They chant \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kill People, Burn Shit, Fuck School.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Their lyrics are bursting with statements like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rape a pregnant bitch and tell my friends I had a threesome.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d They condone violence, preach chaos and thrive on the unpredictable. They dedicate their lives to disrupting social norms and shattering moral barriers. They accomplish all of this through their harsh music. They are the members of the Hip Hop group Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All, or OFWKTA. And they are fascinating.<\/p>\n
For the past week I have immersed myself in their music, videos and live footage. Their group dynamic is that of any friendly collection of teenagers, except they add a barrage of expletives and vulgarity unique to their own dynamic. Comprised of Tyler, the Creator and his partners Earl Sweatshirt, Hodgy Beats, Domo Genisis and Frank Ocean (among others), Odd Future is a Hip Hop team unlike anything else the world has seen. The emphasis of their music is placed almost entirely on their lyrics; the bass-heavy, steady beats prevalent in almost every Odd Future song merely provide platforms for the voices, which forces the listener to pay close attention to the words. The words, in turn, elicit an inevitably emotional response, and the response spreads the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s message. That message is the reason for their music.<\/p>\n
If you have never heard them, Odd Future\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lyrics are easily some of the most violent and morally insensitive statements ever imagined by mankind. However, these horribly offensive insults only serve as a blanket that hides the essence of their ideology. Odd Future\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true declaration is to not care. About anything. Ever. As children of broken families these teenagers have encapsulated the apathetic, misanthropic, Blink-182 credo that intrigues so many adolescents in our society, and have rejuvenated it into a culture much larger than any punk band could have dreamed of. Hordes of people, including (if not especially) members of every race, gender, religion and sexual orientation attacked in the music, have flung themselves at Odd Future. This cult following has formulated because of the attitude ringing out of its very name. The music allows an outlet for anger and helplessness by first accepting that anger, and then disregarding it. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care that what they say is terrible. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care that their lives have not followed any of the traditional paths for youths today. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care that they are pissing off every well-respected adult they come in contact with. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about anything.<\/p>\n
My initial curiosity regarding this group stemmed from my appreciation for Frank Ocean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s music. Frank Ocean, who has one of the best voices on the planet, was featured in two of the songs on Kanye and Jay-Z\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recent collaboration Watch The Throne<\/em>. As this proves, he has the talent to work with the biggest names in his industry, yet he remains a member of Odd Future. This surprised me because of the contrast in their principles. While Tyler the Creator is often reprimanded for his frequent use of the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153faggot\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and seemingly strong homophobia issues, Frank Ocean spreads lyrics such as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe that marriage isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t between a man and woman, but between love and love.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Then I began to listen more closely to Tyler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s words, and I began to understand their relationship.<\/p>\n Tyler the Creator actually has a much more brilliant mind than he likes to display, one he keeps intact through his substance-free lifestyle. Tyler often attaches a sarcastic, contradictory tone to make his points in lines such as, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not homophobic, faggot.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Or in his song She,<\/em> he pleads, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just want to ask you on a date, cunt.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d These lines prove that Odd Future\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mentality delves much deeper than the phrases that initiate these derogatory proclamations. Tyler has nothing against homosexuality, but harsh insults transfer his anger and provoke his desired reaction. The point is that they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t homophobic; they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t racist. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just kids.<\/p>\n The true brilliance of Odd Future rests in their ultimate belief. They stress the glorification of violence and anger, and exist in a world with no rules, no morals and no restrictions. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe in right or wrong. They eliminate the concept of immorality because they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t recognize it as a possibility. They want to rape, burn, and kill just so they can remind the world that they can. It is utter and complete indifference; they do or say anything they want and never think of the consequences. They have condensed the entire universe down to the flat line of basic primal desire. Critics of Odd Future need to stop creating a controversy because they won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever be able to win; they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re fighting a losing battle. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re attempting to rationalize the irrational. Instead, they should embrace the ideas and reflect on how a bunch of teenagers have captured the attention of millions by channeling their frustration into, albeit, terribly vulgar lyrics that nevertheless precede an inspirational message. It is youth rebellion at its finest. It is the oddest future. It is pure apathy. So I join in, and chant, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kill people Burn shit Fuck school.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Because I can.<\/p>\n