The Rise of Gatekeeping

On October 28th, Tyler the Creator released his new album Chromokopia after high fan anticipation. The album is set to be one of his biggest hits, and with this, his niche fans have become salty. But why would his older fans be salty over his success?

Many of his fans have posted TikToks with captions such as, “If you haven’t listened to Igor, you can’t be excited for Chromokopia”, “You don’t know Tyler the way I know Tyler ” and many more like this. Many other users have asked, “Why does this matter?”

This is not the first time something like this has happened, it can happen with other artists like Frank Ocean, Gracie Abrams, Phoebe Bridgers, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, etc.. It also has happened with trends such as sambas, cheetah print, certain jeans, and more. 

People become so upset over other people enjoying things that they enjoy. The point of the creation of these things was for people to like it and be excited. Rather than being upset about something like this people should be happy that creation is being appreciated the way it deserves. 

It is very common for gatekeeping to happen with alternative styles of music or clothing because, in the recent age of thrifting and a rise in alternative music, everybody strives to find unique styles that are specific to themselves. So when other people find their niche alternative style they get upset because it becomes basic rather than niche. 

Tyler the Creator is having the most streams in his entire career and all the songs from his recent album have taken over as his most streamed songs in a matter of days. His fans who have been there from the beginning, which some are, should be overjoyed with his new success after watching the hard work he has put in. 

In my opinion, gatekeeping could be considered jealousy, spite, and bitterness. People are upset that something isn’t just their thing and that other people might know more than them about it. At the end of the day, you can still enjoy it and the other person can still enjoy it. You might know more lyrics or have more pairs of the shoe but you can both receive joy from appreciating the creation like it was meant to be appreciated.