Tyler, the Creator facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tyler, the Creator
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Tyler, the Creator, at Primavera Sound 2022
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Tyler Gregory Okonma
March 6, 1991 Hawthorne, California, U.S.
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| Years active | 2007–present |
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| Awards | Full list |
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Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, singer, and fashion designer. He is a very important person in music and fashion for his generation. He is known for his cool, unique, and colorful music and fashion styles. He also helped make rap music popular online.
Tyler became known in the late 2000s. He was a leader and co-founder of the music group Odd Future. With the group, he rapped, produced music, directed videos, and acted. He also made albums for other group members. Tyler also appeared on his sketch comedy show Loiter Squad (2012–2014).
He also started his own music career. His first album, Goblin (2011), helped him become widely known. After his second album, Wolf (2013), Tyler started making music that mixed jazz, soul, and R&B.
In 2017, Tyler released Flower Boy. This was the first of three very successful albums. The others were Igor (2019) and Call Me If You Get Lost (2021). These albums were loved by critics and sold very well. Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost both reached number one on the Billboard 200 music chart. They also won the Best Rap Album Grammy Award in 2020 and 2022.
Besides music, Tyler is important in fashion. He has his own clothing brands, Golf Wang and Le Fleur. He has also worked with big brands like Lacoste, Converse, and Louis Vuitton. Tyler also started the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival music festival in 2012. Famous artists like Kanye West and Billie Eilish have performed there. He directs all his music videos and ads, using the name Wolf Haley. Tyler has won two Grammy Awards, three BET Hip Hop Awards, a BRIT Award, and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2019, The Wall Street Journal called him "Music Innovator of the Year."
Contents
Early Life and School
Tyler Gregory Okonma was born on March 6, 1991. He was born in Hawthorne, California. His father is Nigerian, and his mother is American. He never met his father. Tyler lived in Hawthorne and later moved to Ladera Heights when he was 17.
When he was seven, he would take CD covers and make new ones for his own made-up albums. He would even write song lists and how long each song was. He taught himself to play the piano when he was 14.
Tyler went to 12 different schools in Los Angeles and Sacramento. In eighth grade, he was kicked out of drama class for being too energetic. In ninth grade, he could not join the band because he could not read music. He worked at FedEx for a short time and at Starbucks for over two years. He got his stage name from a Myspace page where he shared his creative work.
Music Career
Starting Out (2007–2011)
Tyler helped start the music group Odd Future in 2007. Other members included Hodgy, Left Brain, and Casey Veggies. They released their first mixtape, The Odd Future Tape, in 2008. On December 25, 2009, Tyler released his first solo mixtape. This mixtape was named one of the top albums of 2010 by Pitchfork Media.
On February 11, 2011, Tyler released the music video for "Yonkers". Many online news sites noticed the video. An longer version of the song was available on iTunes. Tyler won Best New Artist for "Yonkers" at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.
In early 2011, many music industry people became interested in Tyler. These included Steve Rifkind and Jay-Z. Tyler and Odd Future signed a deal with Red Distribution/Sony in April 2011. His first studio album, Goblin, came out on May 10, 2011.
Tyler and Hodgy Beats first appeared on TV on February 16, 2011. They performed "Sandwitches" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. On March 16, they performed "Yonkers" and "Sandwitches" at the 2011 mtvU Woodie Awards. Other Odd Future members joined them for "Sandwitches."
Tyler told fans that his second album would be called Wolf. He said it would come out in May 2012. He also announced that Odd Future would have their own TV show, Loiter Squad. On September 8, 2011, the show was confirmed. It would be a 15-minute live-action show with sketches and pranks.
Wolf and Loiter Squad (2012–2014)
Odd Future's TV show Loiter Squad started on Adult Swim on March 25, 2012. The show ran for three seasons. It had guest stars like Johnny Knoxville and Lil Wayne. In 2015, Tyler said the show was "no more."
On February 14, 2013, Odd Future posted a video saying Wolf would be released on April 2, 2013. Tyler also showed three different album covers on his Instagram.
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To promote Wolf, Tyler sang on songs for other artists. These included "Trouble on My Mind" by Pusha T and "Martians vs. Goblins" by The Game. He also helped produce the song "666" for MellowHype.
In March and April 2013, Tyler toured North America and Europe. The first song from the album, "Domo23", was released on February 14, 2013. Its music video featured Domo Genesis and Earl Sweatshirt. On February 26, 2013, Tyler performed "Domo23" and "Treehome95" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Wolf was released on April 2, 2013. It had guest singers like Frank Ocean and Pharrell. Tyler produced almost all the songs himself. Music videos were made for "Bimmer," "IFHY", and "Jamba." The album received good reviews. It sold 90,000 copies in its first week and reached number three on the Billboard 200.
Cherry Bomb (2015–2016)
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Cherry Bomb was released online on April 13, 2015. Physical copies with five different covers came out later. The album featured famous artists like Kanye West and Lil Wayne. Tyler went on a world tour to support the album. The tour started at Coachella Festival in April 2015 and ended in Tokyo in September 2015.
