Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, often abbreviated OFWGKTA or Odd Future, are a music, skateboarding and artist collective out of Los Angeles, California. The main members are Tyler, the Creator, Hodgy Beats, Earl Sweatshirt, Domo Genesis, Mike G, Frank Ocean, Left Brain, Matt Martians, Syd tha Kyd, Jasper "Dolphin" Loc and Taco Bennett. The group itself consists not only of hip hop and R&B artists but also skaters and other traditional artists; Tyler has given an estimate of 60 members total, all ranging in age from 17 to 25 at the group's formation.There are multiple groups inside the collective: MellowHype (rapper Hodgy Beats and producer Left Brain); EarlWolf (Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, the Creator); The Jet Age of Tomorrow (producers Matt Martians and Hal Williams); The Internet (Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martians); The Super 3 (Matt Martians and others, see below) and I Smell Panties (Jasper Dolphin and Tyler, the Creator). The group's net-based promotion has also produced a staggering amount of individual tracks, including an R&B parody song called "Love in Da Mall" by T.T.D.D. (Tyler, Taco, DeVon (Jasper) and Domo Genesis) and a parody of Lil B by Young Nigga (aka Tyler in a wig) called "Come Threw Looking Clean".They have garnered a cult following and have been receiving steady press from blogs as well as magazines. Tyler won the 2011 MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist (for his viral "Yonkers" video) and Frank Ocean's debut album, channel ORANGE, nearly won Album of the Year at the 2012-13 Grammys.Cartoon Network is broadcasting their own live-action TV show Loiter Squad, produced by Jackass producers Dickhouse.Because of the sprawling nature of this Troperiffic group, we've split up each artist and group within the collective into manageable entries below.Tyler, the CreatorDe facto leader and, as his name suggests, creator of Odd Future. Tyler (aka Ace Creator, Wolf Haley, Young Nigga) saw the talents he and his peers had after years of being friends and decided to form a group where they could make their own rules. His song "Bastard" explicitly states, "I feel we're more talented than 40 year old rappers talking about Gucci when they have kids they haven't seen in years." Tyler's interest in music started at a young age, when he would design his own albums with cover art and tracklistings. By fourteen, he was teaching himself how to play the piano and by fifteen, he was producing his own music.Tyler's chiefly influenced by horror films and the slick electro funk of The Neptunes, and it shows. A sizable portion of Tyler's output is autobiographical, referencing his missing father, being used in a rebound relationship and his confessional thoughts on his own life. The rest of his work incorporates elaborate storytelling scenarios involving tales of rape, murder and substance abuse. The latter part has gotten him in trouble with advocacy groups and the press, with no help from Tyler's tell-it-like-it-is demeanour and general wackiness. He famously told lesbian rock band Tegan And Sara to call him if they needed "some hard dick" after they called him out on his language. Tyler went on record early in 2012 to say that the latter elements of his style no longer interest him.In early 2013, Wolf was announced for an April 2nd release date, and shortly thereafter the video for the first single, "Domo23", was posted.
Discography:
The Odd Future Tape (Odd Future compilation, 2008)
Bastard (2009; chopped and screwed version by Mike G, 2010)
A Darker Me: Two of them: Ace Creator and Wolf Haley. Ace is more of a boastful hotshot while Wolf is an evil, Slim Shady-esque figure. Wolf predominately collaborates with Earl Sweatshirt.
Adorkable: As fans who meet him in real life in Los Angeles are quick to note.
Anachronic Order: Wolf takes place either between Bastard and Goblin or before both. Tyler has hinted on his Formspring account that there's one last piece of the puzzle left to confirm the order. This leads to plenty of…
Anachronism Stew: Even though Tyler's albums are all telling one story, there's a lot of references to himself and what's going on in his current life. Wolf contains plenty of references to Bastard and Goblin even though it's supposed to take place beforehand.
Artist Disillusionment/Creator Breakdown: According to his image he's been in one constant breakdown since before he even started, but Wolf begins to heavily suggest that it may not just be an act anymore. Stereogum's review of it even mentioned that they "hope he finds a way out of the honest-to-god depression that seems to have produced the album."
Ascended Fanboy: Tyler's biggest influence is Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes; Tyler has said many times that Pharrell's solo album In My Mind is his favorite record. The two finally met and apparently Pharrell has signed Tyler to his record label. Tyler even called Pharrell to wish him a happy Father's Day in 2011.
Audience Participation Song: "Inglorious" asks for all legitimate bastards to yell "Fuck You" to the fathers that left them. Subverted, since the song has never been performed live, and according to Tyler, never will be.
Attempted again in "Golden", but declared "corny as fuck" a few seconds into it.
Black Comedy: His dark imagery is very brutal and horrifying, but tongue-and-cheek enough to not be straight and subtle enough to not be Dead Baby Comedy (compared to Earl's early stuff, at least).
Blessed with Suck: His deep, smoky voice is one of the things that helped his style become so memorable, but he also has lamented that it means he could never be a very successful singer due to how limited his range is.
