Yesterday, I blogged a blog about Waka Flocka Flame having a conversation with Tyler, The Creator for Interview Magazine.
I posted a section of the Interview where Waka asked Tyler about Odd Future’s Punk Rock tendencies.
Today, My friend forwarded me this Rapublicans article that Cosmo Baker tweeted from Rotate Stock Freshness which does an Adbuster-style critique of the Right Wing leaning of Hip Hop. The article discusses everyone from Lil B to Jay-z.
And it takes to task the notion that Odd Future is punk.
From Rapublicans
What is sold as punk today is a seductive spectacle: wacky hair style, predictably destructive behavior, t-shirt slogans (“fuck you I won’t do what you tell me!”). While Odd Future share in the “fuck you” seduction, do they really operate as a subversive counterweight? Isn’t Odd Future following in the footsteps of their predecessors (Beastie Boys, Geto Boys, 2 Live Crew, ICP, etc.)? While what they’re doing may sound and look slightly different, can we expect any genuine difference when they work within the system of commodity? Their pursuit is the same as those who came before them, the pursuit of perpetually unfulfilled desire:
Looking back at the popular charts, it’s not that Odd Future’s subject matter stands out as transgressively excessive, but just the opposite; Odd Future fills the slot this decade needs, where we see the explicit prohibitions of culture “defied” through implicit permission. Odd Future acts as a proxy we use to enact our indignation, as the moral ballast for our excessive engagement in the subjugation of others. This is cyclical: “Smack My Bitch Up,” “Darling Nikki,” “Suicide Solution,” “Kim,” “Relax (Don’t Do It),” and so on; over and again we use these songs to transgress the prohibitions imposed on us by societal convention. From Nine Inch Nails’ “I wanna fuck you like an animal,” to the Rolling Stones depiction of slave rape, we’ve been subject to this prohibition (and it’s transgression) in popular culture since there’s been popular culture. The problem, then, is not with Odd Future, or rap, but our relationship to seduction and commodity.
I think I like “Darling Nikki” and “Suicide Solution” but stilll
If you are familar with Guy Debord and Rap music. Or if you are familar with Guy Debord and hate rap music then Rapublicans will most certainly be more up your alley than anything else on the net today.
