FROM A NEW CULT IDOL TO A PHILOSOPHER OF POP, TO AN ALBUM ABOUT ALIENS, TO HIP HOP’S GOLDEN ANTIHERO—THIS YEAR’S SOUNDTRACK WAS WINSOME, WEIRD, OTHERWORLDLY, AND WHATEVER

PART 4: TYLER THE CREATOR AND ODD FUTURE

PHOTOGRAPHY TERRY RICHARDSON
TEXT PATRIK SANDBERG

There is perhaps no artist this year for whom fame and notoriety came more quickly and more prodigiously—short of Rebecca Black—than Tyler the Creator. But he doesn’t really give a shit. When asked how he felt upon winning this year’s MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist, Tyler placidly states, “It was one of the worst days of my life. It sucked. It was a whatever day.” After an uncomfortable pause fills a space of several seconds over the phone, during which one can’t help but wonder if he’s referring to the award or the epic fall he took from the stage upon his celebratory exit, he offers, “I don’t really care about that kind of thing. I wasn’t, like, excited.” So what was the most exciting thing that happened to Tyler in 2011? “The craziest thing that happened,” he says, “was every ‘thing’ that happened.”

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KEYWORDS: Adult Swim, Odd Future, Patrik Sandberg, Terry Richardson, Tyler the Creator