Breakout Character: As a result of getting all of the media attention up until MellowHype re-issued BlackenedWhite, Tyler has been trying to avoid this trope like the plague, urging his fans to give attention to the other members of Odd Future as he did not want to leave them behind.
Cloudcuckoolander - It's unclear how much of it is an act, though. His wikipedia page notes that he has referred to himself as a unicorn, a table, and a purse. Both in raps and out of them.
Tyler's twitter: "I AM STILL THE MOST SWAGGED OUT UNICORN IN THE FUCKING EXISTENCE OF FUCKING UNICORNS NIGGA. FUCK PEGASUS, HE'S A FUCKING FAGGOT. OFUGKTA"
The Cameo: Tyler produced most of Domo Genesis' album Rolling Papers and makes plenty of uncredited cameos across it.
Concept Album: Tyler's first album, Bastard, starts with school therapist Dr. TC introducing himself to Tyler and all of the rapping that follows is in response to the therapist's questions. It has an overt theme about how Tyler is a bastard in the literal sense, and how he feels about it.
Goblin supposedly picks back up where Bastard ended, introducing Wolf Haley and Tron Cat, the evil voice in Tyler's head.
Many fans think Wolf takes place between Bastard and Goblin with the latter starting right after Wolf. An alternate theory suggests Wolf occurs before both of them.
Creator Backlash: He's long gotten tired of "Yonkers," though he's thankful for the success it's brought him. He's also mentioned that he can't stand to listen to "Golden," but moreso because it makes him feel awkward and uncomfortable than because he thinks it's bad.
Creepy Doll: He plays one in the video for "IFHY".
Cursed with Awesome: As mentioned in "Answer," growing up without a father and his angst over his abandonment is one of the things that fuels his creative output, and is partially responsible for kickstarting his career.
Downer Ending: Goblin takes place at the end of the overarching narrative.
Determinator: Tyler. Break a foot at the beginning of a concert? Finish concert... after going to a doctor of course.
Did Not Get the Girl: Raquel befriended Tyler in high school, confiding her personal secrets and relationship issues in him. When he made his move to solidify a relationship with her by asking her out to the prom, she turned him down and got back with her man. Tyler's thoughts about Raquel show up in his work as much as his issues with his negligent father does. Early on, the character of Sarah was used as a placeholder for Raquel so he could viciously assault her through song. Leads to...
Tyler: Random disclaimer... Hey, don't do anything that I say in this song, okay? It's fuckin' fiction. If anything happens, don't fuckin' blame me, white America. Fuck Bill O'Reilly.note Bill O'Reilly is a critic of violent lyrics, believing that hearing them incites violent behaviour and criminal activity.
Driven to Madness: Upon learning that Her Probably Salem got back with her man. Probably Sam.
Early Installment Weirdness: I Smell Panties is the earliest release by the group. Talk about first impressions...
Evil Sounds Deep: Inverted with Dr. TC, who is probably the sanest person on Tyler's albums; played straight by Tyler's Wolf Haley persona. For those who have trouble telling them apart, Wolf has a slight growl to it. However...
Foreshadowing: ...the first clue that Dr. TC isn't all he's cracked up to be comes in the first few seconds of "Goblin", where he says that Tyler "don't even have the balls" to kill himself. Choice words coming from a supposed health professional...
Additional signs: Dr. TC finishes one of Tyler's sentences in "Goblin" and starts one of them in "Nightmare".
First time you hear that, you reverse you headphones, because you think you're wearing them backwards.
Although, eventually in the chorus they do say left and right on the left and right headphones.
Also used to great effect during "She," where Wolf Haley finally talks to the object of his obsession one on one. The effect is rather unsettling:
"I just wanna talk, conversate/'Cause I usually just stalk you and masturbate/And I finally got the courage to ask you on a date, so just say yes/And let the future fall into place, cunt."
Guttural Growler: That really is his natural voice. And he does not smoke.
Kill 'em All: The endings of "Bitch Suck Dick" and "Window".
Except, of course, for Earl Sweatshirt, who doesn't appear on the album. However, considering the throwaway instrumental "AU79" placed right after, as well as the track "Llama" that featured Earl and was cut, it can be assumed that Earl was killed between "Bitch Suck Dick" and "Window", even if we didn't hear it.
The track "Llama" appears to have turned into "Rusty" on Wolf, which takes place before Goblin and confirms that Tyler killed Earl before the others.
Lighter and Softer: Wolf, though the album is more emotionally heavy than anything else he's released before.
List Song: "Fin", the closing track of their first mixtape, is basically a credits and special thanks roll set to music.
Lyrical Dissonance: "She" probably stands out as the biggest winner, considering it's close to a Neptunes-produced slow jam and features resident R&B singer Frank Ocean...only he's singing a chorus full of Paranoia Fuel as well...
Frank Ocean: "Ain't no men allowed in your bedroom, you're sleeping alone in bed... Check your window. He's at your window."
Tyler: "I just wanna drag your lifeless body to the forest and fornicate with it but that’s because I’m in love with you... cunt."
