Tyler, The Creator Explains Why He Changed His Infamous Twitter Handle

Tyler, The Creator speaks on his U.K. ban, his Twitter handle change, and the rumors of a new album during an interview at Afropunk.

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Complex Original

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Tyler, The Creator is a man with many titles: director, producer, graphic designer, as well as a self-proclaimed "park ranger." But the 25-year-old is most known as an eccentric, often polarizing rapper. Though his DGAF persona has resulted in some trouble throughout his career, it appears the Odd Future co-founder is now attempting to change his image.

Before taking the stage at Afropunk Brooklyn over the weekend, Tyler sat down for an official festival interview. The first topic at hand was the recent change to his Twitter account, which now features the handle @TylertheCreator instead of the initial @FuckTyler.

"My stock just went up because of that name change, and only idiots won’t understand that," he said. "How can I contact corporations, like 'Yo, invest a bunch of money in me. I have a lot of really good ideas,' and I'm like 'Yo, they don't reply to me.' Oh yeah, my name has this in it. Like, that first impression is automatically out the window […] I just had a bunch of gnarly tweets under that name, so I’m just putting that era to rest."

Unfortunately for Tyler, some of the decisions made during "that era" are still affecting him today. Case in point? His three-to-five-year ban from the U.K., which was issued after officials claimed his lyrics were inciting terrorism.

"Do I look like a terrorist? […] I still have trouble getting on flights because I’m on a no-fly list," he said before he was asked if he expected the backlash. "I was 17 and 18, I didn’t think that stuff I was writing would matter. […] I’m not going to apologize for the things I said, because at the time, that shit was cool, and we were young and just having fun and just saying crazy stuff. But I’m not going to sit and write some stupid press release."

Tyler also confirmed he’s not working on any new projects, as he’s been spending his time "living life" and "chilling." You can watch the full interview, in which he also talks about America’s imminent downfall, above. 

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