Into the wolves' den

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Odd Future are a bunch of punks.

Hailing from Los Angeles, California, the rap collective are receiving a lot of attention lately for their latest album, Radical. With their bombastic debut performance on Late Nite With Jimmy Fallon, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (also known as OFWGKTA or Odd Future) are beginning to gain some mainstream notoriety.

The mastermind behind Odd Future is 20-year-old Tyler Okonma, known better as Tyler the Creator. Having self-released his first album Bastard in 2009, Okonma devised the lyrics and beats for many Odd Future tracks and produced a great deal of Odd Future's output before the age of 19. Okonma plays with words and makes crass comments, but the fact he is gifted is undeniable, and his talent comes wrapped in sardonic depreciation.

The lyrics are violent and epitomize true despair. Odd Future are not lyrically convoluted with vain attempts to convey a "gangster" image or to send messages beyond personal knowledge, and the result is raw and filled with angst. It's undoubtedly hip-hop, but the tongue-in-cheek sarcasm and use of imagery and pop culture references reveals that there is something going on below the surface of Odd Future.

What separates Odd Future is an indefinable quality of emotional strife and sheer style. They present a unique image as jokers, but juxtapose it with lyrics that are at times chilling.

Drawing comparisons to groups like Doctor Octopus and Gravediggaz, sounding like Wu- Tang, kicked out of class for selling their Ritalin prescription, Odd Future are being hyped as the next big thing by bloggers and established rap artists alike. (Kanye West has already stated that the video of 2k11 is Tyler the Creator's Yonkers.)

Having released all of their albums for free online to date, they are developing a rapid fan base in an almost viral way. Odd Future are exciting to watch, and it will be interesting to observe their growth as they edge closer to the mainstream spotlight.

For more info, visit oddfuture.com or oddfuture.tumblr.com.