Tyler the Creator, an artist starting as a rapper and then moving to an alternative hip-hop artist, dropped his album Flower Boy in July. His album served as a surprise for many as he not only changed his style of music but also hinted at many underlying emotions about his sexuality.  

With his beginning song “Foreword, feat. Rex Orange County,”  he describes his feelings  not mattering and being different than everyone else. He revolves around suicide and loneliness in this song. It shows this the most in his final stanza where he says, “And if I drown and don’t come back, Who’s gonna know? (Maybe then I’ll know). And if I crash and don’t come back, Who’s gonna know? (Maybe then I’ll know). And if I fall and don’t come back, Who’s gonna know? (Maybe then I’ll know). I’m wondering if I don’t come back,Maybe then I’ll know.”

After the song, “Where This Flower Blooms, feat. Frank Ocean”, the album goes into a short song set as a radio station taking callers. The song, “Sometimes…”, contains a large hint that supports him coming out. After the host asks for a name and gets no answer, he asks what song the caller would like to hear. The unknown male caller responds with, “The one about me.” This leads directly into “See You Again, feat. Kali Uchis” which is written as a love song. One can draw the conclusion that the “See You Again” is about a man and not a woman.

Perhaps the most obvious song that hints his sexuality is,  “Garden Shed, feat. Estelle.” He uses the garden shed as his “closet” that many of those who have different sexual emotions tend to hide. He discusses his hardships that he had such as thinking it was a phase and losing friends over it. He sings, “Truth is, since a youth kid, thought it was a phase, Thought it’d be like the phrase; “poof,” gone, But, it’s still goin’ on.”

In his final song with lyrics, “Glitter,” Tyler uses the last line in his song, “November,” to leave a voicemail. The song is written as a way to confess his love. It speaks about a person that lights up his world using fireworks as a reference. He writes, “Firework, I feel like glitter, And every time you come around, I feel like glitter, (How you feel?) You’re the one that I wanna give my life, (How you feel?) You’re the one that I needed in my life, ‘Cause I love having you around (I love), ‘Cause I love having you around.”

Overall this album’s musicality and poetic content is impressive. Tyler, the Creator continues to take his albums a step further each time. Although he has moved from the strict rap that he was to a more diverse album, he hasn’t disappointed.