Since their meteoric rise to prominence, Los Angeles-based weirdo rap crew Odd Future have garnered both critical praise for their dark, surreal take on hip-hop culture, as well as criticism for lyrics that some people have called homophobic. According to OF MC Hodgy Beats, the boys (and girl) in the band are totally okay with the fact that some people are offended by their lyrics. In fact, that's what they're aiming for.
It's not that they're a bunch of raging homophobes -- the fact that DJ Syd tha Kyd is a lesbian has been well publicized -- they're just apparently trying to get a rise out of people. That's especially true of frontman Tyler, the Creator, Hodgy Beats tells Exclaim!
"We don't really care. Gay jokes are said every day. Tyler's like the gay joke nigga," he explains. "That's all he does, all fucking day, trolling.... Trolling, that's what he be doing, he troll all day. He's probably trolling in that interview right now. Me, I just be chillin'. I mean, I troll sometimes, but I have to be in the right mood."
As much as OF like to rile people up, Hodgy says that listeners should be able to figure out when the group is serious, as opposed to when they're just needling the audience.
"It's just stupid joking," he said "Half the shit in our raps that we talk about, we're not even serious. Some of the shit, of course, we're fucking serious, but you can do hear the difference."
In the interview, Hodgy also shed light on the band's Odd Future Records, which recently released The OF Tape Vol. 2.
"We won't fuck with nobody; we've always dreamed of having our own label and shit," he says. "For us to actually have it and just be able to do what we wanna do, I believe that's the way it was supposed to happen. Otherwise, we'd be signed and just trying to make mainstream hits when, like, our new album -- this whole album knocks."
For more of Exclaim!'s recent interview with Odd Future, head here.
It's not that they're a bunch of raging homophobes -- the fact that DJ Syd tha Kyd is a lesbian has been well publicized -- they're just apparently trying to get a rise out of people. That's especially true of frontman Tyler, the Creator, Hodgy Beats tells Exclaim!
"We don't really care. Gay jokes are said every day. Tyler's like the gay joke nigga," he explains. "That's all he does, all fucking day, trolling.... Trolling, that's what he be doing, he troll all day. He's probably trolling in that interview right now. Me, I just be chillin'. I mean, I troll sometimes, but I have to be in the right mood."
As much as OF like to rile people up, Hodgy says that listeners should be able to figure out when the group is serious, as opposed to when they're just needling the audience.
"It's just stupid joking," he said "Half the shit in our raps that we talk about, we're not even serious. Some of the shit, of course, we're fucking serious, but you can do hear the difference."
In the interview, Hodgy also shed light on the band's Odd Future Records, which recently released The OF Tape Vol. 2.
"We won't fuck with nobody; we've always dreamed of having our own label and shit," he says. "For us to actually have it and just be able to do what we wanna do, I believe that's the way it was supposed to happen. Otherwise, we'd be signed and just trying to make mainstream hits when, like, our new album -- this whole album knocks."
For more of Exclaim!'s recent interview with Odd Future, head here.
