Earlier this year, Tevin Campbell Tweeted back a rainbow flag when one of his followers asked him if he was gay.

Then he quickly deleted the Tweet.

This week, he confirmed he was gay in a chat with the PEOPLE Every Day podcast.

“I didn’t hide anything about me. I didn’t try to act a certain way or anything,” he said. “You just couldn’t be [gay] back then.”

Tevin added that he thinks it's great artists like Lil Nas X and Frank Ocean can be openly gay while they are still popping.

“It wasn’t like that in the ’90s, but I’m glad I get to see it. I’m glad that’s changing,” Campbell said. “There are a lot of kids, especially young Black boys that need to see representation. They’re not being taught to love themselves because of who they are.”

Campbell hasn't dropped an album in almost 25 years.  But the "Can We Talk" singer was a petty big deal as a teen star in the 90s.