Tyler: "Bitch, fuck your feelings, you wasn't feelin' shit when you was down there kneelin' now shut the fuck up, you've got another dick to deal with."
Mood Whiplash: Tyler's really tongue-in-cheek about a lot of things, considering how dark his music is. However, some of his songs have sections in which he has small acting performances that come across as genuinely disturbing. For example, in "Sarah" and "Window".
The transition from "Bitch Suck Dick" to "Window" on Goblin.
Likewise "Domo 23" being placed in the middle of Wolf right after "Awkward" and "Answer" and "Trashwang" coming out of nowhere right after Tyler kills Earl at the end of "Rusty."
Near the end of the video for "IFHY" when the Tyler-doll wanders into the street and suddenly is violently run over by Real Life Tyler and Hodgy speeding down the road loudly blasting "Jamba," after a somewhat sad and mostly creepy video about two dolls (complete with Tyler and an a woman in Uncanny Valley Makeup and cartoonish prosthetic features) in an abusive relationship
Murder Ballad: Several on Bastard. "Sarah" is the most gruesome example, featuring necrophilia and cannibalism. A handful of other tracks released before and after Bastard apply as well.
N-Word Privileges: To the point that Tyler calls everyone "nigga", regardless of age, race, gender or species. When he accidentally stepped on a snail, he tweeted,
"Like, he Didnt Do Anything To Me. It Was An Accident. Fuck, I'm Sorry Snail Nigga."
Tyler also told MTV, "If you call me a nigga, I really don't care, but that's just me, personally. Some people might take it the other way; I personally don't give a shit."
No Ending: Wolf's narrative ends in a confrontation between Samuel and Odd Future. "Treehome95" (a song credited to the character Salem) and "Tamale" follow out of nowhere, ending with the solemn "Lone". The final line of dialogue is Wolf telling TC that he hasn't seen Sammy, but "if I seen that nigga I woulda killed 'em".
Promoted Fanboy: Tyler has met, worked, and performed with many of the artists he has mentioned as his favorites in songs and interviews. Most notably Waka Flocka Flame and Pusha T as mentioned in his song Goblin.
Record Producer: Tyler not only creates nearly every single beat he uses, but produces beats for most of the Odd Future roster, including Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis and Earl Sweatshirt. One of Tyler's signatures is using keyboards and drum samples that have been pitched down severely.
Recycled Lyrics: The line, "Free Earl, that's the fucking shit and if you disagree, lick a couple pimple covered dicks" from "Sandwitches" appears again in "Burger" with the final word changed to "clits".
The final verse of "Cult Shit" was re-used to end "Yonkers".
The opening line of "Pimp Slap" reappeared halfway during "Window".
Tyler has a habit of referencing things from "Yonkers" in his guest verses, including Pusha T's "Trouble On My Mind" and The Game's "Martians vs Goblins".
Tyler: "At the fucking mall, 40 bitches on my nutsack Pulled up on a motherfuckin' unicorn (I'm gettin' ponies, nigga!)"
The Reveal: Fans have known explicitly that Wolf Haley is an alter ego of Tyler, but the true reveal is at the end of his song "Golden": Dr. TC, in an attempt to calm Tyler after Wolf Haley forced him to kill all of his friends, tells him that TC is Wolf Haley as well as Tron Cat, the voice giving Tyler evil thoughts.
Rhyming With Itself: Tyler, the Creator plays with it on the song "The Tape Intro":
"Whether you nigga or esé The [Odd Future] magazine is great because the article's an essay Half you dumb niggas can't even write an essay 'Cause all of y'all some stupid asses. S.A."
Rock Me, Asmodeus!: Tyler doesn't care about religion and uses Satanic imagery primarily to piss people off.
Sanity Slippage Song: Pretty much all of Goblin after "Her". Tyler hits the Despair Event Horizon, Mode Locking on his Wolf Haley persona (the crowdless rally at the beginning of "Sandwitches" being very telling of the loss of sanity.) Ultimately, Tyler snaps back to sanity after shooting the rest of OFWGKTA in cold blood during an intervention. If you want to count "Analog" (a track about a trip to the beach) as part of that, go right ahead.
Self-Made Man: To the point that Tyler won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 2011 for a song he wrote, produced and recorded himself, paired with a video that he directed for it. Understandably, he fell off the stage and wept openly after giving his acceptance speech.
Significant Monogram: On Goblin, Tyler the Creator, Tron Cat, Doctor TC...noticing a trend?
Song Style Shift: Tyler's "Radicals" features a vitriolic first half with brief subdued sections. The second half gives way to a sung refrain and a Chinese harp.
Streisand Effect: The main reason why anyone knows of brandUn DeShay is because Tyler fell out with him and mentioned beating him up in "Yonkers".
Studio Chatter: "Oh I don't need the metronome, bro." at the beginning of "Her".
"Come Threw Lookin Clean" and "She Won't a Young Nigga", parodies of Lil B.
