THE NEW FLESH: ODD FUTURE WOLF GANG TWEET THEM ALL

ouch

First of all, interesting piece.

Its an interesting notion that his twitters could provide insights comparable to a documentary, but I'm not sure I agree.  As vast as the number of his twitters are, they are still messages he crafts and sends.  A Doc would potentially capture a side of him he would not want seen, and it would be created by people whom have a different agenda than Tyler.  You talked about the unknown and hidden side of Conan that is revealed in that doc, and while Tyler may appear more open and stream of consciousy than Conan, I doubt the hidden side is revealed in his twitters.

And I've listened to the song you posted, and I definitely like it, although it just sounds like your typical Def Jux progressive hip hop music, kind of like Aesop Rock.  I'll have to check out the rest. 

In the King James version of The Bible the 47th word of Psalm 47 is "creator" and the 47th word from last is "tyler".

This all boils down to brilliant self-promotion. And while I dig Odd Future, music-wise it's nothing that hasn't been done before by less-exposed artists. I don't mean that as a dig. They are very talented, but I guess I don't understand what all the hype is about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesse T 

This all boils down to brilliant self-promotion. And while I dig Odd Future, music-wise it's nothing that hasn't been done before by less-exposed artists. I don't mean that as a dig. They are very talented, but I guess I don't understand what all the hype is about.

I definitely agree with you.  I like them, but there are definitely better artists who operate in a similar sub genre of hip hop.

But they're young, funny, off-beat, and expertly self-promoted, so I definitely understand where the hype comes from.  For instance this video of Odd Future cursing out their own fans, the venue, and the sound crew and subsequently Tyler wearing a wolf mask and rapping was pretty funny.  For some reason I found it endearing.  And their fans also seemed to eat it up, for some reason.

But I do find a lot of the defenses of their misogyny and rape fantasies laughable.  Some claim they're satirizing the convention of misogyny in Hip Hop, some claim they're mocking white peoples expectations of black culture, which I don't really buy.  But I must admit, they do have some wicked lyrics, even amongst all the crap.

I really think it comes down to them being really fun, dumb kids with a wealth of raw talent. They definitely can't keep this kind of shit up forever (an idea Tyler is obsessed about on Twitter). I don't think they are, or are claiming to really be master satirists, and I don't think they're some slick, innate self-promoters either. This is all happening to them, and it just so happens that the ones out front are charismatic and have whatever quality draws eyes and ears.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renn Brown 

I really think it comes down to them being really fun, dumb kids with a wealth of raw talent. They definitely can't keep this kind of shit up forever (an idea Tyler is obsessed about on Twitter). I don't think they are, or are claiming to really be master satirists, and I don't think they're some slick, innate self-promoters either. This is all happening to them, and it just so happens that the ones out front are charismatic and have whatever quality draws eyes and ears.

Yea, I don't think they are some genius self promoters, but they can reach and speak to a ton of people simply by virtue of being constantly connected to their audience via twitter and facebook.  It feels accidental and not like some shrewd master plan, but it's there nonetheless.

It's interesting reading the articles and blogs discussing Odd Future, and I suppose it's inevitable for people to think they are satirists since they appear so self-conscious. 

But the volume of discussion and analysis they have generated is really surprising, and it's like you say; a large part of it simply boils down to the fun of the group and charisma of Tyler, but the way some of their controversial lyrics juxtapose or even contradict their image as brilliant musicians is one of the reasons people are drawn to discussing them.  I think this is the thing that differentiates the controversy and discussion they generate from that of Public Enemy, Eminem, or Ice Tea.  I don't necessarily believe their lyrics clash with their image, but many other people do.

I've listened to their stuff now, and yea; they hold up because behind the hype they're actually pretty good, and sample free which is refreshing.