Tyler, The Creator has been a fascinating case study of artistic maturation and evolution when it comes to hip-hop music. Starting out, his approach may have seemed muddled to some who could see that his talents as an emcee were buried under layers of unfocused distraction. Years later, he's come into his own and recently gave us what might be considered the high-point of his career thus far with the Flower Boy album. An exploration of his past and the unfulfilled emotions that come along with that journey, Tyler alluded to the fact that he had a former male love interest on the track "Garden Shed." This revelation led to many to conclude that he was bisexual, an assumption that he has still yet to confirm in any interviews or related press that he did for his last album.
This week, however, we got a tiny glimpse into the answer the hip-hop community has been craving ever since the album's release. On the Koopz Tunes radio show, Tyler stopped by to talk about a variety of topics but drew the most attention from a reference he made to an old flame, who was a young man "I had a boyfriend when I was fifteen in f**king Hawthorne. If that's not open minded, I don't know what is," said the rapper. No other references were made to his sexuality, but it seems like this was the first step towards being more publicly open about it. Or, as it turns out, maybe not.
Earlier today, Tyler followed up that comment with a tweet that claims he was "single" at fifteen, and that his boyfriend comment was just a "figure of speech" in order to get listeners, as well as those who may be whispering to each other about his love life, to be more open-minded. Whether or not he's telling the truth about having a previous boyfriend one way or the other - and frankly, it's none of our business - it's just another example of how forward-thinking an artist he is, especially when put into the context of a hip-hop culture that's still at least mildly uncomfortable with non-heterosexual partnerships.
Check out his album Flower Boy here.