[mp3/video/stream] Introducing // Tyler, The Creator (Odd Future)

Let me begin by apologizing for the length of this post. I have tons and tons of thoughts on this group and I can’t just narrow them down to a sparse 200 words or so. I need to present my train of thoughts before I can properly introduce this group. I feel like this will truly demonstrate the huge effect they have had on me.

I started writing for tympanogram at the beginning of the year and this was the first post that popped into my head. I knew I wanted to write about these guys, but I wasn’t sure how to approach it. How do you boil down something so large? Almost two months have passed and I am still struggling with how to present this. With that in mind, I finally came to the conclusion that I should just let the music stand on its own merit, meaning the audience could form its own judgments. These guys have dominated my ears for the past four or five months. I am not the kind of person who usually becomes entirely engrossed in a certain band or album. I find something I like, listen to it nonstop for a few days, let it stew and simmer, come back and then ultimately try to form some sort of judgment about the music’s value and its ultimate staying power.

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All have destroyed this pattern. My eardrums have been buzzing for the past months with the self-produced sounds of this 11-person Los Angeles rap collective (Tyler, The Creator, Taco, Jasper the Dolphin, Mike G, Domo Genesis, Left Brain, Hodgy Beats, Syd tha Kid, Earl Sweatshirt, Frank Ocean, Matt Martians). I have even become so obsessive that I traveled to New York City for a show the group performed earlier this month. The energy is very visceral and it lends itself to a punk rock, DIY aesthetic. OF is most known at this point for their graphic lyrical content, but I think they easily transcend being labeled like this. They combine a great talent for cooking up homemade beats with a rare sense of self-awareness and humor.

With eight albums and two mixtapes to their credit thus far over the past two years, it is truly impossible for me to single out my favorites. Because the group is so large, I thought I would break this introduction down into a series of posts; this first post will highlight the group’s ringleader, Tyler, The Creator.

At 19-years-old, Tyler (also know as Wolf Haley or Ace Creator) is the brains behind the operation. Tyler is truly the RZA of the group. And while he has admitted that he hates the Wu-Tang Clan comparisons, it serves as a valid means through which to explore/explain the group dynamics. He also happens to be the most violent in the group, which is ironic since Tyler is an avowed straight-edge, choosing to stay clear of the marijuana and other assorted goodies that seem to be the lyrical fuel behind much of OF.

“Parade” is my favorite track off Tyler’s 2009 debut, Bastard. He has said on numerous occasions that, “When I made PARADE, I was making the music for what I thought “Where The Wild Things Are” should sound like. I want to score movies so bad.” With this equally self-righteous and self-loathing attitude, Tyler strikes an interesting balance between being unhinged and being fully hinged.

His natural progression/evolution is on display on the first single from his upcoming sophomore album, Goblin, set for an April release on XL. Tyler is the first member of the group to sign a record deal. After self-releasing all their previous releases, Tyler signed a single album deal with the British indie.

“Yonkers” features a minimalistic drum and bass beat and also includes some of Tyler’s most interesting lyrics, especially the instance in the second verse where he displays his dual nature. The video for the song was released a little more than a week ago; the self-produced video already has over 1 million views on Youtube.

Any way you slice it, Tyler is clearly the driving force behind OF. During the recent show in NYC, Tyler was the most charismatic member of the group, the one who got the biggest rise/reaction out of the crowd.

Tyler, The Creator // Parade [mp3] from Bastard

Tyler, The Creator – Yonkers