Tyler, the Creator is considering dropping his stage name because he thinks his real name is “actually cool”.
Tyler, the Creator at the Grinch premiere in 2019
The 30-year-old rapper has been using a stage name for nearly his entire career, but he’s now begun embracing his full name – Tyler Okonma – and is considering using it more often.
He said: "My full name, Tyler Okonma, in all caps, just looks really cool. 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 got his stage name from a MySpace page he made when he was 13, where he would upload drawings, photos and beats he'd made.
And once his career began to pick up, the name followed.
He added: "I'm 17, in high school, and around LA, that name's getting around, and I kind of just kept it as my stage name. It's really dumb, but it stuck with me, so it just works."
The ‘EARFQUAKE’ hitmaker began embracing his last name about five years ago when he started putting it on his album covers, and he now says he’s going to keep the tradition going.
He told Fast Company: "I didn't know anyone else that had a name similar to it. I always thought my last name was weird, but whatever. I started f****** with it more around 2016, and then I started putting it on my album covers … I think I'm going to keep that going. I really f*** with that name now, it looks really cool in all caps."
Meanwhile, Tyler recently said it was the late Virgil Abloh who helped him feel more comfortable with his last name.
He wrote on social media last month after Virgil’s passing: “ABLOH. that strong African last name. few years back i started using more of my African last name OKONMA because of how regal Virgils felt. Everything he did felt like he said ‘hey over here, coast is clear’ whenever i questioned things. (sic)”
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