Not only has he been “kissing white boys since 2004,” but Tyler, the Creator apparently had a boyfriend when he was 15.
“I had a boyfriend when I was 15 in fucking Hawthorne,” Tyler said at the top of a recent interview with Koopz Tunes on Soundcloud. “If that’s not open-minded, I don’t know what the fuck that is.”
The 26-year-old rapper also playfully spits freestyle rhymes with sexual gay innuendo. “That’s the most gay-angster shit I’ve ever heard,” the show’s host responds.
Tyler later seemed to address his “boyfriend” comment on Twitter, writing, “figure of speech to get koopz ’open minded’ point across, i was single at 15 haha.”
figure of speech to get koopz 'open minded' point across, i was single at 15 haha
— Tyler, The Creator (@tylerthecreator) August 16, 2017
Long accused of being homophobic, Tyler raised eyebrows last month with a reference to kissing guys on his new album, Flower Boy. On the track “I Ain’t Got Time!” he raps, “Next line will have ’em like ‘Whoa’/I been kissing white boys since 2004.” Fans wondered if he was coming out as bisexual or just trying to spark controversy and conversation.
Tyler’s 2011 album, Goblin, featured 213 uses of the word “fag” and other anti-gay slurs. “I’m not homophobic,” he told NME. “I just think ’faggot’ hits and hurts people. It hits. And ’gay’ just means you’re stupid. I don’t know, we don’t think about it, we’re just kids. We don’t think about that shit. But I don’t hate gay people. I don’t want anyone to think I’m homophobic.”
Tyler, who is friends with queer collaborators Frank Ocean and Syd, also put out a line of Pride T-shirts in 2015 as part of his crew Odd Future’s merch.