photo credit: Amanda Edwards l Getty Images
Tyler, The Creator is finally able to scratch off a bucket list achievement with his Grammy win last night, but it also comes at a bittersweet ordeal.
While the Los Angeles native has tirelessly worked for this moment, often times feeling as though his craft, personality, and artistry didn’t “fit in” with his peers, the OF rapper expresses his dissatisfaction with the Recording Academy’s categorization of his Igor project.
In a post-Grammys interview, the 28-year-old admitted his appreciation for the honor of winning “Best Rap Album” but the recognition comes as a “back-handed compliment.”
“Whenever we—and I mean guys that look like me—do anything that’s genre-bending or anything, they always put it in a Rap or Urban category. It is just the politically correct way to say the n-word to me… Why can’t we just be in Pop?”
Tyler hasn’t been the only one to criticize the Recording Academy, as Diddy publicly expressed his disappointment with the Academy’s treatment of the hip hop culture and “black music”. Diddy spoke out during Clive Davis’ pre-Grammys soiree while receiving his Industry Icon Award.
Could this be a turning point for hip-hop inclusion and correct representation for the Academy?
