California music and fashion icon Tyler, the Creator has released 37 music videos in his illustrious music career, and his latest may be the most emotional and impactful yet. 

The song is titled, “Sorry Not Sorry.“ It dives into numerous apologies Tyler feels like he needs to make. Whether it’s apologies to his mother for not being around for her enough, or to his friends who feel like he left them behind, Tyler uses the characters he created during each of his album cycles to express his remorse. 

He says sorry to his friends, likely referring to the members of his former rap and fashion group Odd Future. During the late 2000s and early 2010s, Tyler and the group revolutionized underground rap and hip-hop. As well as fashion with many people still wearing clothing and merchandise with the OF initials of the group. After a disconnect and difference in creative path, the group unofficially split, with no plans for any other releases in music or fashion. He says he’s sorry that his ego got in the way and he wishes they could have done more together.

Starting with the song “Garden Shed” from his 2017 album “Flower Boy,” there have been times when Tyler has hinted at himself being gay or bi-sexual.

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

Thought it’d be like the Frank; poof, gone.

But, it’s still goin’ on.”

His fifth studio album “Igor,” is about a love triangle, where Tyler is attempting to woo a man in a relationship with a woman, and the trials and tribulations he goes through while trying to hold on to this guy. 

With all of this being said, one of the most discussed and interpreted lines in the song is when he says,

 “Sorry to the guys I had to hide.

Sorry to the girls I had to lie to.”

Tyler talks about the part of himself he had to hide in order to feel safe and feel normal. His old music is littered with homophobic lines, trying to mask his own identity. This shows that he is now comfortable in his own skin, and is attempting to reconcile with the people he had to lie to. 

The first part of the song deals with apologies, while in the second half of this music video and song, Tyler says that he isn’t sorry for the success he has had or the obstacles he had to overcome to get to where he is. He ridicules critics who say he’s changed and doesn’t know about civilian struggles. He notes that he was raised by a single mother and knows the struggles of Section 8 firsthand. 

Throughout the entire video, Tyler is dressed as each of the characters he has created among his six albums, rapping at some point as each character. These characters are meant to show his transition into becoming the person he is today. From the beginning, he kills and drags off each of his characters one-by-one, until the last one remaining is the character from his most recent album, “Call Me If You Get Lost.” The music video shows Tyler getting rid of the character, signifying that he is starting a new era.

He is known for releasing an album every two years since 2011, and after his 2021 release, fans are excited to see what he has in store for this year. Now that he is 32, it will be interesting to see what kind of concept Tyler will take on.