That said, if there is an intentional coming-out narrative in Flower Boy, it’s complicated somewhat by Tyler’s history of casually using derogatory gay slurs as well as making opaque statements about his sexuality. The album’s opener, “Foreword,” addresses the women that Tyler has been with in the past, with him rapping, “Shout-out to the girls that I lead on / For occasional head and always keeping my bed warm / And trying they hardest to keep my head on straight.” And on “I Ain’t Got Time,” Tyler’s bars seem to be even more transparent: “Next line, I'll have ’em like whoa / I've been kissing white boys since 2004,” he raps.
Most of the conversation has centered on the track “Garden Shed,” a song with lyrics about hidden love and feeling misunderstood that have caused many to speculate whether Tyler is coming out as gay or bisexual: “Garden shed for the garçons / Them feelings I was guardin' / Heavy on my mind / All my friends lost / They couldn't read the signs,” he raps on the song’s second verse.īut the hints on Flower Boy go beyond that one line. But in the early aftermath of the leak, other Flower Boy tracks have come to dominate the discussion around the album.
