Odd Future

Odd Future was formed in 2007 in Los Angeles by Tyler, the Creator (Tyler Okonma) along with Hodgy (Gerald Long), Left Brain (Vyron Turner), Pyramid Vritra (Hal Williams), Matt Martians (Matthew Martin) and Jasper Dolphin (Davon Wilson). Tyler initially intended Odd Future to be a magazine. Much of the collective's early music was recorded in a room of Syd tha Kyd and Taco's South-Central Los Angeles home, known as The Trap. In early 2008, Casey Veggies released Customized Greatly, Vol. 1, featuring a young Tyler on a few tracks. Not only was this Casey's first project but it was the first project released by any Odd Future member. On November 15, 2008, Odd Future released their debut mixtape, The Odd Future Tape.[5]

On July 7, 2009, Hodgy released his debut mixtape, The Dena Tape . On December 25, 2009, Tyler released his debut mixtape, Bastard. In 2008-2009, Chicago-based rapper Brandun DeShay joined the collective, and appeared on the song "Session" by Tyler on the original 2009 release of Bastard. Tyler and DeShay later had a falling out, and DeShay vocals on "Session" were replaced by Mike G in 2010 on the re-release. Sometime during 2009, Casey Veggies decided to leave Odd Future.

Domo Genesis, Earl Sweatshirt, Mike G, and Frank Ocean joined the group between 2009 and 2010. The group completed a two-stop tour, both being their first shows outside Los Angeles. One being in London on November 5, 2010, and another in New York City on November 8, 2010. The concert at The Drop in London sold out within 48 hours of announcement. Their concerts have been compared to punk rock shows, with stagediving, moshing, and group members antagonizing the crowd.[6][7] Earl Sweatshirt's debut mixtape, Earl was released on March 31, 2010. MellowHype's debut mixtape, YelloWhite was released on February 24, 2010, and their second mixtape, BlackenedWhite was also released in 2010. Domo Genesis released his debut mixtape, Rolling Papers on August 30, 2010, and Mike G released a mixtape, Ali, in 2010. The collective also release the mixtape Radical near the middle of 2010, with remixes of instrumentals they liked featuring all the members at the time. Lionel Boyce joined Odd Future sometime during late 2010/early 2011. Also sometime during 2010 or early 2011, Pyramid Vritra lost connections with most of the Odd Future members because he was forced to move back to Georgia after Matt Martians, his roommate and fellow group member, got evicted from his house. Although Vritra later reconnected with some of the members, he wouldn’t work with any of the group again other than with Matt on Jet Age of Tomorrow, some years later.

Earl Sweatshirt performing with the rest of Odd Future in March 2012

MellowHype re-released BlackenedWhite through Fat Possum Records. Frank Ocean self-released his debut mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra, on February 16, 2011 . Tyler, the Creator signed a one-album deal with XL Recordings and released his debut album, Goblin, on May 10, 2011. They gained a cult following, and received press attention from blogs and magazines.[8] Though they were often labeled as horrorcore, the group has universally dismissed it on Twitter,[9] in interviews,[10] and on tracks such as "Sandwitches". Pitchfork Media labeled the group as indie rap.[11] In April 2011, the group signed a deal with RED Distribution and Sony Music Entertainment to start their own label, Odd Future Records.[12] On August 2, 2011, Odd Future announced the Golf Wang Tour 2011 on their website.[13] The tour included 27 stops, beginning on September 28, 2011 in San Diego, California at the House of Blues.[14]

On September 8, 2011, it was announced that Odd Future would be making a television show called Loiter Squad. The show was announced to be a sketch comedy show featuring various skits and pranks and originally aired on March 25, 2012 on Adult Swim. The show featured Tyler, Jasper, Taco, Earl and Lionel as main cast members, with other members of Odd Future making cameo appearances.[15][16] The program was produced by Dickhouse Productions, which is also the production company for the TV series Jackass.

On October 3, 2011, Tyler, the Creator tweeted a link to iTunes with a compilation album of songs from artists within the group such as Domo Genesis, Hodgy Beats, Mike G, The Jet Age of Tomorrow, MellowHype, The Internet, and Tyler himself. The album is simply named 12 Odd Future Songs, despite having 13 tracks, including three new releases from The Internet, Mike G and MellowHype. On March 20, 2012, the collective released their debut studio album, The OF Tape Vol. 2, as a sequel to the original mixtape, The Odd Future Tape. On the same day, Earl Sweatshirt, who was absent from Odd Future from June 2010 until February 2012 due to attending boarding school in Samoa, first performed with the group at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.[17][18]

Frank Ocean released his debut studio album, Channel Orange, on July 10, 2012. Other solo releases for the second half of 2012 included Domo Genesis's No Idols with The Alchemist, released on August 1, 2012, and MellowHype's Numbers, released on October 9, 2012.[19][20] On December 5, 2012 it was announced Frank Ocean was nominated for six awards at the 2013 Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year for "Thinkin Bout You" and Album of the Year for Channel Orange.

On April 2, 2013, Tyler, the Creator released his second studio album, Wolf, which received positive reviews from critics and debuted at number 3 on the Billboard 200, selling 89,895 copies in the United States.[21][22] Earl Sweatshirt released his debut studio album.[23] Tyler and Earl also went on an EarlWolf Summer Tour in 2013.

