostface etc..
Tyler is a 20 year old man who has grown up during a generation where the word faggot is changing from a derogatory term towards homosexuals into something more along to lines of saying asshole or douche-bag. I am 18 years old and everyone that I have known, from jock-assholes to nerdy mathletes, uses the word faggot in some sort of form, but the overall use is not towards demeaning homosexuals. Yes, i’m sure some of them do use faggot to demean homosexuals but no, the way Tyler is using it is not in that way because he has grown up with a different definition. Just because it is hard to understand does not mean that it is wrong, it requires openmindedness and acceptance to realize that Tyler is not putting down homosexuals, but simply stating his disdain for a certain individual in a way that is new and frightening to older generations.
Yep, and meanwhile, back in the brave new homophobia-free world of that “generation where the word faggot is changing from a derogatory term towards homosexuals into something more along to lines of saying asshole or douche-bag”:
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/34/11/wb_bariewythe_2011_3_18_bk.html
all you people that are getting so bent out of shape need to get the fucking stick out of your ass. fag, faggot, gay, etc. are hardly used as insults towards gays anymore, its become a part of pop culture/slang lexicon. deal with it. if you hate his music, dont listen to it. the dude’s 20 years old and he’s doing what he wants to do, i admire the hell outta that. everybody’s so fucking politically correct and boring nowadays, fuck that. tyler the creator > you faggots.
faggot fucks, shut the fuck up. fuck the faggots if they cant look past a bunch of words. these words are becoming more commonly used, get over it, and if people gain a sense of superiority over those who use these words then they might as well slit their fuckin wrists because the shit isnt going to get better. the next generation of kids are going to rape you old closed-minded fucks.
GOLF WANG
…FAGGOT
article is lulzy. the majority of tylers appeal is his not giving any fuck what he says or does. while i dont deny his talent, theres no way in hell his career would have took off the way it did if censored himself. hed be just another rapper, afraid to push boundaries.
ok seriously. This is getting wildly out of hand. Tyler, The creator is and artist. Get over the fact that he uses a word such as Faggot. I Don’t think he’s ever looked at a gay man and called him a faggot cause he was gay. I’m sure that if he in fact has it was because that person being a faggot. Yes i use it too. and don’t act so high and mighty. I’m sure you have at some point or other. Get over it. And to say that he is part of a comfortably middle class family? Have you ever listened to any of his songs about growing up in a ghetto? When was the last you went to a middle class school that had a metal detector? Get over it. And honestly if you can’t do that, you are just being a FAGGOT yourself. the meaning of the word has changed just like the word Nigger and all other sorts of words have. GET OVER UR FUCKING SELVES AND STOP BEING SO FUCKING PC ALL THE FUCKING FAGGOTTY TIME.
“Oh noes, Tyler The Creator is practicing free speech and creatively poking fun at us homosexuals, let’s act pretentious and pretend we’re smarter!”
FAGS. You don’t like free speech? Move to Saudi Arabia, let’s see if you’ll like it there.
Butthurt pseudo-intellectual bloggers all need to GTFO of America or stay butthurt. Ya big batch of PC word wimps.
well i suppose i understand where you’re coming from Tom. but while you and other people are writing articles about Tyler’s use of the word faggot, he’s out chasing and achieving all his dreams. I’m not saying this article is pointless because you have the freedom to write about whatever you want whenever you want. and i get the frustration with the casual usage of faggot. however these things happen and they tend to just fade away as people get older. and if they don’t, let those people stay ignorant. they are living in an awful world.
i just did not really like this article because it seemed like you were controlled by your emotions too much. tyler is “that guy” in the music world right now and he didn’t say he was gonna become a role model.
i feel like you need to grow up as well and realize that this world has bad aspects in it, but we’re all just trying to live life everyday and the people who use faggot a lot can just carry on. just move on tom.
that being said, tyler the creator is a musical genius and has got me through hard times countless times.
We’re talking about a 20yr old,
who “cross dresses” for photo shoots,
has a lesbian DJ,
who mentions numerous times in his lyrics “I’m not f^^king homophobic”.
You ppl need to “research”.
In this case you are offended by what you don’t understand. If a black man watches a movie with a racist psycho killer, should he feel offended by the director? Exactly it’s just a movie.
IT’S EXACTLY THE SAME THING. It’s entertainment, his fan base are skaters, they don’t give a shit, they’re mature enough to know it’s not real hate & devil worshiping & homophobia. A lot of lesbian fans relate to his music, it’s common sense he has gay fans, his music is kind of an outcast.