Much of his cover art, but especially the standard edition artwork for Wolf. Note that the Tyler in the background is actually in the foreground and clips over the "foreground" Tyler's hat.
His production relies more on melody, harmony and composition than it does sound, but he constantly uses deliberately lame, often heavily modulate, and usually stock keyboard synthesizer sounds to produce most of his beats. This seems to go over the head of some of his detractors, though, which cite them as "bad production."
His new song "Awkward.", which appears on Tyler's 2012 Summer Camp Mix
Take That, Critics!: Tyler is exceptionally vocal about hip hop blogs 2DopeBoyz and Nah Right not supporting Odd Future early on, but the opening seconds of his album Bastard really takes the cake:
"Yo, fuck 2DopeBoyz and fuck Nah Right and any other fuck-nigga-ass blog that can't put an 18 year old nigga making his own fucking beats, covers, videos and all that shit; fuck you post-Drake-ass cliche-jerking, LA-slauson rapping fuck-nigga-ass Hypebeast niggas, now back to the album."
Unperson: On the one-year anniversary of Bastard's release, brandUn DeShay's verse on "Session" was replaced with one by Mike G, since Tyler and DeShay fell out with each other.
from "Sandwitches": "The way your daughter smackin' dicks, surprised she hasn't taken gymnastic dick inside her alley oop."
What Happened to the Mouse?: Played with. "Trashwang" ends in Odd Future apparently about to gang up on Samuel. The last three songs don't follow up on the narrative at all, save for the final line of dialogue: "If I seen that nigga [Sam] I woulda killed 'em". The video for, and title of, "Sam (Is Dead)" give us a semblance of what happened, even though the song "Lone" implies that either Tyler doesn't know where he is, or he's lying about it.
Where Da White Women At?: White women? All sorts of sex (and possibly dismemberment.) Black women? Expect a dismissive attitude about their temper or body weight.
Wolverine Publicity: In an interesting twist on this trope, Tyler is being used in this way already for other, more experienced artists. He's already appeared on Pusha T's new single, and is slated to appear on The Game's upcoming album. He's alluded to getting many more offers.
Hodgy BeatsRapper and one half of MellowHype. Originally exhibiting a mellow, unsure delivery, Hodgy Beats' rapping style hardened to a more aggressive style after working with producer Left Brain. Has a rather distinctive laugh that is heard across many tracks. Hodgy also has a good singing voice and has used it on several tracks, including Tyler's "Analog" and Domo Genesis' "Drunk".
Discography:
The Odd Future Tape (Odd Future compilation, 2008)
The Cameo: Some uncredited singing appearances across the board, most notably on Domo Genesis' "Drunk" (though he is mentioned by Domo himself in the first verse.)
Characterization Marches On: Early on, Hodgy was The Stoner. After hooking up with Left Brain, his delivery grew more aggressive and moved towards more gangsta rap topics such as money, police and illicit substances. He also showed certain lyrical similarities to Tyler and Earl during this period, peppering his lyrics with political incorrectness and faux-Satanic references in Blackenedwhite as well as his cameos on Earl's self-titled mixtape and Tyler's Goblin, while at the same time providing a more laid-back foil for the vitriolic antics of the latter two. Later on he dropped most of the lyrical darkness and became a full-on "cool guy" figure in OF and sort of The Mario of the group.
Record Producer: Left Brain focuses mainly on producing and leaves Hodgy to appear in the press. He has produced not only for Hodgy and MellowHype, but for other members in the group.
Rock Me, Asmodeus!: To the point that the re-issue cover of BlackenedWhite is an upside-down cross.
Those Two Guys: Justified because they're already a group of two anyway.
Updated Rerelease: BlackenedWhite was originally released online on October 31st, 2010, but a remastered version with a new cover was released on July 12, 2011. The tracklist was changed, notably removing the songs with Earl Sweatshirt due to his mother not signing release forms for his verses to be used.
Earl SweatshirtOne of the most prodigous members of the group, Earl Sweatshirt (aka Sly Tendencies and Early Man) is the son of famed poet and political activist Keorapetse Kgositsile. His lyrical content is the most vitriolic and gruesome of the bunch, constantly featuring wanton murder, rape, necrophilia and cannibalism. Despite this, his impressive and inventive uses of wordplay, double entendres and multi-syllabic rhyming have garnered considerable critical praise.Earl managed to squeeze out one album and a handful of collaborations before mysteriously disappearing. Eventually, Complex magazine found him in a boarding school in Samoa (his mother's government job involved her working there for some time.) Odd Future refused to comment on the situation, though Tyler expressed worry over fans coming after Earl's mom for sending him there. Earl's mother also refused to allow additional songs featuring Earl to be released. Earl's disappearance prompted the chanting of "Free Earl" in concerts and in songs.Early 2012, Earl arrived back in the United States. He officially made his return on the songs "Home" and "Oldie", and made his return performance at a New York show in March 2012. In a recent interview, Earl confirmed that he was sent to Samoa but only because he was "doing some bad stuff at the time" that was entirely unrelated to his rapping. Earl's lyrical content changed drastically after his return: he excised all of the horrorcore elements and traded those for even more amazing lyrical skills.Earl announced his Doris album in late 2012 before dropping the video for the "Chum" single. Another single, "Whoa" (with Tyler on the hook) followed in March of 2013.
