At this point, the awesomeness of Larry King is pretty much a certified verifiable fact. Maybe it took us a few mirth-free years of Piers Morgan to realize how much we had taken King for granted over the decades, but his status as one of the most distinguished television interviewers of all-time is well-deserved.
This was readily evident during King’s hilarious — and often fascinating — interview with Tyler, The Creator for his new Hulu series Larry King Now. The interview has plenty of funny moments, but it’s also surprisingly insightful, as Tyler speaks candidly about his inspirations, as well as his hopes for the future. Most interestingly, he talks about his desire to get away from rap and move into composing music. He’d also like to sing more, but fears his voice is to gravelly for it.
Early in the interview, Tyler tells King he was initially nervous about the interview, expecting a predictable set of generic condescending questions that an octogenarian might be inclined to ask a 23-year-old who is primarily known as a rapper. Tyler seems genuinely surprised by the amount of respect King shows him here. While the vast age difference between the two is mentioned – and joked about – it happily does not serve as the impetus for turning the interview into a mere novelty. Instead, we get an honest, thoughtful conversation in which both parties are truly interested in what the other one has to say.
Of course, since this is Tyler, The Creator we’re talking about we do get a few goofy moments. Most notably, when Tyler proclaims his love for Jennifer Lawrence, advising her to “leave the ni**a you with.” But for the majority of the interview, the conversation is thoughtful and intelligent, and King refers to Tyler as “a true renaissance man.” It is quite clear that King truly respects him as an artist, and that the interview was in no way intended as a mere publicity stunt.
