Fans who pick up Odd Future's new release, The OF Tape Vol. 2, looking for more of the scatological violence and general misanthropy that filled Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt's solo work won't be disappointed. Songs like "NY (Ned Flanders)," "50" and "Rella" are as gnarly as anything on Goblin or Earl. What may surprise fans who aren't familiar with OF's already vast library of solo material is what else is on the album. The group have spent the last year saying that they're more than suicide references and violent sex rhymes. On OF Tape Vol. 2, they prove it. "Ya Know" is the almost romantic, spacey soul track, courtesy of the Internet (Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martians). Tyler and Frank Ocean get surprisingly introspective on "Analog 2" and "White" is a wonderfully stripped down chunk of PBR&B. In addition to all the genre-expanding material, there's also just a lot of great rapping. Domo Genesis absolutely kills every song he appears on, but goes above and beyond on "Hcapd" and "Doms"; Hodgy Beats channels his rage into a destructive laser on "Rella" and "P"; and while Mike G only appears on "Forest Green" and crew joint "Oldies," he makes his presence felt on both. If The OF Tape Vol. 2 proves one thing it's that Odd Future aren't just a product of the Internet hype machine. They're a talented group of oddballs who aren't afraid to be strange and who have a frighteningly high ceiling.
Read an interview with Odd Future here.
(Odd Future/RED/Sony)Read an interview with Odd Future here.
