S. Samuel
Odd Future's Tyler the Creator has opened up about his ambitions as a rap newcomer and why he hungers for a career that reaches beyond underground hype.
Acknowledging the notion of being considered a sellout, Tyler proudly revealed his intent of going mainstream.
“I’m hungry for greatness,” Tyler said in an interview. “I want to be great, I want to be an icon. I want when I die, I want people to cry — I’m hungry for VMA’s and Grammy’s, that’s what I’m hungry for. You know? F*ck this underground bullsh*t…Greatness is a different definition to different people…Greatness if the f*cking song that I wrote last week, somebody might not find that great but it’s great to me. And that’s all that matters, what the f*ck I think in my head — Greatness to me is finally getting my video played on MTV. It’s on there now and I’m f*cking, I’m happy. I finally got my sh*t on f*cking MTV and some people may think that’s selling out or whatever but I don’t really give a f*ck. That’s f*cking great to me. I’m proud of myself. I’ve been wanting that since I was seven years old and I finally got that sh*t. Hard works pays the f*ck off.” (The Drone)
Earlier this week, reports claimed Odd Future is being hunted by music moguls including Jay-Z, Diddy and Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine.
Even Sean “Diddy” Combs is bowing to the wild demands of yet-to-be signed, punk-rock- hip-hop supergroup Odd Future. Music honchos including Roc Nation’s Jay- Z, SRC’s Steve Rifkind and Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine have been fighting to sign the band described as an “urban Sex Pistols.” The anti-establishment band has been having some fun by asking the bigwigs to meet them on their turf — the Supreme skateboard shop in Fairfax, Calif. Rifkind, who sources tell us is soon to make a formal offer, managed to get them to his office, but said frontman Tyler the Creator told him: “If you are serious about the meeting, I want Randy’s Donuts, swivel chairs and a megaphone.” Diddy — who’s said to be “desperate to sign the group to prove that he’s onto something hot” — set up a meeting between Tyler and Justin Bieber after the band demanded he deliver the pint-size pop star. A source said, “Tyler asked Diddy for access to Justin, so he pulled strings.” A rep for Odd Future said, “Tyler did meet with Justin, and Diddy helped make it happen.” (New York Post)
In late March, Tyler became the focus of B.o.B.‘s Odd Future diss track, “No Future”.
Not everyone is an Odd Future fan. Rapper B.o.B. released a diss track Friday morning (Mar. 25) taking aim at the Los Angeles rap collective, on which the Atlanta rapper seethes, “Keep f**kin’ with me you ain’t gon have no future.” “You see the sh*t I gotta deal with from these beginners?” B.o.B. asks on the beginning of “No Future.” He closes out the track with, “Body blow, upper cut, I do more than bruise ya/Keep f*ckin with me you ain’t gon have no future.” (Billboard)
A few weeks ago, Odd Future’s frontman opened up about his friendship with pop star Justin Bieber.
“We [were] kicking it with him for like 10, 20 minutes. He’s a chill dude. First thing he was like, ‘Oh, I just finished talking about your video, that sh– was crazy,” Tyler said. “He just started asking me questions about my sh–, and it was kind of weird because I was going to ask him sh–. But he was intrigued enough [about] what we had going on…I want to take him egging cars and f—ing sh– up and paintball and just go skate and go do fun sh– that I feel like he hasn’t been able to do.” (MTV)
Check out Tyler the Creator’s interview below:
