Tyler, the Creator Says "Fun" Rivalry With DJ Khaled "Was Just Watching A Man Die Inside"

Adding that Khaled’s ego “was deflated” but “he’ll probably never admit [it].”

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Two years after Tyler, the Creator and DJ Khaled‘s showdown on the Billboard 200, the IGOR artist shared that his album’s victory was similar to “just watching a man die inside.”

Speaking to Ebro Darden, Laura Stylez and Peter Rosenberg in a recent HOT 97 interview, Tyler reflected on the record’s debut and the term Khaled used to supposedly describe IGOR. “Bro that Khaled thing was like, it was fun, it was just watching a man die inside,” he said. “The weirdo was winning, I was moonwalking in a wig. This n***a had everyone on his album. Everyone.”

“For some guy like that to kind of indirectly be like, ‘That ain’t real rap, that ain’t real Black music.’ That’s what it felt like,” he added, referring to Khaled’s statements in a now-deleted video that heard him seemingly call IGOR “mysterious sh*t” and his own Father of Asahd as “great music.” ”And I was like, my n***a, don’t do…but I didn’t say nothing, I just let that No. 1 speak. N****’s ego had to deal with that because his whole identity is being No. 1. And when he didn’t get that, that sat with him longer in real-life time than that moment. I moved on.”

Tyler continued, “That n***a ego was deflated, he’ll probably never admit.”

Watch Tyler, the Creator’s full HOT 97 interview above.

Elsewhere in music, Nas, Jorja Smith and The Weeknd lead the week’s Best New Tracks.

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Sophie Caraan
Sophie Caraan Managing Editor

Sophie Caraan is the Managing Editor at Hypebeast, where she sets the editorial direction, standards, and output strategy for the HQ team. With a decade of editorial experience, she brings both a storyteller's instinct and a strategist's eye — spotlighting the figures and movements that shape the culture across a multitude of lanes. Her tenure is marked by high-impact conversations with the likes of RZA, Mads Mikkelsen, CORTIS, Erling Haaland, Kasing Lung, NIGO, and more.

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