Single Awareness: Tyler the Creator – “Garden Shed” (2017)

As far as archetypes go, there are few in music with such an interesting trajectory as Tyler Okonma. Better known as Tyler the Creator, he helped to create one of the most successful alternative rap groups of the 2010s with Odd Future. Among the noteworthy collaborators was Frank Ocean, who has since gone on to become one of the best R&B singers with albums like “Channel Orange” and “Blonde.” While the others haven’t had quite as much success outside of the genre, they have an incredible body of talent, resembling a Southern California take on The Wu-Tang Clan with an antagonism that you’d expect from kids hanging out at a skate park. They’re the outcasts who used music as a way of connecting with each other and the world, creating a brand (and an annual concert) that has earned them millions. 

In that respect, Tyler the Creator is the independent success story of our times. However, his track record is especially interesting if you focus on the theme of sexuality. 

With the recent news that an American politician who has voted on homophobic bills is secretly gay, it’s interesting to look at the old stereotype of the self-hating gay. It’s the person who is so uncomfortably hiding their true identity that they lash out with overtly offensive behavior. They hold a deep discomfort towards the possibility that they’re not heterosexual and “normal” that it forces a depression. 

If you look at Okonma, it’s easy to see him as someone who fits the bill perfectly. It could just be that he started at a teenager, a time in one’s life when you lash out anyways in search of a bigger identity. If you look at his early albums like “Bastard” and “Goblin,” you’ll find that he seemed to be building towards being the next Eminem, mixing in the typical shock-jock tropes: murder, misogyny, and homophobia. Even by the way he acted on Twitter, you’d think that he was sincere, at one point playing a chauvinist when LGBT-friendly group Tegan and Sara complained about his lyrical choices.

But if there’s one thing that made him more than an attention-seeking brat, it was the idea that he was exploring the idea of therapy. Over the course of his early work, he found himself rapping to his conscience/therapist who would comment on his problematic thoughts. There was a self-awareness that suggested that Okonma had a greater vision that could be tied to things in his life, such as his absent father. It’s what made his early work intriguing, even when it got terribly offensive and played more into that teenage mentality of jumping off a bridge because everyone else was. There was no time to think about the bigger picture.

Tyler the Creator (left) with Frank Ocean

For those who are sensitive to these topics, they’re difficult to appreciate now. They also sound like a different artist entirely. Then Okonma was someone who claimed that he said words like fag more as insults than deeper commentaries on one’s sexuality. For a man who was trailblazing an entire industry with his friends, it was doubtful that he could’ve guessed that anyone would care about him if he didn’t say these wild things. While he slowly became more open and honest with the world, sexuality remained a topic that wasn’t entirely obvious.

That is why it’s difficult to know when exactly he properly came out. While some also argue that he hasn’t actually done it seriously, there are moments where it’s abundantly clear that he’s bringing the personal forward. On his 2015 album “Cherry Bomb,” he references having a boyfriend. At another point, he told XXL in August 2017 that he had a boyfriend when he was 15. There are other things to suggest that he was gay, such as his infatuation with men that look like a young Leonardo DiCaprio or Cole Sprouse. Still, the question as to whether he was genuine is up for debate.

His friend, the less problematic Frank Ocean, famously had come out on Tumblr in 2012 prior to the release of his breakthrough album “Channel Orange.” While the two don’t collaborate as often these days, there’s some reason to believe that this decision allowed Okonma to be more honest with himself. This meant experimenting with sound, moving away from traditional rap structures to more rock-oriented sounds with “Cherry Bomb” – which remains his worst-rated album by fans. It feels more like an interlude to where he really wanted to be.

There is a major difference between how the world saw Tyler the Creator in 2015 and 2017. Nowadays he is receiving Grammy Award nominations and doing the music for The Grinch (2018), but it’s amazing to note how recently things were different. There was a time when the idea of him being a mainstream celebrity felt like a disingenuous promise, as nothing more than a joke that would’ve fizzled out quickly. Who really wanted to support a performer who was considered a misogynist and was starting to be banned in other countries? 

Now with “Flower Boy” in 2017, there was such a divide with his public persona that those who know who he was were forgiven for being confused. At a lot of points throughout the album, he wasn’t even a rapper. He spoke about his love of Pharrell Williams and his desire to embrace more of an R&B sound. His days of being a confrontational brute were fading fast, and in its place was an album that had the power to change his reputation overnight. Where he used to be banned in different countries, he was now being featured in Apple Music commercials and receiving a breakthrough much like Frank Ocean before him. It was an album with so much confidence that it reinvented his entire approach to the album, even featuring a minutes-long outro to end the album.

Most of all, he seemed to be happy. 

