Tyler, The Creator Bets Will.I.Am $1,000,000 He Won’t Sell Out

By Greg Moskovitch

Odd Future mastermind Tyler, The Creator has taken Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.I.Am to task for implying that the famously confrontational rapper will eventually sacrifice his ideals in the interest of making money, after the two met backstage at a Kanye West concert.

The two were attending the second night of West’s run at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, with the conversation between the two centred on the concepts of artistry and “selling out.” Tyler took to Twitter to respond to troubling comments reportedly made by the BEP leader.

According to his tweets, Tyler bet Will.I.Am $1,000,000 that he will still be making money in 10 years time from doing what he loves and will not, as Will.I.Am said, be making decisions based on “what to do to survive.” Tyler stated defiantly, “I’m not gonna make music I hate.”

In the tweets Tyler implied that his peer “hates himself” as a result of using his creativity to purely monetary ends. Will.I.Am’s group, Black Eyed Peas, started off as a conscious hip-hop group, with songs like Empire Strikes Back taking the hip-hop industry to task for its rampant consumerism.

Tyler also suggested where the rapper-producer’s career is likely to take him, tweeting that in 10 years time, when Will.I.Am is 50 and he is 32, he’ll be busy making his own movies. The OF alum recently unveiled the trailer for his debut film project, Wolf.

Despite the disconcerting encounter with Will.I.Am, who is currently mired in a plagiarism suit with Pharrell Williams, something Tyler alluded to in his tweets, Tyler’s night ended well after he met one of his personal heroes, comedian Dave Chappelle, the two sharing a quick selfie.

Readers can check out Tyler’s Will.I.Am Twitter rant in its entirety, below.

Listen: Black Eyed Peas – Empire Strikes Back

Greg Moskovitch
Greg Moskovitch

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