Tyler The Creator Biography 2024, Age, Net Worth, Family, Relationship, Height, Real Name, Music Career and Awards

Tyler Gregory Okonma, born on March 6, 1991, is widely recognized by his professional name Tyler the Creator. He is a multi-talented individual, excelling as an American rapper, record producer, music director, actor, and fashion designer.

Okonma’s impact on pop culture has been widely acknowledged by the media, positioning him as one of the most influential figures of his generation. His music and fashion styles are characterized by their uniqueness, eclecticism, and vibrancy, effectively popularizing rap music as an “Internet phenomenon.” During the 2010s, he played a pivotal role in introducing a fresh wave of alternative hip-hop and R&B artists.

Okonma rose to prominence in the late 2000s when he emerged on the Internet as the leader and co-founder of the music collective Odd Future.

He showcased his talents as a rapper, producer, director, and actor within the group, releasing studio albums that he produced himself for its members and appearing on his sketch comedy show Loiter Squad.

In addition to his work with Odd Future, Okonma launched his solo career with his self-released debut mixtape Bastard in 2009, gaining recognition in the online music press as an up-and-coming artist in the indie scene.

His debut studio album Goblin in 2011 brought him mainstream success, particularly with the hit single “Yonkers” and its music video.

Despite facing controversy for his horrorcore-influenced sound and provocative lyrics, Okonma continued to evolve his musical style, transitioning to more accessible sounds with elements of jazz, soul, and R&B in his later albums like Cherry Bomb (2015).

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His subsequent releases Flower Boy (2017), Igor (2019), and Call Me If You Get Lost (2021) received critical acclaim and commercial success, with the latter two winning Best Rap Album at the Grammy Awards in 2020 and 2022.

Apart from his music, Okonma made a name for himself in the fashion world with his clothing lines Golf Wang and Le Fleur, as well as collaborations with renowned brands like Lacoste, Converse, and Louis Vuitton.

He also founded the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival music festival in 2012, featuring performances by A-list artists such as Kanye West, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Lana del Rey, and Billie Eilish.

Additionally, Okonma has directed all of his music and promotional videos under the alias Wolf Haley.

Okonma has won two Grammy Awards, three BET Hip Hop Awards, a BRIT Award, and a MTV Video Music Award. In 2019, he was named “Music Innovator of the Year” by the Wall Street Journal.

Early Life and Education

Tyler Gregory Okonma was born in Hawthorne, California on March 6, 1991. His father is Nigerian with Igbo ancestry, while his mother is of mixed African-American and white Canadian descent. Unfortunately, Tyler never had the opportunity to meet his father. During his early years, he resided in Hawthorne before moving to Ladera Heights at the age of 17.

Even at a young age of seven, Tyler displayed his creativity by designing album covers for his imaginary albums. He would meticulously create tracklists with song lengths, despite not yet being able to create music. At 14, he taught himself how to play the piano.

Throughout his schooling, Tyler attended a total of 12 different schools in the Los Angeles and Sacramento areas. In the eighth grade, he joined the drama class but was eventually expelled due to his hyperactive nature. Similarly, in the ninth grade, he was unable to join the band class as he couldn’t read sheet music.

Tyler had various work experiences, including a brief stint at FedEx for less than two weeks and a longer tenure at Starbucks for over two years. It was during this time that he adopted his stage name from a Myspace page where he shared his creative endeavors.

Career

Okonma, along with Hodgy, Left Brain, and Casey Veggies, co-founded the alternative hip hop collective Odd Future in 2007. Their debut mixtape, The Odd Future Tape, was self-released in November 2008. On December 25, 2009, Okonma self-released his first solo mixtape, Bastard, which later ranked 32nd on Pitchfork Media’s list of the Top Albums of 2010.

The music video for “Yonkers” was released on February 11, 2011, garnering attention from various online media outlets. Okonma won Best New Artist for “Yonkers” at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. Despite being categorized in the horrorcore scene due to the thematic content of his first two solo projects, Okonma rejected this association.

In early 2011, Okonma’s talent caught the interest of key figures in the music industry such as Steve Rifkind, Jimmy Iovine, Rick Ross, and Jay-Z. Eventually, Okonma and the rest of Odd Future signed a deal with Red Distribution/Sony in April 2011. His debut studio album, Goblin, was released on May 10, 2011.

Okonma and Hodgy Beats made their television debut on February 16, 2011, performing “Sandwitches” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. They also performed “Yonkers” and “Sandwitches” at the 2011 mtvU Woodie Awards on March 16, joined by other Odd Future members.

Waka Flocka Flame expressed interest in collaborating with Okonma to direct a music video for him during an interview for Interview. Okonma announced through his Formspring account in early 2011 that his second album would be titled Wolf and was set to be released in May 2012.

On April 9, 2015, Okonma unveiled the music video for the track “Fucking Young” on Odd Future’s official YouTube channel. The video also contained a brief preview of another song, “Deathcamp”.

Okonma confirmed on the same day that these songs would be part of his upcoming album Cherry Bomb, scheduled for release on April 13, 2015. Through his Twitter account, Okonma announced that the album would feature Charlie Wilson, Chaz Bundick, and Black Lips member Cole Alexander.

