R.I.P. OFWGKTA

The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards were around the corner and I partook in the annual online fan voting for the awards as I usually do.

As with every award show, everyone had their different takeaways after the show whether it was Beyonce's baby bump, Katy Perry winning Video of the Year for the cheesy mess that was "Firework" or 85-year old Cloris Leachman presenting an award with the cast of Jersey Shore (You're welcome for the reminder that Jersey Shore was a thing society just accepted on our televisions). For me, the real takeaway was the hip hop collective known as Odd Future taking over the show with their bizarre stage presence. Which brings me back to how I discovered them.

While voting for the VMA's that year, I noticed there was one video that I had not yet seen and that was the video that grabbed America's attention.

"Yonkers" is one of the most captivating music videos of the 2010's. At first viewing nonsensical, "Yonkers" was really about Tyler's character in the video quickly dissolving into madness to the point where he eats a cockroach, threatens to kill Bruno Mars and B.O.B. and hangs himself to end the video/his life. "Yonkers" ended up winning Tyler, The Creator the award for Best New Artist at the VMA's.

Nobody in the world of music showed more genuine emotion at winning an award than a 19-year old Tyler in that moment and it won me over. So much about it was fascinating like, who voted for these guys over Wiz Khalifa and Foster The People? and who was Earl? where was Earl? What the hell were those fifty dudes doing on stage? There was so much that I did not know yet. For instance, I hadn't even realized that I had seen Tyler and a few others earlier in 2011 during the MTVU Woodie Awards and it was just as mysterious as everything else around this group of dudes.

Further research was necessary.

The leader of Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) was led by the gruff voice and style of Tyler, The Creator and featured many of his friends that he grew up with in Los Angeles. The other members were Earl Sweatshirt, Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, Mike G, Left Brain, Syd Tha Kid, Matt Martians, Hal Williams, Jasper Dolphin, Taco Bennett, L-Boy, Lucas Vercetti and Frank Ocean. They were the quirky, weird, music-obsessed kids who had fresh, original ideas brewing in their drug-fueled minds. After MellowHype (Hodgy Beats and Left Brain's duo) released their first album, BlackenedWhite, without a whisper of hype, the real fire-starter was Tyler's Goblin album (his first official release after the Bastard mixtape) which featured tracks like "Yonkers", "She" and "Sandwitches". It was new, it was different and gained a ton of traction after Tyler's VMA win.

Also gaining tons of traction after Tyler's VMA win? The entire Odd Future collective. They created their own appropriately-titled Odd Future Records record label (before the VMA's), had a widely-successful Golf Wang Tour 2011 and were even booked by Cartoon Network's Adult Swim to make their own television show called Loiter Squad. They were building a brand.

2011's 12 Odd Future Songs, a compilation album featuring 13 previously-released OF tracks.

The first and most likely only official album from Odd Future came in 2012, was well-received and featured every member doing something (rapping, producing, singing, talking, making appearances in the music videos). The OF Tape Vol. 2 really nailed home the style and general aesthetic of the artists with their bold usage of color in music videos, carefree attitude within lyrics, unique flow and fashion sense (Knee-high socks, Hawaiian shirts and bucket hats). With their relatable personalities and odd charm in interviews they became bigger than they ever imagined.

Then Earl finally showed up. Right as the group had been brought into prominence, Earl's mother sent him to a retreat school for at-risk boys in American Samoa after he repeatedly got himself into undisclosed trouble. He finally made his debut in the newer, much-wider spotlight in New York and the mystery of the missing OF member was solved.

Even the doubters and critics of Odd Future were silenced on July 17th, 2012 when one of the three best albums of the year was made by Frank Ocean.

I recommend "Forrest Gump" and "Pyramids" if you aren't already aware of those songs.

The soulful vocals of Ocean, mixed with some of the most breath-taking instrumentals of the decade so far, made Channel Orange my third favorite album of that year (behind The Heist by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Master of My Make-Believe by Santigold). Ocean went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album and was also nominated for Best New Artist, Album of the Year and the song "Thinkin' Bout You" was nominated Record of the Year. As with all OFWGKTA storylines, there was one more mystery that remained and that was Frank Ocean's sexuality after many interpreted the lyrics to be about a male. All those rumors were confirmed by Ocean and he received immediate support from the OFWGKTA crew when they had known for a while. As Tyler so elegantly stated "I kinda knew, because he likes Pop Tarts without frosting on them, so I knew something was weird. [Laughs] But that's my n----.".

