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With hip-hop more than anything being a youth culture, its greatest evolutionary leaps have always stemmed from the very young who’ve come out of nowhere to bring something so different to the table, it would be jarring if it wasn’t so good. So is the case with OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) or OddFuture, for short.
Lead by Tyler, the Creator (yes, the comma is part of his name), this group of Los Angeles teenage rap prodigies have been putting out some of the most technically impressive, hopelessly addictive rap music in quite some time. With member Earl Sweatshirt’s video for “Earl” becoming *the* viral rap video of the summer, their tidal wave of praise from even the most jaded rap critics is matched only by the high quality of their output.
Still, it’s amazing their movement has become such a word-of-mouth phenomenon when their subject matter circles around one alienating taboo after another. Yes, they’re 15-18 year-olds primarily rhyming about grizzly murders, absurd drug use and graphic rape scenarios, but the vivid storytelling and incredibly polished production has made their music one of the fastest growing cult sensations today. Perhaps what many would see as sophomoric humor becomes palatable when it’s coming from actual high school sophomores who happen to be virtuosos of their craft.
Also puzzling about their rise is how they’re preemptively biting hands that may have tried to feed them. Celebrated rap blogs 2dopeboyz and NahRight have both become frequent targets of ridicule in their music, with the only explanation hinted at being the boys in OddFuture don’t fancy what they post.
This genuine anger and energy is possibly what’s made their seemingly esoteric appeal fly so across the board. They have a passion for what they like about rap, a hatred for what they don’t, and the tools to express that so vehemently that it immediately connects with the listener.
I’ve always been a believer in the theory that the music you loved your junior and senior years of high school will be your favorite music the rest of your life because of all the experiences you have tied to it, and it being the last time in your life, you can appreciate music with mature sensibilities without the burdens of adulthood. Being that these MCs are that age, they (perhaps unknowingly) have been able to tap into that long dormant feeling in even the most disenchanted and aged hip-hop listeners.
Either way, they really don’t care. Interviews with Tyler, the Creator have been as irreverent as they are entertaining, with the one serious point made that they’re a group of kids making music that they like and that’s really it. While some have speculated that they’ve been secretly funded by a label or investor like so many of their faux-underground contemporaries, Tyler, the Creator has made it abundantly clear that they really are just a purely organic collective on their own making music for no other purpose than their own enjoyment.
While the topics they explore make their work not exactly easy to recommend for everyone, the performances definitely are. Along with last month’s release of Domo Genesis’ “Rolling Papers,” the free downloads of Earl Sweatshirt’s “Earl” and Tyler, the Creator’s “Bastard” are absolute essentials for 2010 rap enthusiasts. By the sound of their rallying cry “Fuck Steve Harvey” (your guess is as good as mine), it’s a refreshing time for hip-hoppers as the OddFuture is here.
