When Odd Future came into the game, they radically altered the state of music. A group of young Black artists in Los Angeles all shared beautifully weird, distinct visions for their art. Through their fearlessness as creatives, they emboldened a legion of kids online to express themselves unabashedly. Despite all going about it in slightly different ways, they created a space for people to feel like they could be themselves. Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt were delightfully strange and abrasive in their rapping. Meanwhile, Frank Ocean and The Internet were reimagining how R&B could be interpreted.
Their chemistry spoke for itself when Odd Future released “Oldie“, a 10-minute-plus posse cut that essentially spotlighted their personalities. When watching the video, it feels like they’ve known each other for ages. Thankfully, Frank Ocean connects a lot of the dots for us.
Back in 2011, he spoke with journalist Jeff Weiss, sharing the chronology of Odd Future from his perspective. It’s a simple enough tale where friends of friends all united together. Then, with a show in the valley area of Los Angeles, they grew closer ever since.
Frank Ocean Explains The Odd Future Lore through Point of View
“I met Syd first. I knew a lot of alumni from Hamilton High School. And I met her through mutual friends. I met different people at different times. Syd first, then Tyler, then Earl, Mike, Hodgy, and Left. I met Domo a little later. First time I met them, they were doing a show in the valley and this was like end of 09. A friend was part of a crew that does club promotion, and he booked Odd Future. It was a crazy little show, and I met them and just developed that friendship,” Frank Ocean recalls.
“It just grew on some like-minded stuff. We get it in as a certain obvious ‘f*** it all’ mentality, but it’s not ‘f*** everything,’ it’s ‘f*** all the bulls***.’ Everyone’s trying to have fun and trying to check goals off their list. It’s all super talented and super creative people who are just resourceful.”
Ultimately, being in the creative environment with the rest of Odd Future reminded Frank Ocean at the time that music should be fun. As meticulous as it is, it’s not meant to be excruciating. “It’s refreshing for me to be in sessions with them. When I started working with them, it was the first time in a minute that I’d had fun in a session,” Ocean admits. “If you f*** up on a take, someone’s clowning you on it, busting up at you. In normal settings, it’s not like that. It reminded me that this is supposed to be fun. There’s supposed to be a creativity and energy encapsulated in what we’re doing.”
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