Oldie by Odd Future came out when I was 14 years old; listening to each of the OF member's verses brings me happiness, inspiration, and energy. Almost all the members of the hip/hop collective came from half-suburban backgrounds too, which relates to how I grew up. Tyler, the Creator, the de facto leader of the group, praises being different, hating the mainstream, and only pursuing things that you are passionate for. Another member of the group was confronting his sexuality at the time this song came out as well, and in this song is the first time Ocean actually admits he’s bisexual - that was extremely moving for me, and proved the idols I look up to can be different in every way yet still connect to me so strongly.

This is also the song that really plunged me into listening to hip/hop. After becoming addicted to Odd Future, I went back 20 years in music to start with the roots of the genre and making my way back to the present day - to see how this art has evolved. I now listen to A Tribe Called Quest, MF Doom, Flatbush Zombies, and many independent artists. However, I still listen to Odd Future to this day, and every time I listen, especially to this song it keeps me motivated/appreciative, and is a constant reminder that anything is possible.

Focal Areas:

1.) Mood: The instrumental and sound of the track, screams, "clear out of the way world, a new powerful force is here" it also feels laid back, like the track was produced with "Steez" (Style and Ease).

2.) Form: The song starts with a verbal intro, and then just starts off the top with each verse. There's no chorus, it's just one verse after another over the beat. The form of this song is very static. But its more about the lyrics to this song then how its formed.

3.) Instruments: The Beat pad makes the "beat" for the Rhythm, the Horn and Synth Loop is for the melody. The "beat" gets looped the whole song. Another instrument are the artist's voices when they're rapping.

4.) Timbre: Inspirational, bravado, confidence, "about to go into battle."

5.) Textural Layers: There's a couple textural layers, when the usual verses are going on the track is "homophonic" a melody, a beat, and the vocals are all going along to one tune. In Tyler, the Creator's last verse, the beat drops and you just get his voice, which makes it "monophonic."

6.) Rhythm and Meter: The meter is triple-meter, if you listen to the beat it goes "bum-bum-pah...bum-bum-pah." The meter is the same throughout the song, because it's looped. The Rhythm is very slow and loft, if you hear the actual melody under the vocals and beat, its just keys softly playing up and down notes, that just loops, but keeps the song as if your listening to it in the waiting room of hell, or the elevator of death.

7.) Dynamics: mezzo-forte / mf - It isn't a very overpowering instrumental, and the vocalists are rapping in a medium voice, not yelling or chanting, but not soft either. It's medium loud. Mezzo-forte.

8.) Favorite Thing: These are some boys who came from nothing, just like a lot of us. But this the music video that they knew it. Like they knew they made it. Domo Genesis with Bathing Ape on, Tyler the Creator with his own hoodie on, Frank Ocean coming out about his sexuality. This song was the not the catalyst but it's the mission statement almost, or a huge thank you and praise to the Odd Future movement.

9.) New Observations and Comparison: When I used to watch this when I was 15 years old, I never realized how young this guys were. They're all 21, 22, and 25+ now, but they started something when they were my age at the time and took off into stardom as friends/brothers. I always think its cool to look back and watch something evolve.

10.) Self-Discovery:
"OF. Shit that's all I got, from my bigger brother Frankie to my little brother tac, from that father figure Clancy, to that skatey n***** NAK, shredding down Fax, Wolf Gang on the fucking block."

"I was 15 when I first drew that donut,
5 years later for our label, yeah we own it.
I started an empire, I ain't even old enough to drink a beer, I'm tipsy off that soda pop"

"This is for the n***** in the suburbs
And the white kids with n**** friends who say the n-word
And the ones that got called weird, fag, bitch, nerd
Cause you was into jazz, kitty cats, and Steven Spielberg
They say we ain't actin' right
Always try to turn our fuckin' color into black and white
But they'll never change 'em, never understand 'em
Radical's my anthem, turn my fuckin' amps up
So instead of critiquing and bitching, being mad as fuck
Just admit, not only are we talented, we're rad as fuck"

Tyler's last verse is often crude, but he was just leaving teenage hood when he made these songs. Which at that age we're all experimenting with thoughts and ideas. However, Tyler's thoughts really hit hard, he envisioned what he wanted in life, and sought out and took all of it. What he wanted, he practiced, he crafted, he perfected. Now he has a record label, clothing company, magazine, app, T.V. show, and short films. This man is an inspiration to me and all the weird kids who ever had a dream.