Tyler, the Creator has clarified a misheard line from his new album Flower Boy.
The line in question, taken from the Estelle-featuring track "Garden Shed," was widely reported earlier this month as being:
This mishearing resulted in many interpreting the line as a reference to Frank Ocean and another possible Flower Boy mention of Tyler's sexuality.
On release day, Tyler hit Twitter to let everyone know they were, in fact, mistaken. The actual words—according to the guy who wrote them—are "the phrase," not "the Frank."
And there you have it.
In multiple Scum Fuck response pieces, additional passages were cited as examples of Tyler addressing these topics head-on. As writer Michael Arceneaux wrote, Tyler—if he is, indeed, writing about his own sexuality—is also reckoning with his past on other Flower Boy tracks such as "Foreword" and "I Ain't Got Time."
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By Rapping About His Sexuality, Tyler, the Creator Reckons With His Past
Tyler, the Creator has long been accused of homophobia. But lines from his new album could change that narrative.
When premiering the track on Beats 1 earlier this week, Tyler told Zane Lowe that portions of "I Ain't Got Time" were initially meant for Kanye West. "I was just in the studio and there was an MPC there. I literally . . . I was like, Noah . . . just start recording me," Tyler said of the moment the track came together during Pablo sessions. "I just started smacking, started clapping, started making weird noises." West turned down the idea.
Tyler's wish for a Nicki Minaj verse on the track also went unfulfilled. "I wanted Nicki Minaj on that shit so fucking bad," Tyler revealed.
Scum Fuck Flower Boy—or, simply, Flower Boy—is available now.