Flower Boy and TV Shows (2017–2018)
On April 8, 2017, Frank Ocean released a song called "Biking." It featured Tyler, the Creator and Jay Z. Eight days later, it was announced that Tyler would write and perform the theme song for Bill Nye's new show, Bill Nye Saves the World.
On June 28, the trailer for Tyler's TV show Nuts + Bolts came out. The show explored things Tyler found interesting and how they were made. The series started on August 3, 2017.
On June 29, 2017, Tyler released the song "Who Dat Boy" with ASAP Rocky. He also released "911 / Mr. Lonely" with Steve Lacy and Frank Ocean. On July 6, 2017, he announced his fourth album, Flower Boy, which was released on July 21, 2017. Other songs like "Boredom" were released before the album.
Flower Boy was highly praised by critics. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. On September 14, 2017, Tyler announced his third TV show, The Jellies. It started on October 22, 2017.
On March 29, 2018, Tyler released "Okra." He called it a "throwaway song," meaning it was not for an album. On May 22, 2018, he released "435." On July 23, 2018, Tyler and ASAP Rocky announced they were working on a project called WANG$AP. They released a music video for a remix of Monica's "Knock Knock" called "Potato Salad."
Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost (2019–Present)
On May 6, 2019, Tyler released two short videos with new music. He was dancing in a blonde wig and a colorful suit. He soon announced his fifth album, Igor, which came out on May 17. Igor was highly praised and became Tyler's first number-one album in the United States. The album also has the song "Earfquake", which was a big hit.
On December 23, 2019, Tyler released two songs that did not make it onto Igor: "Best Interest" and "Group B." Igor won the Best Rap Album at the 62nd Grammy Awards.
On January 26, 2020, Tyler won his first Grammy for Igor. He said he was thankful but felt that putting his music only in "rap" or "urban" categories was not fair. He wanted his music to be recognized more broadly.
For his sixth album, Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler put up billboards in cities around the world. They had a phone number that played a recording of him talking to his mother. This recording is on the album as "Momma Talk." The album's first song, "Lumberjack", came out on June 16. The album was released on June 25.
Call Me If You Get Lost received great reviews. It became Tyler's second number-one album in the United States. On January 5, 2022, Tyler was announced as a main performer for Louisville's Forecastle Festival.
Tyler created the music for Louis Vuitton's Men's Fall-Winter 2022 fashion show. This was one of the last shows put together by the late designer Virgil Abloh. The music was performed live by the Chineke! Orchestra.
On March 25, 2022, Tyler appeared on two songs from Nigo's album I Know Nigo!. These were "Lost and Found Freestyle 2019" with A$AP Rocky and "Come On, Let's Go." A music video for "Come On, Let's Go" showed Tyler's Golf le Fleur* clothing line. Call Me If You Get Lost won the award for Best Rap Album at the 64th Grammy Awards.
On March 27, 2023, Tyler announced Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale. This included songs that were recorded for Call Me If You Get Lost but did not make the final album. The song "Dogtooth" was released with a music video that day. Tyler said that Call Me If You Get Lost was his first album with many songs that were not used. On March 29, 2023, another song, "Sorry Not Sorry", was released with a music video. The Estate Sale came out on March 31, 2023.
On October 16, 2024, Tyler announced his next album, Chromakopia, with a video called "St. Chroma". On October 21, he released the song "Noid". The album was released on October 28. Tyler performed the album at smaller places and at the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival. He also announced Chromakopia: The World Tour, which started in February 2025. Lil Yachty and Paris Texas will join him on tour.
Artistry and Style
Tyler's music is often called alternative hip hop, hip hop, neo soul, West Coast hip hop, jazz rap, and hardcore hip hop. His early music was sometimes called horrorcore.
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After his second album, Wolf, critics noticed a change in Tyler's music. He started using more melodic sounds, mixing jazz, R&B, and soul. He worked with artists from these styles, like Erykah Badu and Frank Ocean.
However, his next album, Cherry Bomb, had mixed reactions. It was very experimental, with songs that did not always connect. It had a more "aggressive" and "noisy" feel.
Tyler's fourth album, Flower Boy, was a new start. It moved away from the dark themes of his earlier work. Igor, his first Grammy-winning album, was a personal story about being the "odd man out in a love triangle." Call Me If You Get Lost, his second Grammy-winning album, was about a character named "Tyler Baudelaire." This character was a smooth, well-traveled gentleman who liked fancy art.
These last three albums made Tyler one of the most praised artists of his time. When he won the Cultural Influence Award at the BET Awards, Tyler thanked many artists who inspired him. These included Q-Tip, André 3000, and Kanye West. Besides music, Tyler is also known in the fashion world with his high-end brand, Golf Le Fleur.
Personal Life
Tyler has been a skateboarder since 2002. He also collects BMX bicycles. He does not believe in God and identifies as an atheist. Tyler has asthma and sometimes uses an inhaler on stage. Because of this, he lives a straight edge lifestyle, meaning he avoids alcohol and drugs.
Discography
Studio albums
- Goblin (2011)
- Wolf (2013)
- Cherry Bomb (2015)
- Flower Boy (2017)
- Igor (2019)
- Call Me If You Get Lost (2021)
- Chromakopia (2024)
Awards and Nominations
