Tyler, the Creator is finally receiving an award for the hold Odd Future Golf Wang had on early 2010s high-schoolers. The rapper and creative accepted the Rock the Bells Cultural Influence Award last night, at the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards. Presented by LL Cool J, the 30-year-old climbed onstage wearing an orange fur hat, carrying his Call Me If You Get Lost suitcase, and proceeded to thank his influences for making him influential. “Playboi Carti has a line where he says ‘bought my mama house off this mumblin’ shit’ and I always get teared up when he says that,†Tyler said, off the dome. “This thing that’s a hobby or a pastime or a passion for us, a lot of people in here, that shit kept us out of trouble. And it allowed us to change our family lives and friends’ lives.†Acknowledging how music has created a “community†and “path way†for young people “where we grew up,†he went on to list just a few icons.
“I definitely think that I’ve created my own path, but it’s people who allowed me to understand that I can do that, who laid the blueprint,†he said. “For everyone it’s different but I wouldn’t be here or up on this stage or have this silly hat or anything without the Q-Tips, the André 3000s, the Chad Hugos, the Pharrells, the Kanye Wests, Missy Elliott who no one ever brings up, Busta Rhymes, and Hype Williams who just took it to this other world. Man, I appreciate those names and others that I didn’t name.†He finished by plugging Call Me If You Get Lost, which also won Album of the Year at the awards show. He’s going on tour next year with Kali Uchis, Vince Staples, and Teezo, to share the blueprint with fans across the country. Watch Tyler, the Creator’s emotional speech at the BET Hip Hop Awards above.