Tyler Okonma, better known as Tyler the Creator, an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer, has come out and paid tribute to the American Singer D’Angelo, who passed away yesterday, October 14th.
D’Angelo passed away yesterday at the age of 51 from his private battle with cancer. His family has come out and stated, “We are saddened that he can only leave dear memories with his family, but we are eternally grateful for the legacy of extraordinarily moving music he leaves behind,”.
There has been a wave of responses to the death of D’Angelo, with many celebrities making public statements to offer their condolences and pay tribute to the fallen artist. Among the wave of celebrities, Tyler the Creator stands out from the crowd with his heartfelt response.
In Tyler’s response, he speaks of himself as a nine-year-old boy being obsessed with D’Angelo’s music. For his 9th birthday, he had his eyes set only on getting a copy of VOODOO. Tyler has said, “i am so lucky to have gotten my copy of VOODOO when i did. we are so lucky to have been alive to enjoy his art. my musical dna was helped shaped by this man. forever grateful. safe travels.”
Tyler has continued in another statement, expanding on how much D’Angelo had an impact on his life. “i had no idea that would help shape my musical dna. The amount of raps ive wrote to BOOTY on the front porch that year, the amount of times ive tried to mimic vocal phrasing from SEND IT ON, the scratches the disc ended up with from repeating THE ROOT……too many. ONE MO’GIN still puts me in the same trance as it did when i first heard it. that dragging sway of tempo that sounds like a porch sitting rocking chair. that grumpy but loose bassline. the subject of it, that feeling hes describing felt like a mirror. I took that and wrote RING RING RING (hence the one mo gin line). I couldnt understand how someone could write something so simple but personal but broad but genius. Thats how special he was. A savant. A true alien.”
D’Angelo was an iconic artist and he will be missed by many.
