TYLER, THE CREATOR AND HIS STRUGGLE WITH SEXUALITY

Alberge, Dalya. “Tchaikovsky and the Secret Gay Loves Censors Tried to Hide.” The Observer, 2 June 2018, www. theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/02/tchaikovsky-letters-saved-from-censors-reveal-secret-loves-homosexuality.

This website gives context to the situation that I am about to provide for the audience. This can allow me to give a brief history of gay musicians and how they have dealt with their sexuality in the past so that I can better compare Tyler, the Creator’s experience in the present.

Corner, Lewis. “Tyler, the Creator Speaks about the “Grey Area” around His Sexuality.” GAY TIMES, 20 Sept. 2018, www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/tyler-the-creator-addresses-the-grey-area-around-his-sexuality/.

This website shows the audience how Tyler, the Creator was being allusive about his sexuality right after he came out. I do this to show that he is probably protecting his career so that he is not publicly persecuted by media and homophobes. This allows me to connect Tyler coming out to how musicians can protect their careers.

Craig, Ronald O. “Hypermasculinity | Britannica.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019, www.britannica.com/topic/ hypermasculinity.

By giving a blunt definition from a credible source, it easily allows me to connect my audience to what I am talking about. This also gives a better definition than what I could come up with myself. The allows my reader to understand the basics of what I am going to talk abot in the future.

“Eminem Is Gay - the Interview.” Www.youtube.com, 25 Dec. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=861dkpAv3Yw&t=100s. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

This movie clip gives some light heartedness to the situation that I am talking about. It also allows my reader to connect what I am telling them to what they may have previously seen so that they can better understand my talking points.

“GRSJ224/Masculinity in Hip Hop Music - UBC Wiki.” Wiki.ubc.ca, wiki.ubc.ca/GRSJ224/Masculinity_in_Hip_ Hop_Music. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

This article gives more insight as to how hypermasculinity is associated with my actual topic. This also connects two of my other sources to form a more cohesive thought. By using this source it allows me to both give the audience more information and develop a preexisting point I was making.

“Https://Twitter.com/Tylerthecreator/Status/587459235706900480.” Twitter, 12 Apr. 2015, twitter.com/tylerthecreator/status/587459235706900480. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022. This source is a direct quote from Tyler, the Creator’s social media which proves that he did try to come out as gay years before Flower Boy, but nobody cared or listened. This helps prove my point that being gay in hip-hop culture isn’t really taken seriously as it goes against societal norms.

“I Got Your Pics on My Wall with the Mouth Cut out / Now Paper Cuts on My Balls Because Your Dick’s in My Jaw (What the Fuck).” Genius, genius.com/25983645. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

This quote from “Colossus” shows how Tyler, the Creator is portraying gay fans of his as weird, which reflects how he is deflecting his feelings of homosexuality so that he is looked upon as more favorably in the hip-hop community. This may also be an allusion to his own feelings towards me disguised as another’s thoughts. Lee, Benjamin. “Is Tyler, the Creator Coming out as a Gay Man or Just a Queer-Baiting Provocateur?” The Guardian, The Guardian, 22 Feb. 2018, www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jul/25/tyler-the-creator-flower-boygay-man-or-queer-baiting-provocateur.

This quote reaffirms the uncertainty that people had about Tyler, the Creator’s sincerity when he eventually came out which reaffirms my point that many people did not take his coming out as serious because of the heinous things that he had said in the past. This also allows me to transition onto my next point that Tyler was trying to come out for some time before then.

“Life Ain’t Got No Light in It / Darker than That Closet That Nigga Frankie Was Hiding In.” Genius, genius. com/1593174. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

This quote from “Cowboy” shows that Tyler, the Creator was so unforgiving towards gay people because of the hypermasculinity that he wanted to dempnstrate to his audience, that he would even make fun of his own friend for coming out. This adds and ironic element to the paper as Tyler would eventually go through the same experience that Frank Ocean had to go through.

“Next Line Will Have ‘Em like “Whoa” / I’ve Been Kissing White Boys since 2004.” Genius, genius. com/12309831. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

This Lyric off of “Aint Got Time” shows the exact point where many of Tyler, the Creator’s fans may have realized that maybe he was actually serious about his sexuality this time. Tyler had previously joked about sexuality online, but never in his songs which has a more serious element to it.

“No Homo? Hip-Hop and Homophobia (Part 1).” GLSEN, 4 Nov. 2009, www.glsen.org/blog/no-homo-hip-hopand-homophobia-part-1.

This source shows examples of how other hip-hop artists have used homophobia to establish themselves as a part of the social norm under mypermasculinity. This gives me two quotes, one about Kanye using no homo, and one about Eminem defending his use of the f-slur.

PlzFadeMeBro. “R/Hiphopheads - Tyler, the Creator Comes out as Gay on His New Album.” Reddit, 2012, www. reddit.com/r/hiphopheads/comments/6mexdk/tyler_the_creator_comes_out_as_gay_on_his_new/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

This post shows ‘real’ peoples discussion on the matter of Tyler, the Creator’s sexuality. This gives me three different takes from people not unlike the reader one their analysis of the new information. This allows the audience to collect the opinions of people other than themselves giving a broader range to their view.

“R/Tylerthecreator - so Was Fucking Young about a Guy?” Reddit, 2017, www.reddit.com/r/tylerthecreator/comments/6ql6y9/so_was_fucking_young_about_a_guy/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

This post makes the reader ask if there are possibly hidden meanings in the rest of Tyler, the Creator’s songs. If one user found a possible hidden meaning in this song, I’m sure there would be at least several other songs with alternative meanings behind them. This acts as a call to action for the reader, asking them to relisten with an open mind.

“The Unapologetic Homophobia of “Tyler, the Creator.”” Colorlines, 31 Aug. 2011, colorlines.com/article/unapologetic-homophobia-tyler-creator/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2022.

This article is from before Tyler, the Creator came out, and shows some of the anger that people had at him for using some homophobic mannerisms. Again, this leaves an ironic twist for the future where they will eventually find out that Tyler, the Creator is actually gay. This also brings context to the essay showing how Tyler used to behave and how he used to be perceived.

“Tyler, the Creator on Gay Rappers, Profanity, and His Artistic Idiosyncrasies | SEASON 2.” YouTube, 4 June 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC3y_9PNaoM.

This long interview with Larry King explores the way that Tyler, the Creator responds to acquisitions of being called homophobic and offensive. Tyler puts on an ‘I don’t care, and neither should you’ front which is possibly telling about how he perceives his own sexuality.