While a bevy of female pop stars — Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj — dominated the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, a skinny, foul-mouthed 20-year-old male rapper took home one of the night’s top prizes. Tyler, The Creator, the leader of L.A. hip-hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, took home Best New Artist for his macabre clip for “Yonkers.”
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“Yo, I’m excited as fuck right now, yo,” said Tyler, who beat out Wiz Khalifa, Foster The People, Big Sean and Kreayshawn to claim the award. “I wanted this shit since I was nine. I’m about to cry.” Tyler’s win follows Justin Bieber‘s Best New Artist win last year, and Lady Gaga taking home the trophy in 2009.
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Tyler also gave a shout-out to missing-in-action Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt during his acceptance speech, and advised, “To all the kids watching, you can do this shit.” The rapper’s “Yonkers” video, which he directed, was also nominated for Video of the Year, but lost the top prize to Katy Perry’s “Firework.”
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Along with excitedly winning Best New Artist, Tyler, The Creator took another shot at Bruno Mars, whom he disses in “Yonkers.” When asked what his reaction would be to Mars winning Video of the Year for “Grenade” during MTV’s VMAs pre-show, Tyler responded, “I might kill myself.” However, the rapper was later seen clapping along to Mars’ tribute to Amy Winehouse, and posted on Twitter, “Fuck I Hate Bruno But That Was Really Good.”