You people need to get with the times…
Gay ppl’s threat isn’t a rapper who cross dresses with a lesbo DJ. It’s politics, religion & tradition.
As far as I’m aware, Tyler, the Creator isn’t into politics, he’s not religious and he’s definitely not traditional.
Do you see how backwards your brain is now? (@ all you on the band wagon)
This is an extremely valid article, but there’s a bigger issue here. This kid writes songs that sound as if they we’re jacked directly from the Insane Clown Posse. So not only is the subject matter boring, lazy and arbitrary, but the music is completely empty, vapid junk, which then attracts slurpee guzzling, derping teenagers and hipster sheep that will defend the garbage because it somehow defines their “rebellious nature” or is “ironic”, while excusing the obviously offensive, uninteresting cliche’ things he says by dismissing it as just words. What, exactly, else is he doing, as a rapper, if the words he says become inconsequential? He doesn’t make art that justifies his conduct in any way. It’s a quality issue, which he clearly could not give two shits about.
[...] seems that we aren’t the only ones less than impressed with Odd Future’s look-at-us-we’re-so-outrageous shtick — an anti-domestic violence [...]
People are fucking stupid u act like he’s the only one who does it listen to necro tyler is tame compaered to him everyone is just a bunch of wussies anymore can’t take words and bitch and complain about everything why society sucks anymnore don’t listen to anybody tyler do ur own shit u don’t have to censor yourself we are not a communist country damn
Getting offended over a word is about as stupid as people trying to tell people Tyler, the Creator worships the devil. He’s an atheist, not a devil worshipper there is a difference that people need to learn.
Have it accurd to any1 that tyler is a bit off? i mean the guy a got more than three personas, looks funny, and lyrics that are absurd to the up most extreme. the guy obviously the type to oppose things ppl say you shudnt like saying and calling ppl fagots, flicking off shit at will, having a ftw demeanor. he didnt have a father so no taught him to be a real man. thats somthing id expect fr sum1 who 20yrs with all those problems in their life.
Let Tyler say whatever he wants! He’s a human being and can represe himself however he may please. The essence of Tyler’s career is the fact that he always acts how he wants and tries to be influenced by outside sources as little as possible
If Lil Wayne rapped like Tyler, The Creator everyone would still like him… just saying. His lyrics are offensive, but personal they don’t bother me. I’ve heard worse. I honestly think his songs are funny. Stop being so sensitive guys…
[...] readers will know that we’re not exactly big fans of Tyler, The Creator and his “Ur All Faggots” shtick. But even so, we can’t help [...]
Ok. Syd The Kid is a girl in OF and she is gay and one of Tyler’s best friends. Therefore Tyler does not hate gay people. Also, his songs are a act which feature characters like Wolf Haley(The man who rapes and kills people), Tyler(who talks about his life and dad), and more. He doesnt kill or rape people in real life, he actually never smoked or drank in hus life. These are just scenes in his songs. Movies are aloud to have killings, and rape so why can’t those concepts be expressed in a song? No one forces you to watch a disturbing music and you don’t boycott every movie with rape in it, so why are you doing it to Tyler?
this article is ridiculous. tyler is obviously a self-hating gay man, just like he’s a self-hating black man.
but he also hates women! why is NOBODY addressing that? all his songs are about murdering white women because 1) he hates women, 2) he’s a self-hating gay man, and 3) he’s a self-hating black man.
who cares about this “walking paradox?” well, the problem is the industry is falling all over themselves trying to promote this goof. besides the fact that he has obviously watched too much torture porn on the internet, he sucks! and i don’t mean that in a homophobic way. i mean that in a he-has-no-discernable-talent way. his “music” is horrible on every possible level.
as far as i’m concerned, tyler is nothing but the next gg allin. he already drops his pants on stage apparently. it’s only a matter of time before he’s taking a dump on them. congratulations music industry on finding gg’s heir apparent and thanks for making rape cool again.
tyler the sreator is awsome screw all you haters -__-
tyler the creator is awsome get off his case if people dont like it then dont listen if you cant handle it then go away love you tyler :)
[...] Ocean) this year. Although some were convinced that Tyler was the future of both hip-hop and punk, many were troubled by his misogynist, homophobic lyrics — even if he was, as many argued, playing a purposely [...]
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