Domo Genesis and MellowHype went on to release albums at the end of 2012 and then Tyler returned with the critically acclaimed album Wolf. In all honesty, I was confused as hell by some of Tyler's lyricism and even though I understood his usage of slurs in what he wants to be non-offensive ways, the overall messages of each individual song were sort of trapped behind classic beats and the sheer grittiness of his vocals. Once Wolf was released into the public, I finally figured it all out. Tyler was telling a story in reverse through each of his albums, dealing with multiple characters, summer camps and love. It was just as bizarre as everything else Tyler released but with features from Pharrell, Erykah Badu, Nas and Casey Veggies, it was Tyler's most complete album in both sound and storyline. 

Wolf featured tracks such as "Tamale" and "IFHY".

The cover art for Wolf's deluxe edition was a departure from the minimalist approach of previous OF album covers. On August 20th, 2013, Earl dropped his heavily-anticipated debut album, Doris, which was met with widespread praise even though I still think it is Odd Future's weakest release outside of anything MellowHype has released. With Doris's success, Earl became the rapper with the most credibility and highest chance of success once OF broke up, something that was bound to eventually happen considering the amount of members. 

Standouts on Doris included "Whoa", "Burgundy" and "Hive".

Then the hip hop collective went silent. Outside of another annual Camp Flog Gnaw carnival, another season of Loiter Squad and the unveiling of an Odd Future radio station, the guys didn't release much music and began doing their own separate projects. Tyler produced music videos including the tremendous "Glowing" video for pop singer D.A. Wallach.

Left Brain produced the score for an independent film, Earl worked on his latest album, I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside, Domo Genesis halted any future MellowHype productions and instead, began working on his own mixtapes, Frank Ocean distanced himself from the group but continues to work on a follow-up to an instant classic while the rest of the group has remained fairly anonymous since 2013 outside of cameos on Loiter Squad.

It was another mystery to the OFWGKTA-obsessed. 

Hope was somewhat restored when Tyler dropped the album Cherry Bomb out of nowhere on April 13th this year but sadly, it was a departure from the story arc he had been working on for his entire musical career in the public eye these past five years. Tyler stated that he was tired of that gimmick and wanted to "grow up" in his music when in reality, there aren't many more grown-up things to do than construct a story told through multiple albums in a six-year span. With features from Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Lil' Wayne, Schoolboy Q and Charlie Wilson, Cherry Bomb was a commercial success despite being an underwhelming album for about 50-60% of the album. One thing that was an under-the-radar huge deal was that Tyler was big enough now that not a single member of the OF collective appeared on Cherry Bomb and it was seen more as an oddity and experimental then anything else but of course, call up Scooby Doo and the gang because this was the first clue something weird was about to go down.

Cherry Bomb will mostly be remembered for "Perfect/Fucking Young", "Smuckers" and "Deathcamp".

Even with a ton of Odd Future favorites appearing in the video for "Perfect/Fucking Young", it just seemed as though Earl Sweatshirt was distancing himself from the group also. After a couple of cryptic tweets this week from Tyler, it was widely speculated that the group dynamic was gone and that OF had OD'd. Earl Sweatshirt tweeted about the issue today and lucky us, another mystery!

Ultimately, it is assumed though not known that Odd Future has drifted apart. It should not be sad or depressing because their group growing into their mid-twenties and hanging out less and less is much like the path of basically every college graduate or high school graduate eventually losing contact or drifting away from the dozens of people he/she used to converse with constantly. 

I'm writing this today because even though I was never the hugest fan of Odd Future, I have followed their careers and this break-up could make or break the prime of every one of their careers (except Frank Ocean, he's too chill to care about any of this).

Like it or not, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All were sort of the voice of a generation. That generation being middle-class white kids who disapprove of society's norms and are super angst-filled but, the voice of a generation none-the-less.

For now, we'll always have "Oldie".