While Single Awareness is a column dedicated to songs that were officially released as singles (regardless of success or quality), it felt important to talk about “Garden Shed” because of its significance in his career. He had four actual singles, starting with “Who Dat Boy” and “911,” but they couldn’t compare to a song that began to receive scrutiny once the album leaked online ahead of its release. 

The line in particular that grabbed attention was one that was misinterpreted. Because there were no available lyrics sheets, many interpreted this line incorrectly:

Truth is, since a youth kid, thought it was a phase

Thought it'd be like the phrase; "poof," gone

Many interpreted the word “phrase” as Frank with many assuming that it was a reference to Frank Ocean’s coming out. Add in the rest of the context and it was a fairly decent argument that this was Okonma’s triumphant moment. Then again, nobody will know for sure if he had an official plan for imitating Ocean’s Tumblr post because of the album leak. Though considering his notorious past, it would take more than a genuine confession for his reputation to change that drastically.

One thing was clear. This wasn’t the only song where Okonma makes reference to sexuality in a direct way. If this was a joke, he seemed to be committed to it far after the punchline was over. He was too earnest, his sound growing warmer and embracing of a sensitive side. He sounded at peace for the first time in his career, and you got the sense that we were seeing the start of a more interesting, fulfilling artist who played with the structure of music. Considering that his follow-up, 2019’s “IGOR,” received plenty of Grammy attention, it feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So what is it about “Garden Shed” that brought so much attention? It may just be that his collaboration with Estelle found a beautiful way of reflecting a historic trope in gay culture. The term “coming out” references coming out of a closet, or a hiding place where the secrets lie. For Okonma, his closet is a garden shed, which can be read as a play on words as “guard and shed,” as a way of defending himself from negative criticism.

But this isn’t a straightforward song. There is a long intro that finds Estelle opening the song as:

Don't kill a rose

Before it could bloom

Fly, baby, fly

Out the cocoon

The harmonies are beautiful, finding Okonma singing with Estelle with lines like “If you could/Find the words to say,” which can be seen as the inability to express oneself in a way that matters, presenting oneself. When paired with the previous passage, it reflects repression of self, that Okonma is at risk of being a rose who dies. Given that the album is called “Flower Boy,” it’s fine to buy into the symbolism of nature in this song as being about himself. The sparse words find him struggling to find words, the melody not taking full shape, and an inability to be his true self.

That is until he ends up in the titular garden shed, where the song changes pace. Where everything has been sparse and airy. Now we’re claustrophobic, hearing Okonma rapidly going through a confessional:

Garden shed for the garçons

Them feelings that I was guardin'

Heavy on my mind

All my friends lost

They couldn't read the signs

I didn't wanna talk and tell 'em my location

And they ain't wanna walk

Given that garçons is French for boys, it’s easy to see this in a more direct way, of the manic pacing reflecting a man struggling with his secret. Who would even want to listen to him? As the song goes on, he embodies themes like Saturn and butterflies, creating something more akin to nature and how this is just a part of life. There is an urgency that makes you understand how this song’s abrupt change-up is earned, reflective of an artist so in control of his actions that he knows how to build an atmosphere, creating the experience of feeling lost in nothing more than an airy harmony.

While some find the ending to reflect his own uncertainty and fear of suicide, there is something assuring about how he treats sexuality in this song. It’s the feeling of being trapped and finally confessing to whoever will listen. He doesn’t know how they’ll take it, but this is his true identity. Love him or hate him, this is your new Tyler the Creator.

Did Okonma come out as gay on “Garden Shed”? In the big picture, no. He’s made it public, but it’s hard to know whether or not he was joking before. There’s an insecurity with being a gay Black man in America, and it’s understandable how that damaged Okonma’s self-worth. Now that he’s proudly out and dressing up in more flamboyant outfits, he has become more interesting as an artist, making music that is more distinctly his and not some clone of other shock jock rappers. He was limiting himself with those homophobic slurs, giving into the behavior that held back LGBT youth for so many decades before.

Tyler the Creator at The Grammy Awards (2020)

What makes Tyler the Creator an interesting artist isn’t just his sexuality, but the way we can study his growth as a person is something that can be learned from. The self-hate is real, and the ability to confront it in your own career is important, showing how social behaviors can be harmful even in simple ways. 

That is what makes his generation of rappers particularly interesting. Odd Future member Earl Sweatshirt has also taken to being more honest after starting with gross-out humor. With this transparency, music has the chance to become something greater and more human. Hopefully, there’s those who heard “Garden Shed” and felt inspired to change their ways for the better. By normalizing the conversation, fewer people are likely to be hurt in the future, making the self-hate a thing of the past.

If you would like to hear more, please listen to the great people over at Dissect go into the song in better detail.