Tyga‘s new album, Kyoto, has plenty of people raising their eyebrows.
The album cover features a sexually explicit image of a tiger-striped woman in front of the Japanese flag. It’s been dragged by fans and others for being, essentially, furry porn and for being disrespectful to the Japanese flag.
But Tyga told TMZ that it’s just art, and people should enjoy it for what it is.
“It’s lit,” Tyga said of the cover, adding, “It’s art.”
As for the accusations of disrespect for the Japanese flag, Tyga denied that it was even the flag.
“It’s not a flag, it’s a sun. It’s a rising sun,” he said.
Then, he went for the excuse that “the artist is Japanese,” referring to Hajime Sorayama.
“He’s a very well-known Japanese designer, so that’s why I did it with him,” he said.
As for the idea that it’s furry porn, he said, “I don’t even know what that is.”
“I love it [the cover]. It’s an art piece. It’s definitely an art piece.”
Courting controversy
This isn’t the first time Tyga has come under fire for disrespectful or explicit material.
For example, in 2013, Harvard students petitioned to get a scheduled performance at the university cancelled because of Tyga’s “violently misogynistic lyrics.”
He also faced massive backlash after he broke up with Blac Chyna and hooked up with Kylie Jenner, who was just 17 at the time. In 2015, she appeared in a music video for his song “Stimulated” and the lyrics had people raising eyebrows.
“They say she young, I should’ve waited, she a big girl dawg, when she stimulated,” he raps in the song.
Even though Jenner was 18 by the time the music video was released, it still gave a lot of people the creeps.
And then, in 2016, 14-year-old Molly O’Malia accused Tyga of sending her “uncomfortable” messages on Instagram.
Basically, Tyga is used to people giving him the side eye.