The first was "Earl," which established him as the most brutal and young of the group, and introduced his impeccable wordplay. The music video has more Gorn than any of the groups video output since.
The second being "Chum," upon his return from Samoa shows that he's actually a far more intelligent, introspective person with a lot of flaws and issues but is generally the Only Sane Man, and even more insane wordplay.
Executive Meddling: His mother will not authorize any of his songs to be released so long as he is a minor.
Gargle Blaster: The video for "Earl". Cocaine, marijuana, cough syrup and loads of other drugs are blended into a smoothie and consumed. Everyone starts bleeding and dying as a result.
Old Shame: His stay in Samoa helped him to look at the subject matter he previously rapped about in a different light, having spent time working with surviving rape and trauma victims. That, and his lyrical abilities have grown tremendously since then, and one of the first things he made clear upon his return was that he cannot stand to hear anything he put out before Radicals.
Only Sane Man: He's usually this when he's on Loiter Squad.
Refuge in Audacity: "Couch" has Earl and Tyler one-upping themselves in a gross out contest, ending with Tyler coming up with "Drown your bitch in a tub of cum and throw a shark in it", then stabbing Earl and setting him on fire.
Rock Me, Asmodeus!: Earl is a full-on atheist. He used to use satanic imagery primarily to piss people off; now he makes insanely clever remarks, such as the venison line in "Whoa".
Suprisingly Gentle Song: His first official single back from Samoa, "Chum," marks a turning point in his character, but is also the first song he ever released that wasn't horrifyingoraudacious in any way.
Frank OceanFrank Ocean is an R&B singer-songwriter originally from Louisiana who began writing music professionally in 2005 under his birth name of Christopher Breaux (aka Lonny Breaux.) His records focus mainly on interpersonal relationships, personal reflection and social commentary. He met Odd Future and Tricky Stewart in 2009 through his business connections, the latter of which got him signed to Def Jam. When Def Jam would not release nostalgia, ULTRA., he released it as part of Odd Future's label online, generating considerable interest in Ocean's talents. Some of his clients include Kanye West and Jay-Z (who featured him on their collab album Watch the Throne), Beyoncé (whose song "I Miss You" was written by him), Justin Bieber, John Legend and Brandy. Ocean also is proficient in rapping and has done so on some Odd Future songs. Several fans didn't notice that the first verse on Tyler's "She" was him rapping, for instance.On July 4, 2012, after being questioned about some of his new lyrics, Frank revealed that his first and deepest love had been for a man. Hip-hop's always been a little homophobicnote Tyler himself has admitted that he loves using "faggot" because it's one of the easiest ways to troll people, so this was a huge deal - made huger by the fact that the industry rallied behind Frank and his music as a result.Frank's official debut (channel ORANGE) dropped in July 2012. With stellar reviews and sales, it's cemented his status as the freshest thing to happen to R&B and hip-hop in a long time.
Discography:
nostalgia, ULTRA. (2010)
The Lonny Breaux Collection (unofficial mixtape, 2011)
OF Tape Vol. 2 (Odd Future compilation, 2012)
Channel Orange (2012)
Frank Ocean provides examples of:
Frank Ocean
Allegory / World of Symbolism: "Pyramids" is one giant allegory for the fall of the black woman (and black people in general) from queens and pharaohs to hustlers and strippers. The titular pyramid goes from being a symbol of power and wealth to a strip club by song's end.
Breakout Character: to the point that a significant portion of his listeners have never even heard of Odd Future.
Blatant Lies: The verses of "Thinkin Bout You" are filled with them ("Got a beach house I could sell you in Idaho...") as an attempt to make sure the other party is actively listening to him or not.
The Cameo: Appears at the end of Domo Genesis' "Steam Roller".
John Mayer lays down some sweet guitar licks on "White" but doesn't sing.
Cover Version: Technically, although it's really more like extended sampling. About half of the songs on nostalgia. ULTRA. transpose the beats from other artists' tracksnote Coldplay for "Strawberry Swing," one-time Kanye West protege Mr. Hudson for "There Will Be Tears," The Eagles' "Hotel California" for "American Wedding," and MGMT's "Electric Feel" for "Nature Feels"; Frank tends to match the melodies but creates his own lyrics and harmonies.
Did Not Get the Guy: The gist of Frank's "Coming Out" story, most directly referenced in "Bad Religion".
Hidden Track: channel ORANGE features "Golden Girl (feat. Tyler, the Creator)" on a limited number of physical copies of the album.
Let's Just Be Friends: His newly married wife pulls this on him in "American Wedding".
In a real-life example, the guy he was hanging out with didn't return his feelings; Frank hasn't made it clear whether the guy was in denial or if he was genuinely straight, but it fueled a good chunk of channel ORANGE.
