The OF Tape Vol.2.
Today, everyone's favorite collective (or not), Odd Future dropped their collaborative album, The OF Tape Vol.2! Features all musical acts in OF including The Internet and Frank Ocean and the funny guys, Taco, Jasper, and L-Boy. Although this is a follow up to their first, free release, The OF Tape, this second installment is available for purchase on iTunes.
Now, I've been listening to this album for a few days (How? Magic, bitch.) and yes, I'm going to give you guys a review. So here it goes!
When it comes to Odd Future, it seems that people just want to hate them and their music, for whatever reason. "They scare me! ...They hate gay people! ...They rap about some crazy shit-I can't deal!". And it confuses me, cause they're not the first to rap about what they rap about, nor are they the only ones rapping about what they rap about. So when people have those paranoid, freaked out reactions to OF, I just feel like it disables them to actually listen to the music and not focus on all the other shit. Because don't forget, OF does make MUSIC. This part of my review has nothing to do with the new album, but as an avid OF supporter, I feel like people are missing out on their dopeness cause of everything else but the music. And people think I'm crazy cause I listen to them on a regular basis. So that's just some food for thought, stuff your face with it.
The OF Tape dropped a long time ago if you want to put it in the time frame of OF's rise to stardom. And with all the amazing talent within the wolf gang, another collaborative project from them was bound to happen. And it couldn't have happened at a more perfect time. After three albums being dropped last year and tour on top of tour, I think we just needed something fresh from them. I also think they needed to remind people why they are where they are right now. And they did that with The OF Tape Vol.2.
Rest of review and OF's latest video, Oldie after the cut!
OF just came and fucked shit up in such a glorious way! When it comes to production on OF tracks, I'm never worried. They always bring it with the beats and they have like 4 of the best producers (Tyler, Left Brain, Syd, Matt Martian) in the industry right now. The production on here is so fucking dope, I can't stand it. Tracks that stand out to me production wise are Doms, Forest Green, and Rella. And I have to say that Frank Ocean's White was so beautifully done on the production side as well.
Now, awhile ago, I saw Kelly Clancy, an OF manager, tweet that everyone in OF really "stepped it up" on this album. Kelly, you ain't never lie! Every emcee in OF just like improved their skills 110%! I was listening to this album like, "Domo Genesis... is this you? ...Damn Mike G!" Like even Left Brain was spitting hard on some real shit! They blew me away on just the rapping alone. Like niggas was out rapping muthafuckas song after song-even Frank Ocean was going in! Now even though Hodgy Beats dominated this album by being on 10 of the 19 tracks on the album, I have to say that the star of this project for me was Domo Genesis. Domo was never really on the top of my dopest OF artists list and I didn't like Under The Influence too much. I just felt like he generally just fell off since Rolling Papers. But Domo held it all the way down on this album. Like my jaw dropped when I listened to Doms for the first time. It's as if he went and took a Rapping 101 class or some shit. Domo Genesis definitely showed and proved that he is just as dope of an emcee as Hodgy or Earl when it comes to OF. And speaking of the big lip bandit, it was nice to have Earl grace the album. I'm excited to hear some new shit from him.
I'm happy as fuck that The Internet and Frank Ocean got some spotlight on the album. They are killing shit right now and I think people tend to forget that they are from OF. Which in return, makes people forget that OF is just not some Hip Hop group. Even Taco and Jasper stepped it up! This album is probably the best album that we will get from a group this year, and that's not bad at all. They put in work and really brought out the best that Odd Future has to often. I think the only thing that I wish there was more of was Mike G. We got a full song and a verse from him. I would have liked to hear him more on this album especially cause from what I did hear, it seemed like he really stepped his shit up too.
Odd Future is still very young and I think they are still yet to show us what they are capable of. They make good music, period. If you're a true music fan, to me, there's no way you can not appreciate at least 75% of the music these people make. It's like they take the some of the best aspects of every musical genre, throw in their own uniqueness, and create just some epic ass shit. And to my artists who may be reading this, find a way to listen to this album. Whether you cop it from iTunes or from Mediafire, just make sure you hear it and hear it at least a good 3 times. You need to be aware of what they are doing and not just sit back and hate or envy them. Beware of your competition. I'm not telling you to be their biggest fan, but watch these niggas. Music wise and business wise, Odd Future knows what the fuck they're doing.
In conclusion to my clusterfuck of a review (I have tests this week, my mind is all over the place), I fucking love this album. I'm going to buy a physical copy, lock it away somewhere in my room, and when I have children, I'll pass it down to them. For a group album, this shit is classic. I can hear the work they put in, the passion they have, and family dynamic they have, all through the music. And I thought that Tyler's last verse on Oldie, which was the last verse of the album, really summed up what Odd Future is. I almost cried when I heard that verse (NOT!) cause it was lowkey, moving and powerful. I appreciate Odd Future as artists and as people in general. I think there are a lot more young people who are going for their dreams cause they see OF and their accomplishments. I'm in the same age bracket as them and they truly inspire me to be the dopest at what I do and have no regrets. To me, they are still in the early stages of their legacy but damn, what a fucking epic ass beginning?!
Rating
Odd Future's The OF Tape Vol.2
9.8/10 dope points
(They got .2 points off cause I wanted more Mike G and possibly more of The Internet.)
As a bonus, we get a visual for the 10 minute closing track of the album, Oldie!
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