Tyler The Creator rarely does interviews, but when he does, he refuses to pull his punches — even when he throws them at himself or his old work. In his latest conversation with WSJ Magazine, Tyler confronts his former trolly persona, continues to dodge questions about his sexuality, and explains how he really feels about his controversial debut album, Goblin.
In short, he thinks Goblin is “trash—but I don’t regret making it.” He says that the album will make a nice footnote in his biography in hindsight, though: “It’ll make the overall story sicker when I’m 43 and I own a billion-dollar company, and it’s, like, ‘Look what I was doing when I was 19. Who would have thought those skate rats who like the color pink would be doing this?’”
As to why he decided to stop trolling on the internet, he says he’d rather have the respect of the fans who respect artists who have since become his creative peers: “My music got better. I asked myself, ‘Why do Kanye and Pharrell and Jay-Z respect me, but the people that respect them don’t f*ck with my music?’ Well, maybe if I stop being funny on the internet, people will focus on my talent.”
Elsewhere in the illuminating profile, Tyler advocates for “n****s in the hood” who “wanna do ballet,” calls out overly zealous fans, telling them to “stop being f*cking weird,” and receives praise from breakout star Billie Eilish, who credits Tyler for “making me who I am.”
Check out the full interview here. For more insightful thoughts from the mind of Tyler The Creator, check out his most recent interview with Nardwuar.
