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Monday Sep 17, 2012.     By Jeff D. Min

Music Feed

The Camp Flog Gnaw tour came in like a storm, a wild and unpredictable hurricane mercilessly drenching all those caught under its cloud. Odd Future is the eye, and the Vic in its path. Taco Bennett opens with a mish-mash array of beats, fusing the crowd of young scenesters into a rousing chorus of one; playing with nostalgia one moment and kicking up new dirt the next. They sway and rock, and respond in perfect unison to Taco’s every gesture. He bounces, they bounce. He moves, they move. This goes on for twenty minutes. The Vic is at capacity, no room, and appetites are ravenous.

By which time Hodgy Beats, Left Brain, and Domo Genesis hit the stage. Smooth and rugged-like, hyped, but poised—the amalgamation of MellowHype and MellowHigh keep the crowd’s energy at its peak. Mike G joins the fray, and an understated hell breaks loose.

Some compare Odd Future to Wu-Tang, but maybe Gravediggaz might be more appropriate. It’s the same galaxy, but different planet. If the Wu family silently snuck through the back door’s of rap in the middle of the night, Odd Future kicked in the front door in broad daylight—with a grin heartily intact.

Enters Tyler—the mischievous, unrelenting, crass, front man—Tyler The Creator. His presence is immediate and violent like cutting butter with a chainsaw. His reputation as the wild one fits the bill, but none of that hinders his performance. He is lyrically sharp, precise, and believes in the words coming out of his mouth. During the intermissions he orchestrates and manipulates the crowd’s chemistry like an alchemist. He never loses control. If he’s not the body he’s most definitely the soul.

The fans, who indulged in the Camp Flog Gnaw Tour, represented many. All different styles, and all ages—from the middle-aged man in Dockers looking for his youth to the curious child climbing a garbage can for a better perspective—came and went. Everyone else in between ran the gamut: hipsters, socialites, scenesters, movers, shakers, backpackers, etc., etc. They all came together, and it was a beautiful mess like a 30-car pileup. Like it or not Odd Future is here, and represent what’s both magnificent and hopelessly tragic about the future of rap. Odd Future indeed.