A few notes on that Odd Future performance

I seen it. Dudes got dumb all over the stage, like yelling at Jimmy Fallon and shit; we had fun. But such hype carries with it an air of well-fed sycophancy. There is, to be sure, nothing dangerous or even offensive about Odd Future; the continued suggestion that their music is somehow a “challenging” or “amoral” listen undercuts actually challenging music, not to mention actual amorality. You know what’s challenging? Noah23 is fucking challenging. But anyway. I can’t stand in the way of a good myth. Nor can I do much to ease the tide of hyperbole, or the faux-handwringing of a nattering, faintly hip-hop-literate media intrigue diligently discussing @tylerhashtag’s latest rape gag, mostly so they themselves have an excuse to re-make said rape gag (here’s one: “Your mom’s a bitch so I ripped her fucking tonsils out / Ski-mask and switchblade, waiting until prom gets out.” I just made that up!), or so they can say the word “swag” again. Because that’s funny, see: they wouldn’t normally get to say “swag.” Just as Lil’ B recycles Gucci’s (and so Wayne’s) eccentricity without bothering to ground it in any notion of aesthetic merit, so too does Odd Future recast the wild menace of the Wu-Tang Clan as an affectation to be worn for laffs, forgetting so far to produce any good rap music to accompany it. But I may just be old-fashioned. Who knows.

This was brought to you by G-Side’s new album, which is excellent, by the way, and Pusha T’s new single, which sounds like the fucking apocalypse. In a cool way.