Tonight at the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards, the inaugural Rock the Bells Cultural Influence Award was presented to Tyler, the Creator by LL Cool J. According to pitchfork.com, Tyler talked about hip-hop’s importance in changing his life and acknowledged some of his influences. “I definitely think that I’ve created my own path, but it’s people who allowed me to understand that I can do that, who laid the blueprint,” he said. He then thanked a short list of influences: Q-Tip, André 3000, Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes, Kanye West, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, and Hype Williams.

He ended by looking out in the crowd and encouraged young artists, including Baby Keem and Yung Bleu. “Everyone keep thriving, keep doing your shit, and Call Me If You Get Lost out now.” Call Me If You Get Lost, which came out earlier this year, also won Album of the Year at the show. Tyler will tour the album with Kali Uchis, Vince Staples, and Teezo in 2022.

Mxdwn writer Jahniya Morris spoke about the album in a review, saying “Call Me If You Get Lost is the perfect example of an artist developing. Tyler, the Creator is one of the few artists who have been successfully able to grow and develop their sound with each release. This new persona, Tyler Baudelaire, is confident, vulnerable and grateful for everything he has. So, this album is a way to express all of that by taking people on this journey he’s been on since Igor. There truly would not have been a better way to display this journey and development than through a mixtape-style format with DJ Drama as the magic touch.”

Photo Credit Mauricio Alvarado