Tyler, the Creator, Son of A Father He Can't Hate Anymore

The Story of Tyler's Father Just Took A Huge Turn

One of the most extraordinary moments in Chromakopia is when Tyler, the Creator’s mother Bonita Smith reveals that his father was actually a good guy who wanted to be there to raise Tyler. At the end of “Like Him” we hear Tyler’s mother, Bonita Smith, saying “It was my fault. Not him 'cause he always wanted to be there for you… He's always wanted to be a father to you. So I-I fucked up and I take ownership of that, of my choices and decisions and I'm sorry for that. He's a good guy. So don't hold that against him because it was my fault.”

This is a massive twist in the story of Tyler’s absent father. In the world Tyler has created with his rhymes and his music, his absent father has been a huge villain. Tyler’s anger and resentment about being abandoned by his father, has been central to who he is. His self-loathing, too.

I mean, on “Sandwitches” the first single from his first album, he laid down where he stands. It starts, “Who the fuck invited Mr. I Don't Give A Fuck / Who cries about his daddy and a blog because his music sucks?” A moment later he says, “Let's buy guns and kill those kids with dads and mom / With nice homes, 4-1-k's, and nice ass lawns / Those privileged fucks got to learn that we ain't taking no shit.” Then: “I'm jealous as shit, 'cause I ain't got no home meal to come to / So, if you do, I'm throwing fingers out screaming "fuck you!"

He's throwing his flag in with the single parent kids whose father rejected them. He supposedly hates people who have two parents so much it seems like he wants to purge them. It’s a classic recording artist strategy—announce that you’re unloved in order to win over people who feel lonely and unloved. But it’s also in keeping with hiphop’s long tradition of slagging fathers.

For rappers of the 80s and 90s, the absent father was a common story mentioned by Jay-Z, Biggie, Raekwon, Wayne, and on and on. CL Smooth’s line “biological didn’t bother,” in the iconic “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” has been mentioned in many other songs. Hiphop has a rich history of loving songs about mothers by Tupac, Kanye, and others, as well as a long history of stomping on the memory of fathers who didn’t care or weren’t around. Tyler stepped into that tradition and became one of its loudest proponents. His absent father was someone he attacked verbally in his earlier music.

But on Chromakopia everything changes. We find out that Tyler’s father was never a deadbeat dad at all. This is a major plot twist! How can Tyler hate him for being an absent father when he very much wanted to be part of Tyler’s life? Tyler’s mother got on the mic and absolved him. Now Tyler has to reconsider everything he thinks about his father.