Odd Future are the kings (and queen) of sarcastic, internet-fiend youth often mistaken as hipsters. We’re in day when the term “hipster” means apathetic asshole disliked by his peers and elders not because his thoughts are rebellious or revolutionary, but because he and his so-called counter-culture just don’t add up to those of the past (hippies and punks, namely). Odd Future does not fit this definition. It is safe to say that they are not apathetic, lazy or pretentious. Rather, they are pop artists who are putting together a multimedia collection that has become Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA). They have created a product, so to speak, with a cause and a mean to spread it. Below the surface of profanity, they don’t actually buy into names of rappers who claim a history of “swag”; i.e. one full of death, rape, poverty and guns.
Once you sit down, listen, watch and participate in what Odd Future is, it becomes very clear that theses guys are just hormonal, insightful, cynical and slightly damaged kids who actually have something interesting and possibly forward to say about our society.
Odd Future began documenting their talents (music and lyricism, videography and editing, goofing around and being teenage skate rats) in 2007, the same year YouTube began producing and circulating memorable viral videos. The group has had time to gradually build a repertoire of work on the Internet, perfectly syncing their growth with American youth’s gradual realization of the Internet’s glorious capabilities. So now, as masses and masses of teenagers reach Internet literacy, Odd Future’s giant collection of work has blown up, creating one of the more prominent cult followings on the Internet to date.
It’s generally understood that these kids can make beats with killer kick and lyrics with serious power. But what really reeled in most of their fans? Humor. When used correctly, humor can expand a person’s perspective by making them question something they’ve always believed, all through joke and jest. It forces self-deprecation onto a person, but in a way that makes them laugh in glee. Odd Future’s sense of humor, however, can be as dry and subtle as sarcasm comes. Even big names like Tegan and Sara have complained about the group’s supposed ignorance. But, like I said, once you give the group your ear and eye (their presence on YouTube and Tumblr is incredibly expansive and very at-your-fingertips) it becomes apparent that they are just trying to be funny with a political undertone.
So what is the group trying to say? What are these “political undertones”? Let’s set the scene: A lanky Tyler stands between a palm tree and a giant suburban street light sarcastically mocking a tween’s high register, “It’s big swag y’all, bitches over here hanging out and shit, smoking weed and doing drugs and shit,” as his friend unsteadily shoots from a hand held video camera trying to hold back breathy giggles. Tyler and the rest of Odd Future are constantly mocking the too-often one-dimensional world around them. Though they are clearly connoisseurs of contemporary rap and hip hop, they live in a time when most hip hop on the radio and MTV are completely indistinguishable thugs rapping about completely unidentifiable and ignorant themes associated with gangster life. That candid moment, taken from a low-viewed video from the group’s YouTube channel, is a playful version of what Tyler and the rest of OF aggressively say in their music. It’s much harder to recognize sarcasm behind Tyler’s husky, manic tone on albums like Radical (2010 Odd Future mix-tape) and Bastard (2009 Tyler, the Creator solo album).
Not to mention, Odd Future only works when their thoughts and actions are in the minority. Like all revolutionary groups of the past (that is, if we want to say that Odd Future could be revolutionary; in the very least they are some pretty rad kids), the aspect of minority is what allowed the masses to slowly understand, slowly adapt to new truths. Those truths could seep in gradually instead charging as an overwhelming flood of new ideas. If masses went around angrily spitting offensive, dry, but logically sound arguments around in good ole OFWGKTA fashion, then there would be no progress. The public would be scared and revert back to the security of a bandwagon society. For better or for worse, we live in a time when a friendly, yet forgettable person who kindly tells you the “truth” (whether it is actually true or not) is more valid than a rowdy yet enthusiastic person who forces you to think about what actually could be true. Keep in mind that perhaps the only reason why Odd Future is so scary is because they are correct to so aggressively mock. Aren’t all truly novel ideas terrifying at first?
Odd Future is accustomed to moving at their own pace. Though they have been a spectacle on the Internet since 2007, in the past year they have suddenly launched into a very real and mainstream limelight. “Tyler, the Creator” or Tyler Okonma just recently accepted an MTV Music Video Award for best new artist, the group’s first formal recognition from a major network or organization. Pharrell Williams, a dude with some hot jams (you may have heard him in “Drop it Like it’s Hot”) and sex appeal, told Sucker Free that he was bummed not to sign Odd Future himself. And it’s a possibility for the group, in the footsteps of the more ‘mainstream’ Odd Future captain Frank Ocean, to collab with Nas and Method Man. Oh! And Adult Swim has opened up a time slot for a new sketch comedy show completely creatively run by Tyler’s crew. That’s, like, pretty nice, I guess.
The new fame, however, throws the luxurious pace of Odd Future completely out of whack. Tyler and others now deal with a sort of pressure to say things faster and in a more exaggerated way. This has led Okonma to begin a series of characters much less subtle than those of the past (“Tyler, the Creator,” “Wolf Haley,” or “Ace”). Unfortunately, such caricatures call for less dimension, less artistic freedom and less of that Odd Future charm.
An example of this made news this past week in the form of Okonma’s most recent character, “Young Ni**a.” Odd Future’s recently assembled record label, Odd Future Records, announced last week that that they “could not pass up the opportunity,” to sign a rapper known as “Young Ni**a.” Later that very same day, Young Ni**a’s single debuted on the Odd Future website, but not before a big name in the music industry, Pitchfork, could notify the public. Pitchfork reported the story (in their pretentious, journalistic fashion we know and love/hate) as if a legitimate Odd Future drop was about to explode. But it became very clear very fast that Young Ni**a was just Okonma being a doofus on the mic under yet another moniker.
I’m going to be honest: the Young Ni**a single, “Come Threw Looking Clean,” is not that funny in and of itself. But if you pay attention enough to know that the OFWGKTA crew loves driving around ironically and shamelessly blasting Waka Flocka Flame’s recent collab with Gucci Mane, “Young Ni**az,” then you know the concept of Young Ni**a is pretty hilarious. Not to mention that Pitchfork, of all sites, reported the story of Young Ni**a as if they were Walter Chronkite.
So I forgive Tyler for not blowing me away this time with “Come Threw Looking Clean,” because once again he has proved that the music industry (and pretty much everyone else) just doesn’t get it.
