In 2012 with the release of Domo Genesis and the Alchemist's No Idols tape, the rap world was robbed of a potentially head-turning collabo: the knotty Earl Sweatshirt and rapid-fire Gangsta Gibbs. Both appeared on the well-received album, but the divide between the tracks they're on may as well have been a chasm.
The soulful "Robes" from Freddie Gibbs and Madlib's Piñata acts as a corrective. While Domo Genesis lazily sliding across a hazy beat has become commonplace, it's still disarming to hear O.F. partner Earl Sweatshirt take to it. Even with two phenomenal LPs under his belt, Sweatshirt (to his benefit) has no clearly defined aesthetic. So any new sound is revelatory for the listener and another challenge for Earl to attack and conquer. "I ball because I don't know how to cope with s***," he confesses over muffled horns and blunted drums. Earl's dense lines are as much an attempt to put up walls, as they are a mission to flat-out rap. Gibbs meanwhile is all business. Instead of kicking back and soaking up the track's sunny rays, he's continuing to "make foreign bread" and staying motivated. "I always got a job" he blurts during his dizzying verse. Everyone here is a professional; they're just in different fields.
New single
"Yu" by Odd Future enclave MellowHigh is the definition of
effervescent. A looping piano part is constantly turning figure 8's, while a
blunted drum beat remains animated throughout the track. Domo Genesis delivers
a bubbly hook smoking until his "eyes bleed". Clouds of smoke coat
Domo's cursory verse, however he pushes past to "kick knowledge" and
"make the most of what this bulls*** world allotted us." It's a clear
role reversal from the bluster of "Look",
sparking lighters instead of starting beef. Hodgy continues as his typical
cocksure self. In Hodgy's mind the hip-hop community is caught in his gravitational
pull though the occasional piece of paranoia still enters his orbit. Gun-talk
emerges in the chestpuffing bridge but Hodgy delivers it with the calm of a
captain. "Decision making reliably, taking over society", he encapsulates. It's a breezy takeover that stays under the three-minute mark.
MellowHigh's self-titled debut LP is out October 31.
Though details are currently scarce, Pittsburgh-native Gregg Gillis better known as mash-up wizard Girl Talk has announced his upcoming project, a collaborative EP tentatively titled Broken Ankles with rapper Freeway. "Philly Freezer" has kept relatively quiet on the partnering so far, save for a series of retweets and the somewhat cryptic "reinvent yourself." In other news, Gillis recently sat down with MTV Hive to discuss his 6th LP, which he said was currently in the "prep phrase" and aiming to incorporate more "traditional production." Even with this new focus on "experimentation", Gillis is promising a record that's "sonically similar" to what's come before.
The aforementioned Broken Ankles EP would not be Girl Talk's first foray into the rap world, as he previously collaborated with Dipset-original Jim Jones on the booming soul of "Believe in Magic" which you can check out below.
Boldy James teams with Odd Future/Da$h
Detroit hardhead Boldy James has a new album out October 15 through Decon/Mass Appeal and today we've been given the latest taste of the LP, entirely produced by the Alchemist. The subdued sample of "Reform School" gives James and guests: Earl Sweatshirt (a self-pronounced fan), Domo Genesis, and Da$h ample time to stretch out and s*** talk. "Speak soft, sock a fan" Earl laconically spits in his verse, and the beat here captures the perfect headspace between laying back and lashing out. My 1st Chemistry set is out October 15 and will also feature: Action Bronson, Freeway, and Vince Staples among others.
Gorillaz "Whirlwind"
Over the weekend, the "world of the Plastic Beach" was temporarily revitalized, when Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn delivered the previously unheard take "Whirlwind" during his guest-DJ spot of BBC Radio 2. A holdover from the Plastic Beach sessions, the instrumental "Whirlwind" features the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music. The orchestra performs alternating exploratory and elegiac music, before the string section wafts away into the air after an all-too-short minute and 41 seconds.
Check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s).