Minimalist Cover Art: channel ORANGE bears the name in two distinct white fonts on an orange background.
channel ORANGE starts with the PlayStation 1 starting up and Frank playing Street Fighter II. There are also references to Majin Buu in "Pink Matter".
From Odd Future's song "Oldie": "Yeah, get me a Persian rug where the centre looks like Video Game/Galaga..."
During promotion for channel ORANGE, his appearance on Saturday Night Live featured a performance set covered in active video games. During the closing guitar solo of "Pyramids", he left to play one.
True Companions: Ocean has no plans on distancing himself from Odd Future. His tumblr account header, to date, still reads "FRANK OCEAN • OFWG • KTA".
What Could Have Been: nostaglia, ULTRA. was supposed to get re-released as nostalgia, LITE., with several of the sampled songs (notably the Eagles' "Hotel California") removed.
"Thinkin Bout You" was originally ghostwritten for Bridget Kelly, a.k.a. that girl Jay-Z brings out for "Empire State of Mind" when he can't find Alicia Keys. The version that helped Frank blow up was a rough cut he recorded for Kelly to sing over in the studio; it was never supposed to see the light of day.
World Building: "Pyramids" uses its ten minutes wisely to flesh out two love triangles and the worlds around them: one in ancient Egypt; the other in modern-day North America.
Domo GenesisRapper with an affinity for marijuana.
Name's the Same: Rolling Papers is also an album by Wiz Khalifa, released in under a year from Domo's album.
Rock Me, Asmodeus!: Averted; unlike several members of OF who are atheist or agnostic with antithetical feelings about organized religion, Domo is a practicing Christian and occasionally incorporates subtle Christian imagery into his lyrics ("Hcapd" being an example of this).
The Stoner: Under the Influence was out at 4:20pm on the day it was released, even.
Mike GLaidback rapper with a respectable flow. Produces chopped and screwed remixes on the side, including remixing the entirety of Tyler's Bastard.
Cloudcuckoolander: Mike G is nearly always spaced out. One interviewer from Shade 45 had to ask if he was okay.
Mood Whiplash: "Stick Up" is a thoroughly serious heist narrative until Taco appears out of nowhere and accidentally walks in the path of Mike's bullet.
Matt MartiansMatt Martians is Odd Future's go-to guy for instrumental hip hop with a decidedly psychedelic bent. When lyrics are employed, they usually revolve around women or outer space. Martians has headed two projects within OFWGKTA: The Super 3, featuring himself and either Hal Williams, or Betty Vasolean and Yoshi Jankins, Jr. (the internet is a bit fuzzy about this); and The Jet Age of Tomorrow with Hal Williams. Williams and Martians have also used the name Dem Acura Boyz. As a result, Martians is one of the most prolific member of the collective.A few of Odd Future's rappers appeared on Jet Age's album Journey to the 5th Echelon. Jet Age produced Kilo Kush's Homeschool album under the name Junior Varsity, as well as two songs for Soulja Boy.
The Super 3 Discography:
The Odd Future Tape (Odd Future compilation, 2008)
Taco Bennett and Jasper DolphinTwo friends of Tyler's who happen to appear on a handful of songs. Neither has much skill in writing lyrics, but that doesn't necessarily stop them from trying. They have admitted to not doing much else and work very much like hype men during live performances. Jasper is one half of I Smell Panties, while Taco is one of the group's photographers. Taco is also OFWGKTA engineer Syd tha Kyd's younger brother and their house is used as the group's recording studio. Tyler, the Creator has thus far had both of them appear on one song off of each of his albums.
Taco and Jasper provide examples of:
Taco and Jasper
Butt Monkey: Taco. Roughly a third of Earl's twitter is talking shit about him (calling him by his real name, "Travis"). He also gets messed with the most on LoiterSquad.
Piss Take Rap: Almost every time Taco or Jasper step up to the mic, they produce this. Especially hilarious is Tyler's song "Tina", where Taco is given eight bars to rap and ends up spending six of them eating potato chips very loudly instead. With no backing beat whatsoever.
The two really seem to hold their own in "Trashwang", though.
Refuge in Audacity: During Tyler's "Tina", Jasper is in the mall and the club simulatneously. Taco is "with your girlfriend eating chips" and manages to prove so directly afterward.
Rhyming With Itself: Jasper Dolphin ends up rhyming "shit" and "bitch" with themselves on occasion:
"I'm loud as fuck, I'm ignorant Beat your bitch in her mouth just for talkin' shit You lurkin' bitch? Well, I see that shit Once again I gotta punch a bitch in her shit"
I Smell PantiesAn early project by Tyler, the Creator and Jasper Dolphin. I Smell Panties was a comedy rap group, poking fun at all of the rap cliches that were big in the late noughties including clothes, bling, gang warfare and club culture. The most prominent subject was that of slutty women giving the group herpes and other STDs. Jasper's lyrical skill is practically non-existent in this group, providing off-the-cuff spoken word remarks and nervous laughter. While Tyler has to this day still recorded songs with Jasper, they have not released them under the I Smell Panties name.
