Collective: Odd Future

[Intense Singer]

I've seen a few mentions of them here, and I'm curious to hear your opinions. I've watched a few Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt videos this evening, and I feel vaguely disturbed but also want to check out more.

[Robert G]

I didn't know this was a collective until I read this thread. I saw people liking OFWGKTA on Facebook and had no idea what it was. Their website is really messed up.

Still. NOT CRAP. CHECK MY FRENCH.

[BlahBlah]

NOT CRAP
Although I do feel a bit uncomfortable listening to some tracks, so waffles for that.

[SecondEdition]

Totally Not Crap. Tyler and Earl made the best hip-hop albums of 2010 (though Earl's is more an EP than an album).

[Sam]

they're my favorite rappers that started putting stuff out in the past few years. so not crap.

A bunch of people roughly my age having a lot of fun and they get to travel out of state to do shows and shit? how can i not love that? oh, and for this.

[Intense Singer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSbZidsg ... r_embedded

New one from Tyler. It may be the best thing i've heard from Odd Future to date.

[A Totem Pole]

///

[SecondEdition]

"Yonkers" is seriously next level shit.

Goblin is going to kill.

Earl seriously needs to come back soon.

[kerble]

Just heard about them recently.

really compelling stuff. these kids are young and weird.
the lyrics are pretty nervy, but subtle. lots of gallows humor, and I love how their videos are like d.i.y. horror skate videos.

Not Crap.

[sulfur)addict]

So not crap.

Earl and hodgy are both good, but Tyler, The Creator is on another level. I cannot wait to see how good he actually gets, since hes still a goddamn teenager.

WF for pro-rape lyrics and homophobia, though theyve turned it down less (and even made it into jokes!)

[Antero]

One of the best things to happen to music in a while. Not crap.

I can't say enough good things about them, and actually offering a complete opinion of the group would take far too long. They are, certainly, the most sophisticated and focused manifestation of the current punk-thing that is happening in rap right now.

The kids are alright.

[Boombats]

This is an hilarious photo.

[SecondEdition]

the current punk-thing that is happening in rap right now.

I didn't know this was a thing. But I have thought for a while now that OddFuture is really punk.

[hip priest]

Tyler's signed to XL for 'Goblin'.

Yonkers and Sandwitches are up on iTunes

[scntfc]

not crap. they give me hope for today's youth. a worthy antidote to everything in the 'well, that's it for me...' thread.

[Dark Flame]

Tyler is really the best thing about this group so far, but Earl, Hodgy Beats, and MellowHype are also pretty great.

What are all your thoughts on the Mike G and The Super 3 albums? I haven't heard any of them, but based on the quality of everything else OFWGKTA has made, I probably should.

[Antero]

the current punk-thing that is happening in rap right now.

I didn't know this was a thing. But I have thought for a while now that OddFuture is really punk.

There is definitely a thing. I would point to OddFuture, Lil B, Waka Flocka Flame and affiliates (particularly producer Lex Luger), The Main Attrakionz, producer Clams Casino, and Danny Brown - the last of whom explicitly analogized what he and certain others are doing to punk killing hair metal. Based boys are springing up like weeds.

I'd also mark G-Side as a fellow traveler - they're not part of the same thing and they sound a bit more traditional, but there's still some common spirit even if they're more polished.

What are all your thoughts on the Mike G and The Super 3 albums? I haven't heard any of them, but based on the quality of everything else OFWGKTA has made, I probably should.

Journey To The 5th Echelon is awesome, though I think I'd need to smoke to really get into it.

Mike G's album is promising but a little short sonically, but GOLD is going to kill from what I've heard of it. He's certainly a fantastic rapper - on "Everything I Want" from Radical he absolutely murders a Mos Def beat.

[SecondEdition]

the current punk-thing that is happening in rap right now.

I didn't know this was a thing. But I have thought for a while now that OddFuture is really punk.

There is definitely a thing. I would point to OddFuture, Lil B, Waka Flocka Flame and affiliates (particularly producer Lex Luger), The Main Attrakionz, producer Clams Casino, and Danny Brown - the last of whom explicitly analogized what he and certain others are doing to punk killing hair metal. Based boys are springing up like weeds.