"Look" announces
itself in "typical" Odd Future fashion, Tyler delivering "it's
the f****ng aaahhh" in his guttural yell before the beat screeches to a
halt and he sarcastically promises to "tone it down". The screen
comes down and the initial scene has been broadcast before. Tyler's
"pissing inside your swimming pool", rocking paint jobs "flatter
than Miley Cyrus' ass", and moonlighting as "the blackface of white
America". Hodgy Beats doubles down on the oddly familiar over the precise
drum strikes, copping to being "mentally crowded" and "spilling
more than I drink".
Then Domo Genesis enters the
arena and the reset button may as well be hit for a second time.
Since his Under the Influence release, I've been fervently insisting
Domo is on a steady ascension to the upper echelon in the OF crew and
"Look" continues the climb. Domo's long been pigeonholed as the
resident "weed rapper", but here he's surprisingly sober
rattling off the opener "live from the gutter, young stunner, trumps what
you n****s blundered, I uppercut by the bundle, n**** take a number," with
devastating dexterity. He's out for blood and Earl's lusting for
it in the finale. Earl's unnerving calm disappears in the fog of the glitchy
backbeat as he opts to "chalk out n****s". The minor details of a
Sweatshirt verse continue to deliver major damage, in this case the close-up
image of his "thumb sticking to that pump grip". "Sticking to
the script" is a misnomer; they're rewriting their own mythology one page
at a time.
The debut MellowHigh album (Hodgy, Domo, and Left Brain) is being teased for a Halloween release, no word yet if "Look" will make the final cut.
I'm 'bout my butter, never let them suckers te me under
"N***** wanna want to hear
you rap, don't nobody care about how you feel," Odd Future collaborator
Vince Staples derisively proclaims over the stuttering drums and in-house horn
section of "Burgundy". After three years of waiting, an over-publicized retreat to Samoa, an Internet-baiting return track,
and an impossibly dense appearance on an all-time posse cut;
any fan of Odd Future and Earl wanted an album of raps. This was the "hot and bothered astronaut," "crushin' motherf***ers like moths in a mosh-pit,"
always smart-mouthed and quick-witted.
All Earl had to do for Doris was
stack raps on raps on raps, instead he undertook an entirely different
construction project.
Not that there isn't plenty of
pure, unadulterated rapping here. "Hive", the third single to spin off of the
album is a midnight marauder through a crumbling Los Angeles, where
"death's less important when the Lakers lose". Vince Staples appears
once more to strut down Death Row; carrying a "yomper big as Larry Johnson"
and piling bodies up "Auschwitz". Earl mentions "crawling down
'Fax like a rich n**** centipede", and the beat stitched up by Matt
Martians and Earl suggests that slimy lurching quality. Spaghetti-Western
guitar ripples of "Hoarse" provides Earl an ample opportunity to slow
down, while still "leaving opponents floating with paper and dirty
porcelain". I’m hard-pressed to pick a favorite line from the album, though
"rolling slick as the bottom of the bowling kicks," is hard not to
love. Jandek death howls appear from behind a creaking door, ensuring
the song's nightmarish status.
Earl's living through another
kind of nightmare on "Chum",
where it's been "twelve years since my father left, left me
fatherless" and he's hunted down by attention-seeking news sleuths. Over a
prodding piano line, Sweatshirt attempts to make amends with his mother and
takes up an older brother in Tyler. In the track's most telling moment the
19-year old Earl is "indecisive, scatterbrained, and frightened."
It's easy to forget he's still a kid trying to keep his head above water. The
aforementioned "Burgundy" is equally autobiographical, finding
Earl lamenting the loss of his grandmother (for whom the album is named) while
he's stuck "trying to get this album cracking." A friend called the
song "special" and I couldn’t imagine it at first. Now I can see it.
Rare is the occasion an artist opens up the diary of his life and invites us to
thumb through it; written in such rich detail we can hear his heart racing
"in the midst of a tornado".
"Sunday" flips to
another page, focusing on rocky relationships and swearing off substances.
