Tyler The Creator has a well-earned reputation for not caring what anybody has to say about him — leading to a career where listeners have ended up thinking he is both homophobic and homosexual.
In the most recent twist, Tyler told Know Wave’s Koopz Tunes radio show in an interview that he had a boyfriend when he was a teenager.
“I had a boyfriend when I was 15 in fucking Hawthorne,” Tyler claimed. “If that’s not open minded, I don’t know what is.”
The topic ends there, without any real clarification or follow-up questions from the host (listen around the 4:10 mark below).
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The Odd Future rapper appeared to backtrack on Twitter later, writing, “Figure of speech to get Koopz’ ‘open-minded’ point across, I was single at 15 haha.”
Whether he was joking, or just saying that he was into guys when he was 15 but didn’t have a steady boyfriend is still up for debate. Regardless, the latest clarification has caused more confusion around the question of Tyler’s sexuality, and he has yet to expand on the topic in interviews.
The comments follow lyrics on Tyler’s (excellent) 2017 album Flower Boy, where he says “I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004.”
It’s been a recurring theme for Tyler throughout his career. In 2015 he posted the tweet below, though it’s impossible to tell whether or not he was joking.
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Check out the full interview below.
https://soundcloud.com/know_wave/koopz-tunes-with-tyler-the-creator-august-14-2017