I think Lil B would be great if he just focused or took some Adderall or something; at the moment he's kind of a joke because his productivity is completely devoid of quality control. I've heard isolated tracks where he stuns me; then I hear utter shit like "Dangerous Minds" and "Violate That Bitch" and I'm wondering if it's even the same guy. Waka Flocka does not do much for me, and I haven't heard the other guys. OddFuture are the best out of all of them by miles at this point. I mean, I haven't heard the Main Attrakionz, but I can't imagine they'd be better than Bastard or Earl.

I also can't help thinking that the analogy is wrong - grunge killed hair metal, and grunge on the radio (Nirvana forever excepted) was a bland, irritating pseudo-punk rehash that soon got co-opted into modern rock, which sucks just as much as hair metal did. Grunge was no revolution. In contrast, what these guys are doing is tons more vital and possibly revolutionary in my mind - this feels more like '77, not '91, even though rap has been around for long enough where it might be '91 chronologically.

I'll definitely check out Mike G. In my mind, Earl is the most technically talented of all of OddFuture ("Kill"... How in the living fuck did he come up with that shit?), but Tyler has frightening charisma, ridiculous skills and the voice. Hodgy Beats is very good, and Domo is fun too. Hell, I like them all - I want Taco to make his own album, that kid is fucking hilarious (he's the dude who insults Earl on the intro to Earl and interrupts "Tina" on Bastard to eat potato chips).

[Antero]

I think Lil B would be great if he just focused or took some Adderall or something; at the moment he's kind of a joke because his productivity is completely devoid of quality control. I've heard isolated tracks where he stuns me; then I hear utter shit like "Dangerous Minds" and "Violate That Bitch" and I'm wondering if it's even the same guy.

Consistency is not only not Lil B's strong point, it's also not his point period. He's playing and fucking with people's minds, and you kind of either go along with it or not. The "I'm God"s and the "The Growth"s are part of the same weird project as the "Wonton Soup"s and the "Rain In England"s.

Noz wrote the best explanation for it.

Or just listen to 6 Kiss over and over until it all falls into place.

Waka Flocka does not do much for me,

I didn't care for him at all until I heard "Bustin At 'Em", got to the last minute and a half, and realized that his music was actually making me uncomfortable - extremely rare.

What's also interesting about him is that he dominates these huge Lex Luger beats that actually swallow most rappers whole. Much better rappers get on those and find themselves floundering.

and I haven't heard the other guys. OddFuture are the best out of all of them by miles at this point. I mean, I haven't heard the Main Attrakionz, but I can't imagine they'd be better than Bastard or Earl.

Well no, but those were possibly the two best albums of the year. That doesn't mean there wasn't a lot of other crazy stuff - Main Attrakionz had a couple tapes including Best Duo Ever, which was better than, say, BLACKENEDWHITE. They're making really sophisticated beats and working in an odd lo-fi mode with the vocals pushed back and the beat up front, like shoegaze rappers.

And Danny Brown's album The Hybrid was wonderfully weird

And Clams Casino (who made, among many other things, Lil B's "I'm God") just might be the best producer in the game right now.

[Mama Clortho]

I was fascinated with Odd Future and found the whole idea of them really exciting, but it wasn't until Radical and especially Yonkers that I was sold on them musically. I think with every future release they'll start reaching the potential that was so obvious from the get go.

Dontfeartheringo made a few posts in the pompommoose thread about how were doing things differently/right and how exciting it was. Take everything he said in that thread, and that is how i feel about Odd Future. The music is great. The videos are great. The cover art is great etc, they have a huge following and these kids did it all themselves. Fuck yeah.

I read Tyler say in an interview that one of his biggest goals was to make a show and get it on on adult swim. I can't find any mention of it anywhere, but someone told me recently that he was in plans to make a show for adult swim. I hope this is true, as the few skits of theirs I've seen are hilarious. I really love this one in particular:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHKxFEO3d88

Not crap at all. The one thing that does bother me is a lot of the lyrical content. Not because I find it offensive, but because it's tired and cliche, but mostly because they're so much smarter than that.