Apple Music crowned rapper Tyler, The Creator as its 2025 Artist of the Year on Thursday, honoring the hip-hop innovator’s remarkable creative output and cultural influence over the past 12 months. With streaming minutes numbering in the billions, the guy gives new meaning to “off the charts.”
This year has been Tyler’s most successful to date across Apple Music’s platform. Between November 2024 and October 2025, fans worldwide streamed his music for more than 4.5 billion minutes, marking career highs in plays, listeners and total listening hours on the service.
2025 Apple Music Artist of the Year: Tyler, The Creator
Apple Music first bestowed an Artist of the Year award in 2019, to Billie Eilish, and subsequently to Lil Baby (2020), The Weeknd (2021), Bad Bunny (2022), Taylor Swift (2023), and Billie Eilish again (2024). Tyler’s extraordinary 2025 began with an extensive tour supporting CHROMAKOPIA, his most personal album to date, Apple said. The ambitious project became his most successful release ever on Apple Music, breaking his own records for both first-day and first-week plays.
But the creative explosion didn’t stop there. Mid-tour, Tyler surprised fans by writing, recording, and releasing DON’T TAP THE GLASS, a stripped-down rap album that stands in stark contrast to its predecessor. The urgent, raw project shot to number one on Apple Music’s overall charts in more than 55 countries on its release day, demonstrating Tyler’s ability to command attention across wildly different artistic visions.
Beyond the studio
Tyler’s 2025 dominance extended far beyond recorded music. He headlined major festivals including Governors Ball, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands and Osheaga. And at the same time, he prepared for the 11th edition of Camp Flog Gnaw. That’s a Los Angeles festival he created himself.
His influence crosses into new territory, as well. Tyler will soon make his feature-film debut in Marty Supreme, a period drama directed by Josh Safdie and starring Timothée Chalamet. He also earned five Grammy nominations for both CHROMAKOPIA and DON’T TAP THE GLASS.
“Tyler continues to prove that anything is possible,” said Zane Lowe, Apple Music’s global creative director. “His creativity has been incredible all year. His creative risk-taking is only matched by the care he takes to present it, and he inspires his peers and fans now, just as he will continue to inspire generations to come.”
Recognition and gratitude
In his acceptance, Tyler expressed appreciation for his supporters. “To everyone who listens to my music, thank you. I appreciate you so much,” he said. “This year, for my career, was the biggest so far. To be this year’s Apple Music artist of the year, it’s sick.”
“Please keep supporting folks who are a bit out of the box for how they do things; it means a lot to us,” he added.
Tyler will receive a physical Apple Music Award featuring the company’s custom silicon wafer suspended between polished glass and machined aluminum. That represents the chip powering devices that provide access to over 100 million songs.
You can check out a special selection of playlists. And Apple Music users who have Tyler, The Creator in their recent Shazam history can expect a special message from the artist on their home screen, Apple said.
David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.
With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.
Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.
Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.