Discography:
I Smell Panties (2008)
The Odd Future Tape (Odd Future compilation, 2008)
I Smell Panties provides examples of:
I Smell Panties
Basso Profundo: Even at this early stage, Tyler was using pitchshifting software to drop his already low-pitched voice even further. Inverted as well, as both his and Jasper's voices are sped up; in "Hi to Me", Jasper plays a woman with his sped up voice.
Felony Misdemeanor: After everyone (and their families) gets fantastical STDs in "Lisa", Jasper walks in and says, "Wait wait wait, that bitch stole my motherfuckin' Bapes!" A response of "She stole your Bapes!?" follows.
Instrumentals: Drop the left channel on "Bapes" and "Bapes (freestyle)" and you suddenly have instrumental versions.
Mood Whiplash: The sudden hilarity of "Lisa" really brightened up The Odd Future Tape.
Piss Take Rap: Everything. The start of "Bapes (freestyle)" is the only exception.
The Creative Buncha "sub-clique" within OFWGKTA that consists of some of the "other 40 or so" members of the group making rap music. They are officially a part of Odd Future, but rarely interact with the rest of the group outside the odd production credit. The group consists mainly of Jack Mushroom, Trizz, and Skoolie 300.
No Indoor Voice: L-Boy in Hi, and basically anytime they let him do something.
One of Us - "Kings" samples the original source of the "THIS! IS! SPARTA!" meme, so it's likely.
OFWGKTA as a whole provides examples of:
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All Don't Give A Fuck Litter Life Bacon Boys Loiter Squad Butt Fuck Bitch Suck Dick Niggas Fuck Steve Harvey or NAMBLA
Alternative Hip Hop: One of the few modern day groups to fit into this genre.
Cowboy Bebop At His Computer: Everyone in the group raps about rape, misogyny and murder, no expections. Fact of the matter is, Tyler and Earl are the only ones who do so and even then, a lot of Tyler's songs have nothing to do with evil (see Horrorcore, below.) Odd Future are apparently all devil worshippers, but several of them are atheist (or don't care about spirituality) and they only actively use anti-Christian imagery and lyrics to piss people off.
Tyler, from "Goblin": "'Oh that's a triple three six, isn't he a devil worshipper 'cause I'm too fuckin' ignorant to do some research?"
Department of Redundancy Department: L-boy's moment of silence for Earl in the intro track and Left Brain saying "Free Earl" in his "Oldie" verse on The OF Tape Volume 2, despite Earl actually appearing on that very track. This was mostly due to Earl returning relatively shortly before the release of the tape, at which point recording would have probably been mostly complete, but the group probably decided not to fix it due to Stylistic Suck and Rule of Funny anyway.
Felony Misdemeanor: In the Funny or Die video "Odd Future Gets Signed", they only walk out when the label guy sets his glass down on his table without using a coaster.
Fun with Acronyms - Casey Veggies featured several members of the group on his most recent mixtape (Custom #3), Casey's crew is called Peas n' Carrots International. PNCIN for short. Now what would be a good name for a song featuring both PNCIN and OFWGKTA? PNCINOFWGKTA of course.
Genre Shift: While most of the publicly known group raps, Frank Ocean is an R&B singer. His lyrics are extremely heartfelt. Additionally, The Jet Age of Tomorrow and The Internet are far more psychedelic and less profane (when there's even lyrics) than the rest of the group's output.
The OF Tape Vol. 2 is comprised mostly of the group's trademark aggressive, scatological alt-rap, so the sudden shifts into laid-back, plaintive R&B and upbeat new-rave from Frank Ocean and The Internet, respectively, come off as a little left-field, but still round out the presentation of OF's various talents nicely.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: Despite the fact that they use uncensored swearing and frequently refer to horrific acts, they still manage to get some serious junk past the radar. Some highlights include: A woman's visible butt shaking in the "Rella" video (especially considering YouTube's crackdown on sexuality), Domo Genesis slapping a woman (and causing her to change races), Tyler, the Creator being shown naked (and possessing a vagina), and a downblouse shot in "She."
When Tyler performed "Sandwitches" on Fallon, he simply replaced all the profanity and drug references in the song with half-assed euphemisms. This includes one lyric that clearly alludes to serial rape - "fuck the mask; I want that hoe to know it's me" - with the words "fuck" and "hoe" simply replaced with "screw" and "girl", respectively. Instead of rendering his original verse inscrutable with self-censorship, Hodgy Beats opted to simply rewrite his completely.
When Tyler, Earl, and Domo performed "Rusty" on Letterman, they went with Tyler's above method of censoring themselves. Whenever one of the three were rapping during the performance, the two inactive members were occasionally chiming in, doing the overdubbed parts and backing vocals. In Tyler's verse, the line "All the Analog fans are getting sick of the rape, and all the Tron Cat fans are getting sick of the lakes" has the word "rape" switched with "hate," but in the background Earl clearly says "rape."