Earl's dreams have gotten dimmer since he "stopped smoking pot," as
his relationship plots a similar course. He struggles to pick up the phone at
the beginning of the hazy track and soon enough he's asking "why we argue
a lot." The up-and-down is embodied in the chorus, Earl confessing:
"and loving you is a little different, I don't like you a lot." Loving
someone is difficult, though liking them is no cakewalk either. For his part,
Frank Ocean raps about leaving the object of his affections "at terminal
three," vanishing into his sleeper seat. In the outro, he's wondering
"what we're about?" Amidst all the traveling and extended vacations, you
can forget the reason you’re coming home. "Knight" provides a
temporary remedy from the nausea inducing beats, prescribing a soul sample of
the Magictones (previously put to good use by Raekwon).
Most-improved-rapper on the O.F. team Domo Genesis is "chasing
profits" despite his promise to finish college. Domo opens up about his
own absentee father and his success in spite of him. Earl sends a "shout
(out) to the fathers that didn't raise us." They're scouring the same
abandoned mine and yielding diverse results. Domo maybe the resident stoner of
the group, but his ambitions burn like bleeding lava. Earl is simmering, slowly
balling his fist up. Domo's the child still trying to prove something, Earl's
refusing to dwell in the past and filling the void any way he can.
"N***** think cause you f***ing
made "Chum" and got all personal that n***** won't go back to that
old f***ing 2010 s***," Tyler bellows in his rasp at the onset of verbal
onslaught "Whoa". We're given the "misadventures of a
s***-talker," whose is just as likely to found "bruising gimmicks
with the broom he usually use for Quidditch," as he is to "get a nice
spanking" courtesy of a new Sears catalog. Earlier during
"Sasquatch" Tyler cruised around in a truck plastered by puppy signs,
looking for One Direction fans to kidnap. Bouncing perfectly off each other,
the two also manage to highlights the differences between themselves. Tyler's
blissfully stuck in a state of arrested development, he's "soaring to Taco
Bell" while Earl's given up on ordering from the kid's menu. On Doris we
can hear Earl rap, but we can also hear the sound of him growing up.
Odd Future's resident stoner is back at with his sequel to last year's surprisingly solid Under the Influence mixtape. That tape served as a coming out party for Domo, who had previously been relegated to second-tier status in Wolf Gang behind the brasher Tyler and the M.I.A. Earl. And on the manic O.F. Tape Vol. 2, Domo was the clear-cut M.V.P. thoroughly outclassing his "opponents," at every turn. No Idols then, his third official mixtape is his coronation.
The surprising thing about No Idols, is Domo's decision to partner with producer The Alchemist for the entire tape. The Alchemist has tended to mine the darker side of the stoner rap sound (see the blunted Gangrene project for proof), while Domo tracks typically bathe in warm sunlight and soulful vocals. That this tape is an outright home-run then is something of a minor-miracle. The Alchemist opens the blinds for a few rays of golden sun and Domo continues the solid spitting he's quickly becoming known for. The duo dip their toes in chipmunk soul on "All Alone," thrown off-kilter by vicious wrestling snarls. "Power Ballad," sports wickedly warped guitar and slices of what sounds like xylophone. Snatches of flamenco guitar creep up on "Till the Angels Come," and "The Daily News" plays like the B-side to the Halloween theme, complete with a great WWE Raw shout-out from Domo. Throw in cohorts Tyler and Earl, mixed with scene-stealing verses from Action Bronson and Spaceghostpurrp, topped off with the phenomenal Freddie Gibbs and you have the recipe for a serious summer treat.
Tracklist: 1. Prophecy 2. F**k Everybody Else 3. All Alone 4. Elimination Chamber ft. Earl Sweatshirt, Vince Staples, & Action Bronson 5. Power Ballad ft. Smoke DZA 6. Me and My B***h 7. Till the Angels Come ft. Freddie Gibbs & Prodigy 8. The Daily News ft. Spaceghostpurrp, Earl Sweatshirt, & Action Bronson 9. Gamebreaker ft. Earl Sweatshirt 10. The Feeling 11. No Idols ft. Tyler, The Creator
That's the artwork for Odd Future's first single from their forthcoming O.F. Tape 2. They'd been promising the "Rella" video to drop for a minute now and we have it. It's a far cry from the dark-lunacy that informed "Yonkers" and "64". Here we have Hodgy, Domo, and Tyler sticking to the madcap laughs that encircled "B**ch S**k D**k". In the visuals we see Hodgy in astro-gear, Domo looking like Boyz N' The Hood meets Scooby Doo, and Tyler doing Montana mounds of coke and playing cross-dressing centaur. The beat is Left Brain at his best, with a bubbly synth starting off and slowly descending into plodding darkness. Karate drum kicks spar with the synth and wind up subsumed by the darkness. It's a disturbingly-catchy affair, where you can't help but nod along, even if you know its wrong.
