Tyler, The Creator says he owes Eminem an apology
Rapper and singer Tyler, The Creator, has confessed that he believes he owes Eminem an apology in person for his nearly 15-year-old critique of the Detroit rapper’s album Recovery. The record, which came out in 2010, is loved by fans worldwide.
The Odd Future rapper was a guest on the Mavericks podcast with Mav Carter. During their conversation, they discussed Eminem, and Tyler noted how he publicly stated that he hated the album when it first came out. However, after being further educated on addiction earlier in the year, the rapper has admitted his perspective on drugs and, subsequently, the album, has changed.
“After watching [Painkiller on Netflix], I felt so bad about those tweets and things like that because thinking from his perspective,” Tyler said, “Someone like me publicly saying that stuff and him getting off drugs and being clean and getting to a point in his life that that’s behind him and me implying that this shit is wack – he probably felt like I was attacking him.”
He continued, “I thought I was like just like ‘I don’t like the music’. He was in a different part of his life and probably felt like I was attacking him. And now I feel so bad about saying that stuff because my perspective was so limited.”
Tyler went on to speak about how much of a fan of Eminem he is. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. A lot of Tyler’s early work on albums such as Goblin and Bastard, despite sounding different to Em, certainly embraces a Slim Shady-inspired element as Tyler assumes an alter ego to channel negative thoughts through.
“I love him, that dude taught me how to rap. I learned how to put words together in rhythm because of some of the Eminem stuff I was hearing and storytelling and things like that,” he said, “So after watching that show a few months ago, that gave me perspective and I felt so terrible about some of the things I said about the Recovery album because I realised that was a big step.”
Tyler finished by mocking his past self, acknowledging how vulnerable Eminem was on the album and how indifferent his very public response to the record was. “It meant a lot to him, and my fucking young stupid ass was like, ‘I wanna hear ‘Same Song & Dance’ I loved The Eminem Show!’” said Tyler, “But he’s not there anymore. I felt terrible. If I ever see him, I wanna tell him that in person.”