Tyler, The Creator has sent fans into a state of confusion on his new album CHROMAKAOPIA, with the lyrics of one song garnering attention just hours after its release.
The rapper and singer dropped the project — his sixth album overall and first since 2021’s Call Me If You Get Lost — on Oct. 28, to widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Spanning 14 tracks, the album has been labelled as Tyler’s most introspective to date, and the lyrics of the song “Tomorrow” have got fans talking.
In the song, the rapper muses on the feeling of growing old, but in between mentions of “turning gray” and “gaining weight,” Tyler shocks listeners with an admission that he is contemplating having children, and even tried to pursue fatherhood with an unnamed woman. “My homegirl and I tried [to have a baby],” Tyler croons on the second verse, “I’ll flip the switch and finally settle down.”
While Tyler’s reflection on becoming a parent is groundbreaking enough, especially for an artist known for his hilarious and childish hijinks, the more eagle-eyed fans read even deeper meaning. According to some, “Tomorrow” was also jaw-dropping for the fact that Tyler mentions fathering a child with a woman, which is especially shocking for those who have long thought the musician was gay.
“How [is] he gonna do that?,” one fan asked in reference to Tyler sharing a child with a woman, “he is a gay man.” Another X user said their ears pricked up at the rapper’s mention of “homegirl,” writing that they “thought [he] was lgbtq.” Elsewhere, one fan noted that the lyrics of “Tomorrow” outline an “interesting direction for him,” and described his revelation about fatherhood as “wild.”
Setting aside the fact that some fans’ reactions seem unaware that gay people can still be fathers — one user retorted that he could always “go to the adoption center” — Tyler’s admission seems to oppose the widespread speculation around his sexuality, which has often been fuelled by the artist himself. Over the years, the rapper has flip-flopped on labeling himself as gay, confirming it to be true in a 2015 interview but then denying it later that same year.
There are numerous references to Tyler being gay across his albums, but he was also called out for using numerous homophobic slurs in his earlier work. This lack of clarity around the musician’s sexuality has led some to believe that he is either broadly queer or simply trolling listeners, which seems par for the course for a rapper who once made a cameo in the Jackass Forever movie.
All this history has now, according to fans, been further confused by the lyrics of “Tomorrow”, but listeners have nonetheless praised the new song as a “banger.” One listener said they “love when artists make songs about [parenthood],” and another urged music fans to “stop sleeping on him NOW.”
It’s not the first time a prominent musician has shared their thoughts about becoming a parent in recent months. In June, Charli XCX’s culture-shifting album Brat featured the song “I think about it all the time,” in which the pop star declared that “a baby might be mine.” I guess the world’s music greats are all growing up, so perhaps a new generation of nepo babies is upon us.
