Tyler, the Creator blasts many of today's rappers, says they aren't true 'musicians'

It can easily be said that hip-hop fans are divided over what makes a stellar rap artist. Often, you'll have one group of fans say that record sales and chart positions determine who's best. Meanwhile, others have stated it's the rapper's skill level that makes that person great or not.

Tyler, the Creator is among the latter group of fans, and he came down on those artists who only care about fame, money, and success instead of mastering their craft. In fact, the former Odd Future member said that many of today's rappers are just pumping out content and not making quality music.

"I don't want to seem like a hater," said Tyler on Maverick Carter's new interview show Mavericks. “I love this artform so much, bro. There are so many n****s out right now who aren’t musicians, that are getting treated like musicians because they make meme records. "[They] publicly will be like, 'I don’t give a f**k about music, I just do this s**t for money.' When every publication is like, 'hell yeah, let’s put that out.' Now, you taking up space for n****s like me.”

"I love this artform so much, bro"

- Tyler, the Creator

Tyler is far from the only person who's made the distinction between the rapper who pushes the artistic envelope and the person who just wants to make money. Jay-Z spoke about it in 2016 during an interview on The Breakfast Club.

In short, the Brooklyn rap vet said once hip-hop became big business and not just an art form, a lot of people wanted to cash in. Some might recall that on his 1997 song "Intro / A Million and One Questions / Rhyme No More" he said, "I ain't no rapper, I'm a hustler." Still, though, Jay is considered by many to be one of rap's greatest lyricists.

“That’s what happens,” said Jay in that Breakfast Club interview at the 5:31 mark. “When anything [becomes] successful [it changes]. Like, people were rapping because they loved to rap. Then it became this huge business, this multi-billion dollar business, so people that didn’t even care to rap was like, 'I’ma figure out how to get some money in this.' So, you had people who could rap a little bit and saw it as a hustle … It’s flooded with guys who aren’t rappers.”

As for Tyler's comments, some said he's correct, while others said he's being hypocritical. "He’s right, a lot of the artistry is being lost in favor of streams and getting a viral sound," one person tweeted. "He used to make meme records too," wrote another.