Tyler, The Creator Goes After Ian For Mocking Black Artists

In a new interview with Maverick Carter for his series Mavericks, Tyler, The Creator sat down to talk about the state of hip-hop. He denounced “meme” rappers and those that the hip-hop world unjustly continues to make popular. “I don’t wanna seem like a hater. Sometimes I have hater energy ’cause I just think I’m that good,” he said. “I love this art form so much bro and there’s so many n****s out right now that aren’t musicians that are getting treated like musicians ’cause they make meme records. Publicly, they’ll be like, ‘I don’t give a f**k about music. I just do this s**t for money.’ It’s the Spider-Man meme of the next n***a when every publication is like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s put that out.’ You’re taking up space from n****s like me.”

One rapper Tyler, The Creator took aim at was St. Louis-based artist Ian. Ian frequently receives criticism by hip-hop fans because they consider him a Gucci Mane clone, or as someone pretending to be a rapper. Tyler seems to be one of those critics, though not by name. “This white kid, regular Caucasian man, and he’s like mocking Future and Gucci Mane like… rap music,” Tyler said. This is like… weird. Something about it don’t even sit well with me, in comparison to someone like Mac Miller or Eminem […] they had a genuine love for it, and they were still big.”

Tyler’s criticism of Ian and the greater hip-hop landscape are not new ones. Fans, critics, and rappers alike have lamented the lack of creativity in the mainstream hip-hop space. Ian is far from the first rapper of his kind, but he’s the newest. He has also received co-signs from artists like Lil Yachty, which have boosted his career in its early days.

Elsewhere in the interview, Tyler, The Creator touched on other things that bothered him about hip-hop. Namely, the rush for fans to get on social media and call an album “mid” after one listen. “When artists put something out, the last thing they talk about is music,” he said. He also took the time to reflect on a past spat with Eminem, feeling that he owes Em an apology. The full interview is available to watch on the SpringHill YouTube channel.