The Odd Future crew have been really irking me of late. The constant overexposure is really wearing thin on my end (I mean they’ve got a a TV show now? Honestly?!). I cannot escape their music, it’s everywhere on the internet. Trendy trash-hop, with a pinch of emo-scene skater-vibe. God, it’s so hip it’s sickening – just about anyone looking to get their ‘cool card’ stamped drops Tyler’s name.
My biggest problem though, is I happen to love it. Almost every track they’ve released is interesting in some aspect. From the whole Earl Sweatshirt saga, to Tyler becoming the most famous man to ever walk the earth – I’ve never seen anyone blow up so much. So why am I writing this? I don’t really know.
I’ve been listening to ‘Oldie’ for the past few days (as well as ‘Earl’ daily since it’s release), and I can’t escape it’s simplistic greatness. Every verse, all nine of them, is exciting, smooth, and delivered with precision. Earl Sweatshirt’s first OFWGKTA verse since his return from the religious nut-house is stunning.
For contrast here's a pair of lips.
Swallowin' syrup, settin' fire to sheriff's whips,
(Whoops, whoops) fuckin' All-American terrorist,
Crushin' rapper larynx to feed 'em a fuckin' carrot stick.
And me? I just spent a year Ferrisin'.
Lost a little sanity to show you what hysterics is.
Spit to the lips meet the bottom of a barrel,
so that sterile piss flow remind these niggas where embarrassed is.
Then I seen the impromptu video they shot for it. What a beautiful thing it is. There’s magic in those ten minutes of tape. Magic that a million dollar budget couldn’t even come close to.
Look, I know hip-hop is no longer relevant, and to be brutally honest I don’t know what will fill it’s place in our culture, but until something does, we have the beautifully self-aware OFWGKTA.