And while Eminem’s subject matter pertained primarily to cheap imitators of an already cheap person, Tyler’s focuses on the most common theme of IGOR, codependent, toxic, obsessive love. Flooding into the venue with Em as their angry white male pied piper, flashes of this imagery were undeniable in Tyler, the Creator’s January 26th rendition of “Earfquake.” This time around, a blonde head of hair was also key to “duping” the audience into wondering who the real Tyler, the Creator was, but with the “twist” of a pink and maroon suit instead of something so quotidian as what Eminem donned (incidentally, his inability to dress with half as much panache ironically plays into “The Real Slim Shady” lyric, “You think I give a damn about a Grammy?”).
If the lyrics of the song didn’t already give an indication of what he might have in store for the live conceptualization of the track, then surely the army of blonde white men wearing jeans and a white t-shirt (the “real” Slim Shady wore, true to form, a wife beater instead) lined up along Sixth Avenue instantly did. Riding high on the success of what few people seem to forget was his sophomore album, The Slim Shady LP (with Infinite being his 1996 debut), Eminem took to the stage at Radio City Music Hall for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards to give the world a sample of his then freshly released single, “The Real Slim Shady,” from his third record, The Marshall Mathers LP.
While Tyler, the Creator’s blonde wig look from the video for his only single from 2019’s Igor, “Earfquake,” has already long ago drawn comparisons to Sia and, strangely, Carol Channing, a new element incorporated into the performance conjured flashes of yet another very blanco “artist” by the name of Eminem.
Tyler, the Creator was one of the many musicians to contribute a performance at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 26th, the day of Kobe Bryant’s abrupt and tragic death via helicopter (the fact of which became especially poignant when considering the Grammys took place at “the house that Kobe built”–as presenter Alicia Keys phrased it–the Staples Center).
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