Tyler, the Creator has written an emotional tribute to Pharrell Williams, calling the “Happy” singer his “role model”, and the only male figure he “gravitated to”.

The 800-word essay – written all in caps – was posted on the LA rapper’s Facebook and Instagram yesterday (July 25). It was posted to tie in with the tenth anniversary of Williams’ first solo record, In My Mind, and begins by heavily praising the album.

“This album ranges in different styles and sounds, and I believe that’s why I gravitated to it so much,” Tyler writes of the 2006 LP. “The fact that you didn’t get stuck on one sound and let a ‘cohesive’ wall block your creativity, might be why I allow my albums to range in styles now that I think about it.”

The rapper and music video director also reflects on how Pharrell’s individuality shaped his life as a black man, and ultimately allowed him to accept himself and embrace his eccentricities.

“Being 15, black, not really ‘interested’ in what the majority of my peers were into, it made me feel some type of way,” he explains. “Where I grew up, n**gas get stuck and never make it out. Jail, dead, shit jobs, still hanging out at the same spots, not really growing out. It seems to me at least, at a certain age, ideas and original thoughts are no longer a thing. I thank the universe that I got out and didn’t fall into that cycle.”

“I’m now a young entrepreneur all because I believed you when I said I could be,” Tyler concludes, addressing Pharrell. “I never had brothers, uncles or my father around, so thank you for being the male figure I gravitated to. Allowing me to embrace being different and trusting my ideas.”

Read the full post below.