Tyler, the Creator Addresses Sexuality & Meek Mill on '4:44' Freestyle
Hot off the release of Flower Boy, Tyler, the Creator unleashes a new freestyle over JAY-Z’s “4:44,” on which he addresses Hov, rumors about his sexuality, and his release date battle with Meek Mill and Lana Del Rey.
Over the soulful No I.D. instrumental titled “Ziploc,” Tyler appears to confirm speculation regarding his sexuality. “I pedal through the city with the wide frame steer,” he raps. “With that tall pale boy that I met last year / Grape, that’s what I call ’em / Love, that’s what I fall in.”
Then, after bragging about his Golf Le Fleur sneakers selling out in three seconds and saying that he doesn’t “do Puma,” Tyler appears to reference a Jigga lyric. “Leg day is getting skipped,” he raps. “Guess who really running shit? / Young Teezy, it ain’t easy, feelin’ wheezy in this bitch / New slaves got y’all ni**as feeling breezy on the ship.”
This is a call back to JAY-Z’s lyrics on “BAM,” where he responds to Kanye West’s “30 Hours” rhymes about skipping leg day. “Ni**as is skippin’ leg day just to run they mouth,” he raps. “I be skippin’ leg day, I still run the world.”
Finally, the Odd Future MC also discusses his Billboard 200 race with Lana and Meek. “My shit leaked two weeks before that release date,” he adds. “First week, did dos, 1,000 off, beat Meek / Shout out Meek! Two ni**as first week top 3.”
Prior to the first week results being confirmed, Tyler questioned TIDAL’s practices and Meek’s sales figures. “DAMN TIDAL GOT ALBUMS PLAYING BEFORE A PAYWALL WHICH MAKES ME THINK NI**AS CAN HAVE BOTS SPIKING UP PLAYS FOR BILLBOARD ON FRIDAY HMM,” he wrote. “IM PETTY I WANT THAT TOP SPOT HAHAHA I WANT IT SO BAD MAN.”
JAY-Z responded to this during a recent interview. “Tyler [the Creator] gets confused, because everyone does, because there’s not enough information, that TIDAL cheated when it came to Meek or something like that,” he said. “If your label calls and says, ‘I want to put my album pre-pay wall,’ that’s your choice. We say, ‘Okay. We’ll put it out for free.’ We’re doing what Spotify does every day. [They count free streams on Spotify]. That’s a fact. That’s a fact-fact-fact. In fact, they count it the same as a paid stream. That has to change and that will change. I’m sure of that.”
To go along with the freestyle, Tyler has also announced the “Flower Boy Tour,” which kicks off Oct. 31 in San Francisco. Prior to that, he is also headlining his annual Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, which will take place Oct. 28-29.
Pre-sale tickets for the tour will be available exclusively through Tyler’s Golf Media app Thursday, while general tickets go on sale Friday.
Flower Boy Tour Dates
Oct. 28-29 – Los Angeles, CA – Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival
Oct. 31 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield Theatre
Nov. 1 – Fresno, CA – Rainbow Ballroom
Nov. 3 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
Nov. 4 – Eugene, OR – McDonald Theatre
Nov. 5 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
Nov. 7 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
Nov. 8 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
Nov. 9 – Kansas City, MO – The Truman
Nov. 11 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
Nov. 12 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues Cleveland
Nov. 13 – New York City, NY – Terminal 5
Nov. 15 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
Nov. 16 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
Nov. 17 – Lancaster, PA – Chameleon Club
Nov. 18 – Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
Nov. 20 – New Orleans, LA – The Joy Theater
Nov. 21 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
Nov. 22 – Dallas, TX – South Side Music Hall