The Creator Tyler is embracing his heritage.
The rapper, whose real name is Tyler Okonma, recently talked to Fast Company about how he’s come to love his “very awesome” African last name.
Tyler stated in a video interview, “My entire name, Tyler Okonma, in all caps, just looks extremely amazing. “I don’t know, you might see more of that. As I become older, I believe that people begin to realize the truth and come to appreciate things they once disliked. You simply begin to alter.”
I guess my interpretation of that is looking at my name and thinking, “Oh, this is genuinely cool,” he continued. The Grammy-winning artist stated that the inspiration for his stage name came from a MySpace profile he created when he was just 13 years old and featured his own music and paintings.
When he first entered the music industry in 2007 and his career took off, the moniker soon followed. About its beginnings, Tyler stated, “I’m a 17-year-old high school student in Los Angeles.
Since that name is becoming well-known, I essentially just used it as my stage name. Despite being extremely stupid, it nonetheless managed to stick with me.”
Why did Tyler change his name?
Tyler wrote. “A 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, the coast is clear’ whenever I questioned things.”