File this one under the match made in heaven category. I feel like the meeting for this one was simple, Domo's pitch to Wiz something like this, "Wiz you smoke and I smoke, so let's rap about smoking together." The track has a lushness only hinted at in these twos earlier work and sees the continual development of Domo as one of the most potent rappers in Odd Future. Wiz's hook is stickier than the weed they rap about and he's in autopilot for most of his verse. The whole thing comes across as an effortless exercise in chillin'. It's a brilliant puff of smoke on a warm spring night, feet up and not a care in the world.
OFWGKTA performed this past Tuesday in Lawrence, KS.
This past Tuesday those Wolf Gang hooligans were "breakin' rules again," and this time the mayhem was unleashed on Lawrence, Kansas at a small unsuspecting club known as the Granada.
The Genesis
In true radical fashion my friend Michael and I left school for the day, skipping out on our final classes to attend the show. The show was slated to start at 9:30 with doors opening at 9, so even though we had extra time on our hands, this was a show we could not afford to be a late to, missing one moment of this would be unacceptable.
Michael and I before the show.
Take note of not only our excitement, but my Odd-Future approved t-shirt.
We got to the venue at 8:45 and were greeted with a massive line gathered outside. We should've seen this coming, hugely-popular indie rap group + College town + week day = massive line. The line would've been much more unbearable had we not had the best company possible. Michael and I spent the entirety of the line behind a rawkus group of college kids from what seemed like everywhere, at least for a show in Kansas. One was from Illinois and another had come all the way from California to see the show. Slowly the line slithered its way to the door and along the way we were treated to crowd renditions of well-known Odd Future songs (the lyrics to which are mostly unprintable here) and crudely-scribbled OF-inspired graffiti. Finally, we got to the front door at around 9:00 and the carnage would soon follow.
The line we had to wade through.
Remember this was a club that only held a few-hundred.
The welcoming words of Odd Future on the club's facade.
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All probably couldn't fit.
Biding Time
Upon our arrival, we made our way to the merchandise table where we were greeted with the first surprise of the night, Lucas from the extended OF family. Lucas most notable appears in the "She" video by Tyler, the Creator and arguably has the most hilarious line in the entire thing. The remarkable thing here was that no one seemed to recognize the scrawny-blonde lad except for me and Michael, which was fine with us. After I purchased the requisite concert t-shirt, Michael and I headed towards the stage to stake our claim in the coming chaos.
The cat backdrop for the show.
OF loves their creepy cat pics, so why should this show be different?
It Begins
After what seemed like an eternity, the group's DJ Syd tha Kyd came out on stage and treated the crowd to a great mini-set. Now the show was really ready to begin and the group roared out of the gate, with duo MellowHype blazing through the bracing "64."
"64- BlackenedWhite (live at South by Southwest)
NSFW
Once rapper Hodgy Beats and producer LeftBrain had all of us whipped into a frenzy, OF-mastermind Tyler, the Creator was ready to demolish everything and he surely did with an inspired and incredibly vicious take of "Transylvania." By the song's end Tyler had nearly everyone in the crowd sharing in his vile visions of "kidnapping and attacking with axes and s**t."
Tyler, the Creator the group's unofficial leader and most popular member.
The twenty-year old was in top form throughout.
After this much menace this quick, the crowd needed a rest and the group's resident stoner Domo Genesis was ready to oblige the crowd with "Rolling Papers." Sporting an indelible hook from Tyler advising the crowd to "cut it short, break it down, couple pounds roll it up," Domo stole the spotlight from his more malicious peers, a trend that would continue throughout the show.