Horrorcore: Averted. Odd Future have dismissed this label in multiple tweets and songs. Tyler's said that he treats some of his songs like they're horror films and writes in the style of famous serial killers, like Jeffrey Dahmer, as if he was a storyteller; hence the dismissal of the Horrorcore tag. Only about eight of the 32 songs spread across Tyler's first two albums actually hit the trope's definition full tilt (one of them, "Transylvania", goes to the extreme of being written from Dracula's perspective.) In the lyrics to "Goblin", Tyler cites "Parade" and "Inglorious" as songs that have nothing to do with horrorcore (they deal with his DIY outlook on life, specifically.)
Played straight with Earl Sweatshirt's pre-Samoa output, which either falls squarely into the horrorcore box or dances along the edge of it (even the Anti Christmas Song, where he stabs a woman for no reason.) Post-samoa, Earl has gone nowhere near this trope
Hodgy Beats is the poster child for Rock Me, Asmodeus! within the group but rarely goes as deep as Tyler or Earl ever did. All of the other members of Odd Future go nowhere near horrorcore.
Lyrical Dissonance: Most of their beats are smooth and laid-back, drawing heavy influence from The Neptunes and MF Doom. While not all of their lyrics are as gruesome as those that dominate Tyler and Earl's solo material, even their tamest material usually contains nods to vandalism, drug use, rough sex and heavy use of profanity (the latter often bordering on the politically incorrect side). This isn't always the case, though, as their beats can also be quite eerie to match the themes of songs like Tyler's "Transylvania" and Earl's "epaR", but even those songs' beats are nowhere near the grimdark theatrics of, say, Insane Clown Posse (who the group are sometimes asininely compared to).
Understanding some of Earl's lyrics after his return from Samoa may require notes to fully understand, often bringing boatloads of Fridge Brilliance. Just look at all the references, wordplay, and allusions in the track "Chum" alone on Rap Genius.
Mood Whiplash: Going between Analog 2, a soft, slower love song, and 50, a loud, fast, and aggressive song, on OF Tape Vol. 2.
Refuge in Audacity: As much as humanly possible. In a very recent example, Tyler is a centaur, Hodgy's penis is a laser and Domo Genesis can slap women so hard they go from African-American to Asian.
For goodness sake, Tyler's username on Twitter is simply "@fucktyler"
Rock Me, Asmodeus!: Though only some of them are atheists, they often use satanic imagery to piss people off.
Sampling: They usually avoid this (preferring original beats), with the exception of their Radical mixtape, in which each track was based on an already established beat that each member chose so they could outdo the original's lyrics.
Scary Musician, Harmless Music: Inverted. While Tyler, Earl, Jasper and even Hodgy's outputs are offensive and vitriolic, they're pretty down-to-earth people in street clothes and have good senses of humour.
Self-Made Man: Odd Future itself. All sixty members are skateboarding buddies and all have contributed to each other's works, whether it be shooting photos or videos, recording or engineer songs, providing artwork, lyrics, etc. Tyler brings this up a lot, including during his Best New Artist acceptance speech during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards:
"To all the kids that's watchin', you can do this shit too. Be yourself. Fuck the system. Golf Wang. Thank you."
Serial Escalation: Earl's wordplay gets more and more complicated with every release, to the point where it reaches this level on "Woah" and "Chum."
School Tropes: As several members were still in high school when they started out, a couple tropes show up in their early recordings. One track has Tyler as a teacher announcing that each rapper's verse is equivalent to a written assignment.
Studio Chatter: A lot of older songs feature this and it is all hilarious.
Super Group: PNCINOFWGKTA, currently a one-song only deal. Consisting of Casey Veggies, Earl, Hodgy, Domo, and Tyler. Somewhat funny when you consider that Casey used to be a part of OFWGKTA too.
Tagalong Kid: Arguably, the other 40+ members of the group that skate and create art as they are rarely visible from a public standpoint (a few have shown up in their music videos, most notably a blonde boy named Lucas.)
There are also the OF-"affiliates" like Trizz and Jack Mushroom.
True Companions: Tyler and Hodgy have said in a few interviews that because they write, record and produce their own songs, direct their own videos and create their own artwork and photography that they don't require anyone but themselves and would prefer to work without outside influences. Each member is supportive of each other's work entirely and they appear as one unit during live shows.
Word Salad Title: OFWGKTA by itself is one, but supposedly the full name of the collective is Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All Don't Give A Fuck Litter Life Bacon Boys Loiter Squad Butt Fuck Bitch Niggas and is a collection of all of the group's names in one long string.
He officially made his return on the songs "Home" and "Oldie", and made his return performance at a New York show in March 2012. In a recent interview, Earl confirmed that he was sent to Samoa but only because he was "doing some bad stuff at the time" that was entirely unrelated to his rapping. Earl's lyrical content changed drastically after his return: he excised all of the horrorcore elements and traded those for even more amazing lyrical skills.Earl announced his Doris album in late 2012 before dropping the video for the "Chum" single. Another single, "Whoa" (with Tyler on the hook) followed in March of 2013.
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