Culture

Rapper Tyler, the Creator hints that he’s dated guys

Aug 17 2017
Written by Nick Duffy

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

Rapper Tyler, the Creator has revealed that he had a boyfriend aged 15, amid speculation about his sexuality.

The rapper appeared to quietly come out earlier this year in his new album, which is titled ‘Flower Boy’.

One one track, he raps: “Next line will have them like woah / I been kissing white boys since 2004″, while in another he alludes to hiding in “the garden shed for the garçons”.

Since dropping the album he has appeared enigmatic about his sexuality in interviews, deftly dodging questions in a Colbert segment last month.

But in an interview a new interview with online radio show Koopz Tunes, he appeared to reference a former relationship with a man.

Tyler, the Creator
He said: “I had a boyfriend when I was fifteen in f**king Hawthorne, n***a. If that’s not open-minded, I don’t know what the f**k that is.”

However, he took to Twitter later on to insist the comments were a “figure of speech”, clarifying: “i was single at 15 haha”.

The speculation is quite a turnaround.

The rapper – whose real name is Tyler Okonma, was denied entry to the UK in 2015 over fears about anti-gay lyrics, .

A controversial figure, he was branded “violently anti-gay”. by media charity GLAAD in 2011, fkr using the word ‘faggot’ 213 times on his first album.

The rapper later claimed he “personally don’t give a s**t” if people think he is homophobic, claiming: “I just say faggot and use gay as an adjective to describe stupid shit”.

He insisted: “I’m not homophobic, I just think ‘faggot’ 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 s***.

“But I don’t hate gay people. I don’t want anyone to think I’m homophobic.”

He has since moved away from his earlier material.

The rapper referenced the row in track: F**K IT,” rapping: “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.”

That same year, he tweeted: “I TRIED TO COME OUT THE DAMN CLOSET LIKE FOUR DAYS AGO AND NO ONE CARED HAHAHHAHAHA”