On July 21, artist Tyler, The Creator, released “Flower Boy,” revealing a new, hidden side of himself. Tyler, The Creator’s music has been labeled homophobic because of his vulgarity in the past, but in “Flower Boy” he hints at himself being homosexual.

“Flower Boy” debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 list and has remained on the list for the past four weeks. Throughout this album, there is so much more raw sincerity that shows how much he has grown as an artist. In his earlier albums, he included a lot of gay slurs like “fag” and “faggot.” Despite his belief that the term is not offensive to gay people, it shows a lot of maturity that he replaced these slurs with honesty about himself and his sexuality.

In the song, “I Ain’t Got Time” he says, “I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004.” However, this isn’t the first song where he has insinuated his sexuality. In 2015 on “Cherry Bomb,” his song “Fuck It” says, “How can I be homophobic when my boyfriend’s a fag? And we been hiding in the closet like our passion is fashion still trying to come out.”

In the songs “Garden Shed” and “Foreword” he has lines that furthermore show that he isn’t straight, “Shout-out to the girls that I lead on for occasional head and always kept my bed warm / And trying their hardest to keep my head on straight.”

He has also tweeted years ago that he tried to come out, but no one cared. “Flower Boy” really shows a gentler side of Tyler, The Creator especially in contrast to his 2011 hit “Yonkers” where he ate a cockroach in the music video.

There is so much beauty within this album the cover art perfectly compliments it. Artists go through so many phases throughout their career and this album shows Tyler, The Creator in a new light.

4/5

Sophia Robledo-Borowy can be reached at [email protected] or @Sophhhia3 on Twitter.