Flower Boy, Tyler, the Creator’s fourth studio album, was released the evening of July 20th. Tyler is the frontman and founder of Odd Future, a hip-pop group that consists of rappers, artists, and other creative souls. Odd Future has produced albums, had a comedy show on Adult Swim called Loiter Squad, and hosts a music festival called Camp Flognaw every year.  

Tyler is known for his offensive, colorful, and explicit language which he proudly displays in his lyrics in previous albums – even more so than the cursing heard in most modern rap.

Tyler has a homophobic reputation due to his usage of negative slurs towards the LGBT community, regardless of the fact that he is gay or bisexual.

Through his acceptance of openly gay Odd Future members, Frank Ocean and Syd the Kid, a series of tweets about his coming out, and LGBT-positive Odd Future merchandise, Tyler has sent his fans mixed messages about his opinion on the LGBT community for years, although the lyrics of songs in Flower Boy, he seems to have come out of the closet with his sexuality and come out of what seemed to be a slum of weird (but good!) and immature music.

Garden Shed has been interpreted as a metaphor for his coming out of the closet, as well as the lyrics of I Ain’t Got Time!, “I’ve been kissing white boys since 2004.” Therefore, this was a win for Tyler in more than one way.

He was able to come out in the way that he feels most comfortable, and he matured as an artist in more ways than one. It seems that Tyler was able to bypass whatever weird phase of self-hatred and deprecation that he showed in his usage of homophobic slurs, which shows that he has also surrounded himself with people who were going to support him no matter what sexuality he is, which is a key part of growing up.

He also was smarter with his lyrics, and it seemed that in the two years between CHERRY BOMB and Flower Boy, Tyler seriously worked on bettering his craft as a rapper and as a producer.

In Tyler’s previous albums, particularly CHERRY BOMB, the production was harsh. It is a known fact amongst Tyler’s fans that the lyrical content on CHERRY BOMB and other past albums is extremely clever and politically charged in the most childish way. Tyler, the Creator has never seemed to care about what anyone says about him, permitting him to say just about whatever he pleases. Due to his insensitivity to just about every subject that he has ever rapped about, Flower Boy’s lyrical content, which includes existential questions, exploring the idea of happiness, and the concept of what being alone truly means is deeply refreshing when paired with beautifully produced instrumentals and features from the hottest names in indie rock and modern R&B and soul.

Overall, I feel like this was Tyler’s best work. He definitely experimented creatively and executed with every attempt that he made to make this album amazing. With help from some musical masterminds, such as Roy Ayers, who is featured on this album, I’m confident Tyler will be able to bring his fans more and more listening pleasure throughout the rest of his musical career.