Tyler, The Creator’s creative process is explored in the latest episode of HipHopDX’s “Deep Dive” YouTube series — watch it below.
Delving into his eclectic influences, artistic evolution and pure passion for music, the 27-minute video sheds light on what the Grammy-winning multi-hyphenate is really like in the studio, straight from the mouths of collaborators like Pharrell, Lil Wayne and Kali Uchis.
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A true musician at heart, Tyler’s creative process often starts with the beat — more specifically, chords. As he told Zane Lowe during a 2019 interview: “Chords, chords, chords. That’s the shit that I fucking care about more than anything. I listen to music all day.”
His love for chords was sparked by watching his hero Pharrell play the piano in The Neptunes’ 2003 DVD Clones when he was growing up.
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“I didn’t know how to play the piano ’til I was about 13 after I had seen Pharrell play during the Clones DVD,” he told RESPECT magazine in 2011. “When I seen him play that piano, I was like, ‘That is the coolest shit ever.’ I was like, ‘I need to learn how to fucking play piano.’ My mom never wanted to give me lessons, so I taught myself to play.”
Tyler’s production skills are on full display throughout the episode, with one clip showing him hyped up in the studio after cooking up the lush beat for “Sweet/I Thought You Wanted To Dance,” from his 2021 album Call Me If You Get Lost.
Even when working with some of his idols, Tyler isn’t afraid to give direction and communicate his vision, whether it’s telling Pharrell how to rap his verse on “Keep Da O’s” or giving vocal cues to legendary singer Charlie Wilson while recording “Fucking Young/Perfect.”
While the music itself is a central part of his creativity, Tyler, The Creator has always had a love for rapping, using words to paint pictures, tell stories and capture emotions.
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“I’m a rapper, I love that shit,” he said in a segment from Hulu’s RapCaviar Presents. “It’s a beautiful thing. We’re good with words, we’re good with rhythm, we know pockets, we hear a collection of sounds and one thing and say, ‘Ah, I know what could go over this.’ That takes a skill … Being a rapper is awesome.”
Lil Wayne would agree. “First of all, Tyler changed the game. I probably had a line that I knew I wouldn’t say because people might think it was too gross to put into a rap or it didn’t go with the whole vibe of the song, but I’ll think about something that Tyler said in his shit,” said Weezy — who’s worked with Tyler on “Smuckers,” “Droppin’ Seeds” and “Hot Wind Blows” — in his 2015 Cherry Bomb documentary.
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“Also, he really be spittin,’ though. If n-ggas not listening to him and only hearing him, they need to listen — because hearing and listening are two different things.”
Watch the full episode below. Catch up on previous Deep Dives on A$AP Rocky, J. Cole, Lil Wayne, JAY-Z and 2Pac, and check out the full series on YouTube.
