Support from established rappers is how most new MCs get on the block.
But the sprawling collective of young skate-punk misanthropes known as Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All turned the tables this spring. Everyone from Kanye West to Mos Def, Jay-Z to Diddy gave them what's known in hip hop as a "co-sign" - superstars praise up-and-comers to help them ascend to the next level of success. But in this case, the rap elders seem to be siphoning cred from Odd Future.
Twenty-year-old leader Tyler, the Creator boldly gripes about "co-signs from rappers that I don't even like" on his new album Goblin. It's the first "official" label release from a do-it-yourself crew that had already freely distributed a dozen mixtapes and albums online while creating a subcultural movement through social media. They post their music on their Tumblr blog, chat with hundreds of thousands of fans through Twitter and release videos on YouTube, such as Tyler's self-directed clip for Yonkers, in which he eats a cockroach, vomits and then hangs himself. It has been watched more than 8.5 million times.
"They just killed it on the Internet. They're nothing short of brilliant with how they've marketed themselves online," says Tyron "T-RexXx" Edwards, host of MuchMusic's RapCity, who first came across Odd Future through their viral videos. "Watching them say crazy things and be funny together, I actually appreciate that. I like the fact that they all feed off each other. Tyler's the leader but they all contribute to the overall madness. I've probably spent more time watching their YouTube videos than listening to their music."
Odd Future includes rappers, producers, engineers, DJs and visual artists who collaborate in a dizzying array of permutations. At Austin's South by Southwest music festival this past March, where Diddy declared them "the future of music," the then-unsigned crew dove into crowds, stormed offstage and walked away as the industry fest's biggest buzz band, a coveted crown rarely given to rappers.
As hip hop takes a turn for the safe, Odd Future has found its own niche, returning an anarchic unpredictability to a genre many argue is losing its edge. Like Wu-Tang Clan before them, the group has created a self-contained musical universe - a camaraderie and long-absent sense of danger that's won over rappers, rap fans and the mainstream media alike.
"Years ago, that music would never get heard in its rawest form because there were producers, engineers, A&R and radio involved," says hip-hop promoter Jonathan Ramos, whose Union Events organized Odd Future's concert in Toronto this Sunday. "Every time it would go through one of those channels, it would get watered down and filtered. With Odd Future you're hearing the original product, it's like stream-of-consciousness music. People love their energy and rawness."
Ramos adds that they've also attracted such widespread attention because they're the latest act to amass a dedicated grassroots following online before entering the mainstream.
"Justin Bieber did the YouTube thing and then just joined the major label lane. Drake put mixtapes out online to generate buzz, and then took it into that lane to monetize it. But Odd Future are still in their own lane," Ramos says. "I don't think they're switching over any time soon."
What separates Odd Future from their Canadian cousins is the depth of their line-up and breadth of their aesthetic. Everything is handled in-house.
"They are brilliantly consistent with their branding. Even their artwork is consistent. Some guys are just talented sonically; these guys excel in every element," Edwards says. "They're the special package on cable - you might get some porn and you might get the Food Network and then watch Discovery Channel."
You might also discover some channels you don't like. The crew has become incredibly controversial due to the occasional depravity of their lyrics, a shock shtick reminiscent of Eminem or Marilyn Manson that can veer even beyond misogyny and homophobia into disturbing fantasies of rape and murder.
"They talk about some stuff that any teenager talks about, and they talk some stuff that serial killers talk about," Ramos says. "They don't seem to have a filter. If they're thinking it, they're going to rap about it."
That didn't stop industry interest, but there was little to offer compared with the old days when a label would find a raw talent and then provide the funds to make records and marketing to make stars. Odd Future had done that on their own, landing appearances on Jimmy Fallon's show, articles in Esquire, a Billboard magazine cover, prime festival slots and sold-out shows across North America and Europe all before selling a single song.
So when they did sign a deal, with Sony's RED indie distribution arm, it was for their own artist-run record label with complete creative control. Though fantastic for Odd Future and fitting with their trademark self-reliance, it does further marginalize the major label machine that has been breaking down since file-sharing began near the turn of the millennium.
The Internet's role in Odd Future's meteoric rise, and impact on artists who will inevitably follow their self-made model, is poetically ironic.
"It's saving music," Ramos says, "and killing the industry."
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All play the Mod Club in Toronto May 15.
Who's Who
- Tyler, the Creator: The rapper, producer and charismatic leader launched Odd Future's mainstream invasion with his self-released debut Bastard, self-directed video Yonkers (in which he hangs himself) and a deliriously unhinged performance on Jimmy Fallon.
- MellowHype: Tyler's right-hand man Hodgy Beats and partner Left Brain are upgrading their free-download album BlackenedWhite for avant-blues label Fat Possum.
- Frank Ocean: The progressive R&B crooner is the crew's least nihilistic and most mainstream member, having already worked with Justin Bieber, Beyoncé and Nas.
- Earl Sweatshirt: Even more transgressive and talented than Tyler, Earl's been missing for months. Rumour is his mom sent him to a Samoan boarding school after hearing his lyrics.
- Syd tha Kid: The crew's sound engineer and DJ is also an out lesbian. She records Odd Future in the house she shares with her parents and quasi-member brother Taco.
- Domo Genesis and Mike G: These lesser-known MCs put their respective lyrical focus on smoking blunts and gangsta tropes rather than shocking listeners.
- The Jet Age of Tomorrow: A largely instrumental jazz-funk side project by The Super 3 producers Matt Martian and Hal Williams.
Special to The Globe and Mail