Peculiar Times For The Future of Hip Hop
Peculiar Times For The Future of Hip Hop
By Iman Stevenson
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, commonly shortened to Odd Future, is a riotous
rap group comprised of teenagers hailing from Los Angeles, California.
Frontman Tyler, the creator released his solo mix-tape roughly two years ago and has
been well received through various media outlets, most notably through music blogs.
He serves as the group's in-house producer and has made an appearance on nearly all
of Odd Future's songs.
Tyler's appearance, with fellow Odd Future member Hodgy Beats on Late Night with Jimmy
Fallon further catapulted them into the mainstream consciousness. They have been co-signed
by some of hip-hop's elite such as Mos Def, Kanye West and Pusha-T, couple that with
the fact that their faces are on the latest issue of Billboard magazine. Pictures
of Odd Future's resident R&B crooner, Frank Ocean, have recently been released of
him and Beyonce Knowles working together in the studio. If you factor in those accomplishments,
it does not take much to see their steady ascension to the top of the music industry.
They lured in fans with their subversive subject matter as well as their metaphorical,
and sometimes literal, middle finger to the order of things. Having gone to both of
Odd Future's New York shows, it was easy to see who their demographic was: rebellious,
90s babies. Both shows, had large mosh-pits predominantly made up of kids roughhousing
and uncaringly creating bodily collisions, totally consumed by the music; a sight
that would be de rigor at a rock concert, not a hip-hop show.
They are the embodiment of teenage depression, vexation and all of the other trivial
things teenagers tend to whine about, but magnified to a degree that will probably
irritate anyone over the age of 28. Their music can be summed up in one word: Offensive,
borderline macabre. However, repugnant lyrics aside, these guys are talented and are
causing ripples in the rather halcyon lake of hip hop. Furthermore, an assemblage
of this size, with this much growing mainstream notoriety, has not occurred since
the days of the Wu-Tang Clan in the early to mid 1990's.
Odd Future's music is, for the most part, grim in subject matter, but manages to be
innocent in the overall feeling that it conveys. You can expect; sinister tales of
suicide, resentment towards their absentee fathers, homicidal thoughts, drug use,
atheism and recurring use of the word swag. Seditiousness has an alluring quality
about it, and that is evident through the proliferation of their fan base. The notoriety
that they have attained in such a short pocket of time is no small feat especially
for hip hop acts.
It is pretty fascinating to see a crew of kids totally disregarding any notions people
may have of them and simply making genuine music. In an age where a lot of artists
are molded and churned out in an assembly-line fashion solely to make radio hits,
Odd Future seems to be shattering that paradigm. However, most teenagers will outgrow
and shed their shell of angst and rebellion, and hopefully Odd Future will be able
to grow with their fans.
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