How To: Make Sense of Tyler, The Creator & Odd Future

I created OF 'cause I felt we're more talented than 40-year-old rappers talking about Gucci - Tyler, The Creator
I first caught wind of Tyler, The Creator when his mixtape, Bastard, started making the Best-of-2010 rounds, somewhere around August of last year. I downloaded a few MP3s, but nothing stuck--I found him abrasive, vitriolic, nihilistic, too challenging. It wasn't until a seven day span in mid-February that I really took notice. (Side-note: Is it a lame duck move for a blogger to admit he was behind the curve?)

In February, Tyler released the single and video for "Yonkers" -- his most commercial effort to date, not because it was released by a well-know label, XL Recordings, but because it distilled everything the indie-press raved about into a four-minute thesis; lyrical proficiency, atmospheric production, artistic horror, and genuine talent were all on display. The video only reiterated Tyler's hard-to-swallow genius. Did I mention he's only 19?

A few days later, with the help of Hodgy Beats, he performed live on Jimmy Fallon. From then on, Tyler, The Creator and his misfit rap-collective known as Odd Future, aka Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (or OFWGKTA), have everyone with a laptop, iTunes, and a blog taking notice. Thanks to some outstanding SXSW performances, the group's now known as much for their insane live shows as for their prolific mixtapes.

All that is more or less exposition. The talked-about issues surrounding Tyler and Odd Future are in regard to content, particularly their near-never-ending references to rape, homophobia, misogyny, et al., and how (if ever) a listener can digest it all. Frannie Kelley of NPR summed things up nicely when she wrote about the group in February...

"The music makes a lot of people uncomfortable and thrills others. They're funny. They're loud. They're lewd, nihilistic and disrespectful. The group raps about rape frequently. They give all of their music away for free. They curse constantly and use every slur you can think of. The beats they make and rhyme over are painfully aggressive, chest-rattling, undeniable. It's not easy to tell when the group is being serious, and when they're mocking you. Their music is alive — it punches you in the face. If you're over forty; have kids and are white, they don't like you."

The rest of Kelley's piece, titled "Why You Should Listen To The Rap Group Odd Future, Even Though It's Hard," takes an analytical approach in answering that question, and with good results. Other writers--including far more qualified hip-hop aficionados--have since discussed Odd Future ad nauseam. Depending on who you read, OFWGKTA are either radically breaking new ground, recycling themes from '90s hip-hop and horrorcore, or are horrible human beings perpetuating all the horrible things they rap about.

My friend Michelle recently linked to thoughtful Nitsuh Abebe blog post regarding Odd Future, particularly "the process of maybe-liking Odd Future." The New York Magazine/Pitchfork writer acknowledged the difficulty of listening to the music (the misogyny, rape, etc.), but concluded that anyone can enjoy the rapping, production, and talent of OFWGKTA if they thoughtfully "make decisions about which directions engage [them] as a listener and which ones don’t." Abebe is hitting the nail on its head.

"For those who can bracket [the offensive] and enjoy the many amazing things about the music, it’s one of the least interesting things about the group--misogyny and homophobia are everywhere, but music this vital is not," he wrote.

Abebe's idea of bracketing is a good one (you can read the entire post here) and for me, it links Odd Future's music with exploitation horror cinema. Genre films like Ms. 45, Thriller, Rolling Thunder, or I Spit on Your Grave focus greatly on rape, revenge, and misogyny, in order to evoke particular emotions from the viewer. Yes, this can be done for shock value, but more often than not, it's to purposefully engage an audience, forcing uncomfortable feelings as a way of broaching larger concepts or difficult emotions.

Whether or not Odd Future are digging for legitimate, visceral reactions is, for now, up to the listener. (For what it's worth, Michelle also linked to some possible interpretations from NPR's Ann Powers).

If anything, I predict Tyler's signing to a major label and the group's increased media attention to inherently dampen their exploitative schtick, putting the focus more on facility, less on rape and murder.

Either way, Tyler and Odd Future are exploding with talent, assuming you have the "pretty highly developed bracketing skills" to enjoy it. It just depends on you. I've seen and appreciated all those genre films listed above, but still can't stomach Nekromantik or Salò. And that's just me. The truth is, OFWGKTA aren't for everyone, which makes things a little frustrating when you're a music blogger wanting to share what you've been listening to in as few words as possible.

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