OF weed-rapper Domo Genesis.
Domo was arguably the dark-horse highlight of the show.
Continuing the good-vibes laid on by Domo, OF shy-guy Mike G treated the crowd to "Forest Green" an undervalued lyrically-dense cut from the rapper's forthcoming Gold album.
Mike G, arguably one of the least known members of OF.
Mike had several highlights throughout, including an extended freestyle.
A Whole Other Level
All the good-times came to an end when Tyler again took his place at the front of the stage. Once he assumed his position, they launched into "Tron Cat", arguably the entire group's most vile and controversial song. If one of the marks of a great concert is the act's ability to hold sway over the crowd, this concert was the best I've ever seen. In the "real-world" no-one would dare recite such nightmarish words and if they did I for one would be unnerved. But an Odd Future concert isn't the real world, it's hell on earth and the crowd had no concern for the "offensive."
Tyler during the performance of "Tron Cat."
If you can see the red in his eyes, I assure you that's not from the camera.
The intensity only continued with a vicious a capella freestyle from Mike G ("Everything That's Yours) and the deadly detours of "Splatter" and "igotagun." The crowd was at a fever pitch at this point and even Tyler was feeling the effects, soliciting the crowd for an inhaler announcing, "yo I left my inhaler back at the hotel, does anyone here have a f**k*ng inhaler I can borrow?" As things got even more out of control and Tyler had completed his dozenth stage-dive, he took a time-out from the festivities to catch his breath. When he re-appeared, he further opined for an inhaler, making it imperative this time around. "Yo I really a f**k*ng inhaler, otherwise I'mma die in Kansas tonight," said Tyler with a gargling-rasp fully consuming his voice. Mercifully a crowd-member complied with the request and the show went on.
Tyler pleading with the crowd for an inhaler.
Tyler often performs without one to "liven-up" the show.
Goofing-Off
The group's playful antics continued from here. At one point Tyler received a bag of weed from a fan, even while reminding him that he doesn't smoke. However the fan didn't seem to care and Tyler gleefully auctioned off the bag as a plethora of fans hurled crumpled up bills on the stage. When the deal was done, Tyler joyously announced to the crowd, "I just made my first drug deal." The crowd then rapturously applauded and it was off to the races again.
After a particularly brutal rendition of "French," with Tyler hurling himself into the crowd like a missile, losing his shirt and socks in the process, Tyler found it necessary to hurl insults at an audience member. "Yo to the Seth Rogen-looking motherf***er in the crowd, I gotta ask what do you want us to do? Because I don't know what to do, I just get on stage, yell and say a bunch of curse words. What song do you think we should do next?" The fan being firmly put in his place, had nothing to say and the group continued with Hodgy Beats' "Turnt Down."
Tyler giving a fan the what-for.
Tyler often expresses love for his fans, but has a problem with stupidity.
The group had to get one more round of great antics in, this time walking off stage after Mike G's mic failed during "Loaded." A large chunk of the group dismissively left at this point with only LeftBrain and Syd stoically standing on stage. LeftBrain was seemingly unfazed by all this ridiculousness and humorously commanded Syd to "play that s**t." She then dropped the needle on the "Yonkers" beat, a song well-identified with Tyler. LeftBrain finished less the a half-verse before Tyler took came back to take his rightful place on stage. After mockingly puppeting the crowd's rapping during the first verse, Tyler snarled in on the second verse and the performance became a highlight of the set.
Coming to a Close
The final leg of the set was a perfect distillation of the show so-far and featured more fan-favorites along the lines of "Sandwitches"and "F*** the Police."Tyler also made sure to tell everyone in attendance that they had debuted a new video on their site, which they then promptly performed. Near the end of it all, the rap miscreants were racking their brains, trying to come up with a song to perform. Thankfully, Hodgy was chomping at the bit to perform the underrated "Loco," and the set didn't waver one-bit.
