Tyler, The Creator just released his latest album, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, and he has a lot of things to get off his chest on the Domo Genesis-assisted track “MANIFESTO.” On the song, Tyler references protesting, cancel culture, and his past controversial tweets and lyrics. Although he does not explicitly mention it, the song alludes to the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2020 George Floyd protests.
The song kicks off with Tyler recalling how a white person tried to tell him he needs to speak up about “black—” but Tyler doesn’t finish the sentence:
Lil' white b-tch gon' say
“You need to say something about that”
“You need to say somethin' ‘bout black—”
B-tch, suck my—
On the first verse, Tyler questions religion followed by Domo Genesis' verse, where he raps about systemic racism (“Y'all want us dead, just ‘cause the skin is the black type”). Tyler really opens up in the third verse, where he kicks off talking about his old lyrics:
Internet bringin' old lyrics up, like I hide the sh-t
What’s your address, I could probably send you a copy, b-tch
I was canceled before canceled was with Twitter fingers (Haha)
Protestin' outside my shows, I gave them the middle finger (Fuck ‘em)
Tyler’s old lyrics have long been a source of controversy as they were often deemed misogynistic and homophobic. In 2015, Tyler was banned from the United Kingdom over his lyrics on albums like 2009’s Bastard and 2011’s Goblin, many of which he had since disavowed. While Tyler hasn’t earned the same level of backlash in recent years, Billie Eilish was forced to apologize earlier this week for mouthing along to old Tyler lyrics that featured an anti-Asian slur.
Later on in his verse, Tyler recalls trolling Selena Gomez on Twitter before apologizing to her in person:
I was a teener, tweetin' Selena crazy sh-t
Didn’t wanna offend her, apologize when I seen her
Back when I was tryna f-ck Bieber, Just-in
In 2010 and 2011, Tyler wrote several sexually explicit tweets about Selena Gomez. Last year, he was temporarily locked out of his Twitter account for one of those tweets. He posted a screenshot about being locked out, along with one of the offending tweets, on his Instagram story and wrote, “I WAS OUT OF MY MIND.”
On “MANIFESTO,” Tyler also raps about protesting and whether or not “doing enough” for the cause:
Hit some protest up, retweeted positive messages (Uh)
Donated some funds then I went and copped me a necklace
I’m probably a coon, and your standard’s based on this evidence
Am I doin' enough or not doin' enough?
True to his lyrics, Tyler was spotted at George Floyd protests in L.A. last year. In June 2020, protestors in L.A. also damaged his GOLF store. However, Tyler took to his Instagram to make it clear he stood with the protestors, writing in a comment, “and the store is fine, but even if it wasn’t, this is bigger than getting some glass fixed and buffing spray paint off, understand what really needs to be fixed out here. stay safe, love.”
Tyler’s ultimate message in the song seems to come midway through his last verse:
I feel like anything I say, dawg, I’m screwin' sh-t up (Sorry)
So I just tell these black babies, they should do what they want
Freedom, need ‘em, my n-ggas, seen 'em
Free 'em, don’t f-ck with the law like, damn, Gina
One thing the song makes clear is that Tyler has evolved from the person and artist he was in the early days of his career. But the California rapper is still growing, and encouraging kids to be who they want to be.
Read all the lyrics to Tyler, the Creator’s “MANIFESTO” on Genius now.
