Here’s Tyler, the Creator, the spearhead of an operation, leader of his peers. Some say Tyler talks to himself, a theme seen in his latest release, Goblin. (2011, XL Records) He’s a rapper whose lyrics and popularity have attracted the media. The other members in his group, Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, Mike G, Frank Ocean, Left Brain, Syd the Kyd, Matt Martians, Jasper Dolphin and Taco, help him make up the “latest saviors of Hip-Hop,” Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (O.F.W.G.K.T.A.) or, Odd Future for short.

Who is Odd Future, exactly? If you’re a college student with any sort of interest in the hip-hop community, you’ll know exactly who they are, but if you don’t, here’s a quick rundown.

A rap collective from Los Angeles, California, they’ve captured the speakers and headphones of our generation throughout the world. Chants of “Swag!” and “Kill People! Burn S**t! F*** School!” have been heard throughout cities. What is “swag?” There is no universal definition of swag, it’s just something you have if you’ve got it. Most see it as a way to carry one’s self. Since gaining media attention, they’ve been criticized for objectifying women and making bigoted slurs a main convention in their lyrics, among other things. There is also the worry that people will take their music to heart. While Tyler has said in interviews that he isn’t homophobic, he still realizes that people will imitate him.

But he will continue to write about subjects such as rape and murder. One could say that some of Odd Future’s music is on par with a normal episode of Law and Order: SVU in its subject matter. To insure that his intentions aren’t to influence any sort of crime, Tyler put a disclaimer in front of the song “Radicals”, off of Goblin, stating “Hey! Don’t do anything that I say in this song, okay? It’s f****n’ fiction. If anything happens, don’t f****n’ blame me, white America.”

However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of Odd Future is the mystery of Earl Sweatshirt, an impressive lyricist and rapper. Since breaking onto the scene, he’s been missing. He hasn’t been a part of the group since their exposure started; during OFWGKTA’s first official show in L.A., his name was crossed out with the words “will not appear due to mom” written next to it. Earl’s identity as well as his location had been kept a secret until journalists did their job and located him at a boy’s reformatory school in Samoa. Tyler became enraged that this had been discovered, citing Earl as his lost best friend, as he’s most likely been extremely depressed about the time they’ve lost.

Once he was found, Earl talked to the New Yorker, through his mother of course, stating:

“Initially I was really pleased that all these people claimed that they wanted me released because I thought that translated into ‘they care.’ So time progresses and the fan base gets bigger and the ‘Free Earl’ chants get louder but now with the ‘Free Earl’ chants come a barely indirect ‘F*** Earl’s Mom’ and in the blink of an eye my worry changes from ‘will there still be this hype when I get back’ to ‘Oh s**t I just inspired a widespread movement of people who are dedicated to the downfall of my mom…’ The only thing I need as of right now is space… Space means no more ‘Free Earl.’ If you sincerely care then I appreciate the gesture, but since you know the hard facts from the source you no longer need to worry. I miss home. I don’t have any definite date though. Even if I did I don’t know if I’d tell you. You’ll hear from me without a doubt when I’m ready.”

And so Earl will return one day. He turns 18 in February, which is when he can make his decision of returning, as the future would be pretty odd without him. Nevertheless, his mother won’t let her son’s voice on any releases, so any new Earl material is out of the question for now.

While Odd Future continues to gain fans, their subjective lyrics are also the cause of them losing potential fans from certain backgrounds. They’ve already caused what the media in Boston has described as a “riot” when their Newbury Comics signing got out of hand and was cancelled. If that is any indication, be assured that some of the fans OFWGKTA is gaining may think too much into the music, believing that the art presented within the 16-bars of each verse is fact, and that they’re ignoring all of Tyler’s warnings. Then again, they’re kids.