Tyler, The Creator has shattered the hopes and dreams of fans of his earlier work by revealing that the song that thrust him into the global spotlight, Yonkers, was made as a joke.
In an interview with fellow hip-hop young gun Vince Staples, the Ladera, California native donned his DJ Stankdady alias for Golf Radio, where he revealed the original intentions behind the track would which eventually be accompanied by a cringeworthy music video filled the consumption of live cockroaches.
“Niggas don’t know that that beat was made as a joke. I was trying to make a shitty New York beat and we was just rapping like we was from New York like we were retarded. And then, I just had some random verses and I was just like ‘I’ll just record it to this beat, this beat is kinda cool.’ And then niggas really liked it. That’s so nuts, because that shit was actually a fucking joke. I made that beat in literally eight minutes.”
The interview provides a fascinating take on just how crazy Tyler, The Creator’s euphoric rise has been, and the comedic, tongue-in-cheek nature in which it began. The fact that one of Tyler’s most iconic, shock-inducing songs began as a track where he was purposely trying to sound “retarded” speaks to his ingenuity as an artist, his ability to not take himself or his music too seriously, and the overarching fact that he simply just likes to have fun.
Tyler and Vince make the perfect on-air pairing, with both rappers capable of floating back and forth between serious creative personas and side-splitting comedians. Which makes sense of course, with Vince openly declaring that he is “One of the funniest people alive.” Jokes aside, Tyler and Vince launch into an in-depth discussion regarding the ability for art to drive forward contemporary culture.
Image: Rip It Up.