Tyler, the Creator.Photo: Johnny Nunez/2021 BET Hip Hop Awards/GettyTyler, the Creatorhas been using a stage name for nearly his entire career — and while he has no plans to stop, he’s also learning to embrace his African last name.The Grammy-winning rapper, 30, toldFast Companythat as he’s gotten older, he’s found an appreciation for his full name, Tyler Okonma, and is thinking about using it more.“My full name, Tyler Okonma, in all caps, just looks really cool,” he said. “So you might see more of that, I don’t know. I’m getting older, and I think when people get older, they start realizing s— and liking things they didn’t like. You just start changing. So I think my version of that is looking at my name and saying, ‘Oh, this is actually cool.'“Tyler said that his stage name came from a MySpace page he made at just 13 years old, where he’d upload drawings, photos and beats he’d made. Once his career began to pick up, the name followed.RELATED VIDEO: Jaden Smith Celebrates ‘Boyfriend’ Tyler the Creator’s Grammy Win"I’m 17, in high school, and around L.A., that name’s getting around, and I kind of just kept it as my stage name,” he explained. “It’s really dumb, but it stuck with me, so it just works.“The “EARFQUAKE” rapper previously revealed that it was thelate Virgil Ablohwho helped him feel more comfortable embracing his own last name, which he said was “so foreign” to him growing up, as it was different from his mother’s last name, and he didn’t know any family members on his dad’s side.“ABLOH. That strong African last name. few years back I started using more of my African last name OKONMA because of how real Virgil’s felt,” Tyler wrote onInstagramin November after Abloh’s death.In his interview withFast Company, Tyler said he began embracing his last name about five years ago, and started putting it on his album covers.“I didn’t know anyone else that had a name similar to it,” he said of his childhood. “I always thought my last name was weird, but whatever. I started f—ing with it more around 2016, and then I started putting it on my album covers… I think I’mma keep that going. I really f— with that name now, it looks really cool in all caps.”
Tyler, the Creator.Photo: Johnny Nunez/2021 BET Hip Hop Awards/Getty
Tyler, the Creatorhas been using a stage name for nearly his entire career — and while he has no plans to stop, he’s also learning to embrace his African last name.The Grammy-winning rapper, 30, toldFast Companythat as he’s gotten older, he’s found an appreciation for his full name, Tyler Okonma, and is thinking about using it more.“My full name, Tyler Okonma, in all caps, just looks really cool,” he said. “So you might see more of that, I don’t know. I’m getting older, and I think when people get older, they start realizing s— and liking things they didn’t like. You just start changing. So I think my version of that is looking at my name and saying, ‘Oh, this is actually cool.'“Tyler said that his stage name came from a MySpace page he made at just 13 years old, where he’d upload drawings, photos and beats he’d made. Once his career began to pick up, the name followed.RELATED VIDEO: Jaden Smith Celebrates ‘Boyfriend’ Tyler the Creator’s Grammy Win"I’m 17, in high school, and around L.A., that name’s getting around, and I kind of just kept it as my stage name,” he explained. “It’s really dumb, but it stuck with me, so it just works.“The “EARFQUAKE” rapper previously revealed that it was thelate Virgil Ablohwho helped him feel more comfortable embracing his own last name, which he said was “so foreign” to him growing up, as it was different from his mother’s last name, and he didn’t know any family members on his dad’s side.“ABLOH. That strong African last name. few years back I started using more of my African last name OKONMA because of how real Virgil’s felt,” Tyler wrote onInstagramin November after Abloh’s death.In his interview withFast Company, Tyler said he began embracing his last name about five years ago, and started putting it on his album covers.“I didn’t know anyone else that had a name similar to it,” he said of his childhood. “I always thought my last name was weird, but whatever. I started f—ing with it more around 2016, and then I started putting it on my album covers… I think I’mma keep that going. I really f— with that name now, it looks really cool in all caps.”
Tyler, the Creatorhas been using a stage name for nearly his entire career — and while he has no plans to stop, he’s also learning to embrace his African last name.
The Grammy-winning rapper, 30, toldFast Companythat as he’s gotten older, he’s found an appreciation for his full name, Tyler Okonma, and is thinking about using it more.
“My full name, Tyler Okonma, in all caps, just looks really cool,” he said. “So you might see more of that, I don’t know. I’m getting older, and I think when people get older, they start realizing s— and liking things they didn’t like. You just start changing. So I think my version of that is looking at my name and saying, ‘Oh, this is actually cool.'”
Tyler said that his stage name came from a MySpace page he made at just 13 years old, where he’d upload drawings, photos and beats he’d made. Once his career began to pick up, the name followed.
RELATED VIDEO: Jaden Smith Celebrates ‘Boyfriend’ Tyler the Creator’s Grammy Win
“I’m 17, in high school, and around L.A., that name’s getting around, and I kind of just kept it as my stage name,” he explained. “It’s really dumb, but it stuck with me, so it just works.”
The “EARFQUAKE” rapper previously revealed that it was thelate Virgil Ablohwho helped him feel more comfortable embracing his own last name, which he said was “so foreign” to him growing up, as it was different from his mother’s last name, and he didn’t know any family members on his dad’s side.
“ABLOH. That strong African last name. few years back I started using more of my African last name OKONMA because of how real Virgil’s felt,” Tyler wrote onInstagramin November after Abloh’s death.
In his interview withFast Company, Tyler said he began embracing his last name about five years ago, and started putting it on his album covers.
“I didn’t know anyone else that had a name similar to it,” he said of his childhood. “I always thought my last name was weird, but whatever. I started f—ing with it more around 2016, and then I started putting it on my album covers… I think I’mma keep that going. I really f— with that name now, it looks really cool in all caps.”
source: people.com