Just two days later, Okonma performed “Fucking Young” and “Deathcamp” for the first time at Coachella, where he openly criticized VIP attendees, many of whom were celebrities, for their lack of enthusiasm.

Cherry Bomb was digitally launched on April 13, 2015, via Odd Future Records, while physical copies of the album, showcasing five distinct covers, were slated for release on April 28, 2015.

The album boasts collaborations with renowned artists like Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Schoolboy Q. A global tour across North America, Europe, and Asia in support of the album kicked off at Coachella Festival on April 11, 2015, culminating in Tokyo, Japan in September 2015.

Okonma decided to cancel the Australian segment of his Cherry Bomb World Tour following a campaign by the grassroots organization Collective Shout, which aimed to prevent his return to Australia due to their belief that his music promotes and glorifies violence against women.

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On August 26, 2015, Okonma disclosed that he had been prohibited from entering the United Kingdom for a period of three to five years, resulting in the cancellation of several tour dates supporting the Cherry Bomb album, including appearances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals.

On March 25, 2022, Okonma made appearances on two tracks from Nigo’s album I Know Nigo!, namely the opening track “Lost and Found Freestyle 2019” featuring A$AP Rocky, and the closing track “Come On, Let’s Go”.

The latter was accompanied by a music video that showcased Tyler’s Golf le Fleur* clothing line. At the 64th Grammy Awards, Call Me If You Get Lost was honored with the Best Rap Album award.

On March 27, 2023, Okonma unveiled Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale. This release included songs that were recorded for Call Me If You Get Lost but didn’t make it onto the final album. Among these songs was the single “Dogtooth”, which was released on the same day as the announcement, along with a music video.

Okonma took to Twitter to express that “Call Me If You Get Lost was the first album where I had a lot of songs that didn’t make the final cut”.

Another single, “Sorry Not Sorry”, was released on March 29, 2023, along with a music video. The Estate Sale was officially released on March 31, 2023, accompanied by a music video for the track “Wharf Talk”.

Personal Life

Okonma has been an enthusiastic skateboarder since 2002 and has a collection of BMX bicycles. He identifies as an atheist. Okonma has asthma, and has been observed using an inhaler while performing on stage. Due to this, he adheres to a straight edge lifestyle.

Regarding his sexuality, Okonma has been the subject of speculation and has openly discussed his experiences with same-sex relationships or attractions in his lyrics and interviews.

In a 2015 Rolling Stone interview, he described himself as “gay as fuck” and mentioned that his friends are accustomed to his sexuality.[120] During a 2017 interview with Noisey, Okonma revealed that he had a boyfriend by the age of 15.

In a 2018 interview with Fantastic Man, he addressed the public response to his lyric “I been kissing white boys since 2004” from the song “Flower Boy,” stating that people’s opinions on the matter still remain ambiguous, which he finds acceptable given his private nature.

Many have interpreted his album Igor to depict a romantic relationship between Okonma and a closeted bisexual man, and the song “Wilshire” on his album Call Me If You Get Lost includes the lyric “I could fuck a trillion bitches every country I done been in/Men or women, it don’t matter, if I seen ’em, then I had ’em.”

Additionally, the deluxe version of the album features the song “Sorry Not Sorry,” which includes the lyric “Sorry to the guys I had to hide/Sorry to the girls I had to lie to,” referring to his concealment of past male partners from the public eye.

On December 22, 2011, Okonma was taken into custody on suspicion of vandalism after allegedly causing damage to equipment during a performance at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood.

A video recorded by a fan showed Okonma throwing a microphone at a sound engineer. Following this incident, Okonma paid a sum of US$8,000 as compensation to The Roxy.

On March 15, 2014, Okonma was arrested in Austin, Texas, for inciting a riot. He had instructed his fans to forcefully bypass security guards during his performance at South by Southwest. As a result, Okonma faced the possibility of imprisonment for up to one year and a fine of $4000.

However, Okonma’s lawyer, Perry Minton, argued that the charge of inciting a riot was exaggerated and created misconceptions about his client, who had no prior arrests. Eventually, these charges were dropped.

On August 26, 2015, Okonma disclosed that he had been prohibited from entering the United Kingdom for a period of three to five years.

This ban compelled him to cancel several tour dates in support of the Cherry Bomb album, including appearances at the Reading and Leeds Festivals. The ban was imposed due to lyrics dating back to 2009. Okonma’s manager, Christian Clancy, received a letter from then-Home Secretary Theresa May informing them of the ban.

May cited lyrics from the mixtape Bastard as the reason behind the ban, despite Okonma having previously toured in the UK since its release. Okonma expressed his belief that he was treated unfairly and suggested that the ban was racially motivated, stating that “they did not like the fact that their children were idolizing a black man.”

According to the BBC, it is believed that the ban was lifted in February 2019, coinciding with a scheduled performance in London to promote Igor. However, this show was forcibly canceled by the police due to safety concerns, as the venue was deemed “overcrowded” and “too rowdy.”

After winning the International Male Solo Artist award at the 2020 Brit Awards, Okonma made reference to the ban. “I wanna give a special shout out to someone who I hold dear to my heart, who made it where I couldn’t come to this country five years ago,” he said. “I know she’s at home pissed off. Thank you Theresa May.”

Discography

Filmography

Films

Net Worth

As of 2024, Tyler’s net worth is estimated to be around $30 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.