Tyler, The Creator Responds to Viral Rapper Ian Over "Mocking" Hip-Hop Criticism

In a recent interview, Tyler, The Creator called out an unnamed "white kid" who he felt was "mocking" Hip-Hop artists like Future and Gucci Mane. While he didn't name the artist directly, it was widely speculated that he was referring to the viral rapper Ian.

Well, it seems Tyler's criticisms have reached Ian, who addressed the comments in a new freestyle released on Lyrical Lemonade's "Lunch Break Freestyle" series. In the track, Ian explicitly mentions Tyler's Odd Future collective, rapping: "Back then, I really loved Odd Future/I ain't never sat down tryna' mock Future. I ain't wanna show no disrespect/So I kept my mouth shut and that's not human."

This appears to be a direct response to Tyler's previous comments, where he said: "There's this kid right now, this white kid, regular Caucasian man, and he's like mocking Future and Gucci Mane, like rap music. And people are like, 'This shit hard!' It's not even like satire, it's like, 'I'm just joking, I'm just mocking it.'"

Tyler went on to say that he holds "rap music so close to my heart 'cause this shit changed my life and everyone's life around me, and I'm a nerd about this shit." He contrasted Ian's approach to that of artists like Mac Miller and Eminem, who he felt had a "genuine love" for the genre.

Interestingly, Lil Yachty, who has collaborated with Ian, also weighed in on Tyler's comments. Yachty defended Ian, writing on Instagram: "Yo @feliciathegoat, i signed lan & im from Atlanta. He sounds nothing like Gucci or future lol. It's called influence. But i never thought I'd see the day where you become old & hate on the youth lol."

This back-and-forth highlights the ongoing debates within the Hip-Hop community around authenticity, influence, and the role of white artists in the genre. It will be interesting to see if Tyler and Ian continue to address this issue publicly. For now, it's clear that Ian has heard Tyler's criticisms and has attempted to directly respond to them.