Tyler, The Creator has never been shy about sharing his influences. The rapper/producer has named Wu Tang Clan, Clipse, D12, and The Pharcyde as the artistic forbearers of his sound, and has included eclectic choices such as Radiohead's Kid A and Justin Timberlake's Justified in his list of favorite albums. However, one may not expect Tyler, The Creator, known for his experimental sound and controversial lyrics, to pay so much credit to mainstream mainstays like Kayne West and Pharrell Williams.
Six months ago, Tyler posted a picture of Kanye and Pharrell on the red carpet together, with the caption "Dads." The photo gained quite a bit of attention, earning over one hundred thousand likes and fifteen hundred comments. As AllHipHop reports, in a recent interview with Breaks Magazine, the Odd Future founder discusses the influence that these two artists have had on his music, and what they mean to him.
Tyler said, "I mean seeing those two in a photo together, that really meant a lot to me and there's not that many photos of those two. There's one photo in Japan at the Ice cream store opening, a couple of other photos of them floating round too but seeing that photo in 2015 it's like they're still chewing it and they're still friends, it meant something to me. It's like no matter what I'll be I guess I'll always be creating and I'll always try to do that at an awesome level, so seeing those two try to do that. I mean I look up to them so much and they know that they're f*cking gods. I love that photo that's cool!"
Kanye West and Pharrell both appeared on Tyler's recent album Cherry Bomb. Further, both artists attended, and performed at Odd Future's annual festival Camp Flog Gnaw.
