Tyler The Creator Said Pharrell’s ‘In My Mind’ Influenced Odd Future: ‘Very Important Piece Of Art To Me’

Now that Tyler The Creator is entering into one of the most powerful phases of his own career, he’s been sharing introspective thoughts on his own evolution as well as the influence of other artists on his thinking. While plenty of people point to Odd Future as the boundary-breakers and blueprint for the next generation of rap, Tyler let fans know that it was Pharrell who pushed him to set goals for his own creative output.

Sharing a throwback photo of himself at 15 on Twitter, he further posted his thoughts on how Pharrell’s album In My Mind was influencing him at the time. “‘In My Mind’ turns 15 today,” he wrote on Twitter. “Came out around the time of this photo. Was at hawthorne high summer school and man I can’t articulate what it means/did for me. I made odd future that summer and set out to be where i am now before 10th grade begun. Very important piece of art to me.’”

For those who aren’t familiar, Pharrell’s 2006 solo debut featured guests like Kanye, Pusha T, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg and Nelly. It came out on July 25, 2006. The official fifteen year anniversary was yesterday, when Tyler made his post honoring the record. Check it out below if you’ve never spent any time with the project.