All "good" things must come to the end and this show was no different, but the finish couldn't have been any more rousing. After delivering an inspired speech, Tyler and crew launched into their "unofficial anthem" "Radical" which features the still rebellious and controversial chorus of: "kill people, burn s**t, f**k school." Once they had dispensed their advice of "do whatever makes you happy," the group filed off, leaving behind them a path of destruction.
Hodgy Beats & LeftBrain of Mellowhype
The pair was performing with reckless abandon near the show's end.
Picking Up the Pieces
Litter everywhere, people in absolute stumbling dismay, a missing shoe, and an irritating ringing in my ear were just a few of the things I was rewarded with upon coming out on the other side of the show.Every word I heard became a garbled mess and I could barely hear Odd Future's missing man in action, Earl blaring over the club's loud speakers. M prized concert tee was little more than a wet rag at this point, suffice to say Michael and I were ready to leave.
The crowd after the show.
Anyone that doesn't look exhausted clearly wasn't participating.
As we trudged out of the Granada, Michael and I were still incredulous as to what we had just seen. Making our way down the lonesome sidewalk, we came to a stop at a bus parked next to the building. Wanting to see what was going on, we ventured over to the running tour bus. At first, we thought nothing would develop and resolved to leave at 11:55. With less than a minute left, the doors to the bus flung open and Hodgy Beats as well as LeftBrain emerged. A large group staggered over, begging the pair for autographs. Hodgy obliged for a few minutes before trekking back to the bus. We feared LeftBrain would follow suit, but before he could, Domo Genesis also emerged and the crowd divided. Michael and I seized the opportunity, with Michael rushing to get his shoe signed by LeftBrain. Standing there sans a shoe, Michael sprung forward and got his wish. I followed suit and had my concert shirt signed. At this point, Domo had made his way over and we scored yet again.
Being ecstatic with just these two things, Michael and I thought we could do no better. Yet for some reason, we decided to press our luck and get a shot with LeftBrain, what did we have to lose? So after propositioning the producer, we were all set up to take the pic. Handing the camera off to a random stranger, all was well and then the camera failed to take or to put more bluntly, the man didn't know how to work the camera. For a moment, panic seized us as LeftBrain grew disinterested by our rookie mistake and was almost lost to us forever. Fortunately, another crowd member got his attention and took the picture for us. Wanting no more out of this night, Michael and I were instantly rejuvenated, in complete dismay as to the fortune that had just come our way. This dismay continued for the entirety of the ride back and an hour later, having finally made it back home, we still could not believe what we had just done. We had started out the night "simply" hoping for a good show and ended with two-autographs, a photograph with one of the group's members, and a first-hand account of the one of the most sublimely chaotic things either of us had ever seen.
Michael and I pictured with LeftBrain.
As you can see, both of us were in a state of pure disbelief.
Show Awards
Best Song: "Yonkers"- Tyler the Creator
Best Performer: Domo Genesis
Best Moment: Tyler's first drug deal
Best Fight: "Sumo match" between Jasper and Domo, the group's larger members.
Setlist
"64"- MellowHype
"Transylvania"- Tyler, the Creator
"Rolling Papers" ft. Tyler, the Creator- Domo Genesis
"Forest Green"- Mike G
"Tron Cat"- Tyler, the Creator
"Everything That's Yours"- Mike G
"Splatter"- Tyler, the Creator
"igotagun"- Mellowhype
"TANGGOLF" ft. Hodgy Beats- Domo Genesis
"Couch" ft. Tyler, the Creator- Earl Sweatshirt
"Cool" ft. Mike G- Earl Sweatshirt
"French!" ft. Hodgy Beats- Tyler, the Creator
"Turnt Down"- Hodgy Beats
"Loaded" ft. Mike G- MellowHype
"Yonkers"- Tyler, the Creator
"Burger" ft. Hodgy Beats- Tyler, the Creator
"Sandwitches" ft. Hodgy Beats- Tyler, the Creator
"F**k The Police" ft. Tyler, the Creator- MellowHype
"B***h S*** D***" ft. Jasper & Taco- Tyler, the Creator
"King"- Mike G
"VCR"- Tyler, the Creator
"Double Cheeseburger" ft. Tyler, the Creator- Domo Genesis
