Love them or hate them, it seems that the LA rap collective Odd Future will be around for at least a little while longer. The rumors surrounding the return of member Earl Sweatshirt, studio time with Kanye West and verbal praise from the genres most prominent members such as Lil Wayne and Pharrell have kept the group on the fringe of main-stream hip-hop.
To add to the momentum, on March 20th, Odd Future will release "The OF Tapes Vol. 2." An album that will feature the group as a whole, as well as the various groups within the collective (MellowHype, The Internet, etc.).
The single for the album, "Rella," was released via a video directed by the group's founder, Tyler, the Creator under his "alter-ego" Wolf Haley. It features Tyler, the Creator, Hodgy Beats (half of MellowHype), Domo Genesis and it was produced by Left Brain (the other half of MellowHype).
Is this song the group's best work? Probably not (I personally think that title goes to the MellowHype song "Chordaroy" featuring Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, the Creator). Is this the group's most "hype" song? It is debatable, but I think it is more so than "B.S.D." or "Swag Me Out." It seems that Left Brain took the ambient style that he is known for and sprinkled in some inspiration from one of the groups friends, Waka Flocka Flame. The result is probably Left Brain's best output to date.
The song opens with a verse from Hodgy Beats and is dripping with the over-the-top boasts and hyperbole that turns fans on to Odd Future, while simultaneously turning others away. Hodgy has a flow on this track as if you took a Wiz Khalifa song and sped it up by, let's say, a mere 10 beats per minute. The imagery and metaphors are there and consistent to a Hodgy verse. Not his best effort, but still good none the less and very consistent to the overall "hype" theme of the song.
Domo Genesis takes over for the next verse. To be honest, Domo Genesis has never made me say "Wow." He is a decent rapper but, on occasion, gets lost in the shuffle of talent in Odd Future. However, the words out of his mouth made me pay attention. "Suicide watch n*&&%...Kill yourself." Nothing fancy and potentially borrowed from Young Jeezy's song "Who Dat." However, the manner in which he delivers the line demands your attention as he goes into one of the better verses of his rap career. Domo has been on a roll recently with the release of this song and also a recent release with Wiz Khalifa.
I will bring up one thing about the actual video in regards to Domo Genesis. Towards the beginning of his verse he, for a lack of a better description, "smacks the black" off of a woman and she turns Asian. It is clearly an attempt by Odd Future at comedy and meant as satirical towards "blacksploitation" as is the whole video. However, it has upset numerous members of the entertainment press (mainly pitchfork) claiming that the group went too far. Is hitting a woman ever funny? No, you do not hit women ever in real life and domestic violence is a serious issue in our world. This is by no means a defense for hitting a women for the sake of comedy, but, Domo also smacks Left Brain into a different scene and smacks Tyler, the Creator (who is a centaur throughout) to end the video. No one else really mentions that part.
Hodgy Beats picks up the song for a few bars, mostly to set up Tyler, the Creator who steps in as the beat drops out and launches into a fast-paced, staccato verse that contains enough sexual imagery to make even the raunchiest sailor blush. Of course, no one ever claimed Tyler, the Creator was for the children. At first, the part seems on par for Tyler. However, on a second or third listen, one might notice that he is interrupted throughout his bars. For instance, the verse comes to a stand-still on the line "Fifty-one fifty, I'm off the heazy. You ain't got no f*&^%(* Yeezy." The beat drops out and someone wearing an Earl hoodie goes on a rant about a DJ not having any songs by Kanye West. While it is more than likely an homage to the group's love for Kanye West and it did make me chuckle, it interrupts Tyler's flow, which is already hindered by his staccato style in this song. While this particular instance might have been for the video only, there are other instances within Tyler's verse that have the same effect. While it does not completely derail the song it does put a slight damper on it.
Ultimately, I go back to, is this the groups best song? No. Does it get fans excited about the new album and for the future of the group? Yes. Most importantly, does it get people's attention and make them talk, whether positive or negative? Yes.
Here's the video to see for yourself.
http://youtu.be/fN-xq7t6pKw
Thoughts?
-Aaron