In June 2014, Frank Ocean left Odd Future management, 4 Strikes. In May 2014, the third and final season of Loiter Squad premiered. Earl, Tyler, Jasper, Taco, and L-Boy did an in-depth interview for HuffPost Live. On August 11 and August 12, 2014, Odd Future opened up for Eminem at Wembley Stadium, London..

On September 12, 2014, the Odd Future radio station premiered on Dash Radio, which was released the month before by DJ Skee. The station featured a live playlist, special links such as "Taco Tuesday" (also repeated on Fridays) and coverage of live events, such as the Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, also hosted by Odd Future.[24]

On January 18, 2015, Hodgy Beats confirmed that MellowHype will no longer exist, but he and Left Brain will continue to make music together. Hodgy stated in an interview, "Nah, we ain't breaking up. Nah, this ain't no weirdo shit. It's just some real shit. It's a refocus. Going from boys to men this is what it is. So it's either understand it, 'cause it will be explained–cry about it, talk shit, applaud us–we still moving."[25]

In May 2015, Tyler posted a photo on Twitter from 2010 which contained the entire Odd Future collective. He added "although it's no more, those 7 letters [OFWGKTA] are forever."[26] This was widely believed to be a confirmation of the end of Odd Future. However, the next day, he explained that his tweet was misinterpreted, and that he was merely "looking at old photos with friends and thinking about how time flies."[27] The next day, Earl Sweatshirt wrote: "No sympathy for male virgins who're in their feelings about Tyler pointing out and solidifying the obvious."[28] This caused an online debate over whether "the obvious" was referring to Tyler's first statement or his second. On June 30, Matt Martians seemingly confirmed to AllHipHop that Odd Future had indeed broken up, but that there were "no hard feelings among the members of OFWGKTA."[29]

"OFWGKTA" was listed on the bill for Tyler, the Creator's 4th Annual Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival.[30] The line-up that performed included Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, Mike G and Left Brain. Tyler and Earl were not included in the set due to Tyler already having a solo show and Earl having amicably[31] distanced himself from Odd Future around the release of his second studio album, I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside (2015).

During the Odd Future set at the 4th Annual Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival in 2015, Hodgy called out Tyler onstage about his dissatisfaction with Tyler, and remarking how he "stayed broke", and was also visibly irritated when other Odd Future members thanked Tyler for the invitation to the carnival.[32] Tyler responded to Hodgy in the middle of his solo set, saying "Niggas got me fucked up. I put too many niggas on. I helped too many of my motherfucking friends out, and niggas gonna come foul? You know who the fuck I'm talking about, nigga. And yes, this is real". Hodgy responded to these remarks on Twitter by saying "If it wasn't for Odd Future, where would Tyler be?" and "Think about who built the name OF together as a unit. Now think about who took the first initial shit on OF". However, one day later, a humorous Instagram video, uploaded by Hodgy, featured him and Tyler attempting to perform handstands; possibly suggesting that the feud had been dissolved. The video was later removed.[33]

On March 11, 2016, Syd officially announced her departure from Odd Future, making the Internet only a label associated act. She also stated that she has not thought of herself as a member of Odd Future as a rap group since early 2011 when the Internet formed.[34] On May 2, 2016, the group confirmed that they were still together on their Twitter.[35] The tweet was later removed.

Some rumors began to circulate in August–September 2016 about the group working together musically again after a picture was taken of Tyler Earl , Syd, Jasper , Taco, and Matt Martians together at the Afropunk Festival. Tyler and Earl performed as EarlWolf again for the first time in years.[36]

On December 9, 2016, Hodgy released his debut studio album Fireplace: TheNotTheOtherSide. This would be the last album to be published on the Odd Future Records label. As of 2018, Hodgy is releasing music under a label named "Poorait".[37] Other members of Odd Future went on to sign for other labels: in 2015, Matt Martians signed to Three Quarter, The Jet Age of Tomorrow signed to their own label, 5th Echelon Jet Repair Co., Trash Talk signed to their own label, Trash Talk Collective. In 2016, Syd, the Internet, and Tyler signed to Columbia Records. In 2018, Domo Genesis and Left Brain signed to Empire, and Mike G signed to "Stealth Fighter L.L.C.".

On February 6, 2017, MellowHype confirmed to be working together once again on MindGone Vol. 1.[38] In late 2017 and early 2018, Hodgy took shots at Tyler, the Creator for such things as being a fraud and faking homosexuality for money and acclaim. While he had no evidence to back these claims, he denounced Tyler a couple times over a few month span on Instagram and Twitter.

On March 29, 2018, Tyler released the song "Okra", on which he said "Golf be the set, no more OF", signaling his apparent dissociation with the collective.[39]

On August 8, 2018, Taco posted a series of four 15-second videos on his Instagram story, showing an Odd Future reunion concert taking place at The Low End Theory club in Los Angeles, as the club's final show. Odd Future members who attended the show included Tyler, Earl, Taco, Jasper, Syd, Hodgy, and Mike G.[40] They performed well known tracks such as "Orange Juice", "Rella", and "Sandwitches". Left Brain posted on Instagram story that he had no knowledge of the event, and was never invited nor told. Domo and Frank didn't attend or speak about it.

In December 2018, the Odd Future official website was redesigned to no longer feature artist representation of the collective, instead focusing on Odd Future clothing and merchandise.[41][42]

• The Odd Future Tape (2008)
• Radical (2010)

• 12 Odd Future Songs (2011)