He thought everyone would hate the record.
There was quite a bit controversy surrounding Tyler, The Creator’s album IGOR. His experimental hit record came in at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, topping DJ Khaled‘s star-studded production, Father Asahd. Because Khaled enlisted dozens heavy-hitters as features on his record, there were many in the industry who believed Father Asahd was guaranteed to take the No. 1 spot for weeks to come.
Yet, Tyler, The Creator‘s beautifully woven IGOR—an album swimming with music greats its own—claimed victory the first week its release. Reports surfaced that tens thousands Khaled’s purchases weren’t counted due to a bundling mix-up, but whatever the case was didn’t take away from the fact that Tyler crafted a No. 1 record.
In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, Tyler finally addresses taking that top spot above Khaled. He said he released IGOR with the belief that the album would be misunderstood and wouldn’t be received well with the public. “I f*cking spent so much time on this sh*t, and whether or not people like it, whatever the f*ck, I just want the idea executed,” he said. “And when that happened, and it goes number one, bro, that sh*t means a lot. I didn’t think people would like this album based on everyone hating Cherry Bomb so f*cking much.”
He added, “So when I put this out and it beat first week, and again, I don’t make sh*t to beat first week or be radio or whatever, but for this work art and that album cover and these videos and me doing this suit-wig thing—and this is no disrespect to Khaled or anyone, but this n*gga had every person in the industry, everyone on that f*cking album. Everyone. Everyone. Cardi B, 21 Savage, Travis Scott, Post Malone, Beyoncé, Jay. Everyone who sells billions records…and the fact that I beat him with this, that isn’t parallel to all the popping music right now, was f*cking crazy, bro. Are you serious? Like, that was insane to me.”