The most immediately striking aspect of channel ORANGE upon first listen is how palpably mature an album it is. I know there is a necessity to categorise musicians by genre, but it’s simply impossible to box Frank Ocean in the R&B category with artists like Chris Brown and Trey Songz. While his so-called peers embrace the current electro-centric wave, Frank is fighting a lonely battle to restore credibility to an ailing genre.
There's an old saying that goes, "two heads are better than one." This philosophy has translated pretty well in Hip-Hop over the years with multiple emcees and/or producers banding together - in what I have always liked to picture as some kick-ass Power Rangers-like ritual - in the quest to create some fine quality music.
Through time, the forces of Run-D.M.C., A Tribe Called Quest and the Wu-Tang Clan have wielded their mighty microphones in the mission to keep rap music on its trajectory towards good taste. Now, decades later, it would appear that the collective dynamic has made its return and just may be planting the seeds for Hip-Hop's future.
With their controversy, protests and uproar being cleared well out of the way in 2011, the radical stable of Odd Future now stands as an established and respected collective within music. From Tyler The Creator's well received Goblin album to the emergence of Frank Ocean as one of the leading vocalists in contemporary R&B, the 11-strong outfit are now being acknowledged for their musical merits. Often praised for their uniquely constructed sound which goes in the opposite direction of today's more "successful" formulas, after a rollercoaster year March sees OF finally release their much anticipated group project.
The conversation had with a musically inquisitive, 20-something friend from Italy shortly before writing this feature [scrutinous but open minded, we regularly harass each other for musical recommendations]:
Have you listened to The Internet’s new album Purple Naked Ladies?
No, never heard of them.
Give it a listen.
I will.
Best songs on it are “Cunt” and “Cocaine.”
Love it already.
Welcome to The Internet...
From the shadows of the male dominated OFWGKTA emerges the minority female Syd The Kyd; the only woman in the group. As part of the duo dubbed The Internet alongside producer Matt Martian, the two will not remain in the shadows of The Odd Future clan - for with Purple Naked Ladies, the two have created a project that doesn’t sound like anything from the Odd Future camp's discography thus far.
Despite being album-less and never having left the United States of America, this time last week excitement was running high for Frank Ocean’s first solo tour and European show. Selling out tickets in less than half an hour, many had to make the heart wrenching decision of choosing between Mr. Ocean and J. Cole (who was also performing in London on the same night.) Added to this the fact that Frank cancelled two shows in the days before his London gig due to illness, the relief and excitement was palpable on the faces of the few hundred individuals [including fellow artists Mr. Hudson, Emeli Sande and Etta Bond] who were present at XOYO on Friday, November 11.
Hip Hop and controversy often go hand in hand. When misogyny, gang violence and homophobia are brought up in any discussion, the music form is often not too far off. But in 2011 a (somewhat) new moral panic in Hip Hop has arisen in the form of West Coast group Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, fronted by 20 year old rapper Tyler, the Creator. Sounding like an anagram of sorts, the group have gone from underground ‘cult’ status to the headline makers of many music sites, blogs and even national newswires.
But for all their talent and raw production skills, it’s their twisted, almost maniacal content which, for the most part, has elevated their profile which many vehemently have rejected. Goblin puts Tyler at the helm of OF’s future in the Hip Hop public eye; is there more depth to the odes to torturous violence and drug consumption or is this a fad which mainstream media have mistakenly thought of as being the real deal?