Hip-hop lives in a post-Odd Future world. As pretentious, overtly assuming and presumptuous as that statement is about the career trajectory Odd Future are undergoing, it is one difficult to deny – the gritty hyperbole of Wolf Gang’s menacing brand of rap is only as powerful as it is powerless to stop thousands of pale imitations; it is impossible to listen to some of their output without simultaneously wondering about/dreading the undeniable influence the collective wields through its lyrical themes. Still, this can work both ways, and hopefully OF will prove to be just the tip of the iceberg in forward, teenage hip-hop.
Plenty of evidence points to this being exactly the case. Allow me to introduce to you Jay Cue, central pillar of Nobody Really Knows, another youthful hip-hop collective, with a decidedly different interpretation of the Odd Future aesthetic. On his enthralling debut album, Pyramid Life runs the full gamut of unabashedly childlike emotions; you have your stereotypical hip-hop bravado and condescension; but equally, mundane feelings are held in the same regard – “Sore Loser” is exactly the type of track its title would suggest in its bemoaning of just how flipping frustrating it is to watch others reap the benefits for something you think you deserve.
Maybe that isn’t mundane, and maybe my circular analysis has just led me round to condescension of the modern kind; sitting behind a computer screen and berating other people for not thinking the same way you do, or at least not articulating their thoughts in a way you find satisfying. And I’m supposed to be suggesting you listen to this guy. Do that.
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