VMP Magazine

The name Odd Future may transport you directly to 2011, but there’s no denying that the work of the collective’s various members has had continued influence to this day. OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) is a group of artists, primarily made up of rappers, singers and producers originally conceived of by the group’s de facto leader Tyler, The Creator between 2006 and 2007. After releasing a series of free projects through their blog from 2009 to 2011—including Tyler’s Bastard, Earl Sweatshirt’s Earl and Frank Ocean’s Nostalgia, Ultra—the group, which at the time was comprised largely of teenagers, achieved notoriety for the thrilling creativity in their music and visual presentation, as well as the controversial nature of some of their lyrics; specifically, Tyler’s unapologetic use of gay slurs and violently misogynistic themes in his music.

The Odd Future brand would eventually expand to a short-lived Adult Swim show and a successful clothing line, but by 2012, the group dynamic began to dissipate in favor of solo ventures. Frank Ocean, The Internet (Syd The Kyd and Matt Martians), Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler grew as artists and people. They each developed their own followings over the course of their subsequent projects, creating some of the best and most influential work we’ve seen from the collective yet. Tyler released his fourth album Flower Boy last week, which finds him not only leaving behind the juvenile hate speech he used as provocation in the past, but revealed further intricacies to his persona; using his music to make a statement on his sexuality much like Frank Ocean did with the release of Channel Orange. As a whole, the album may be his most accomplished musical achievement to date.

As we watch Tyler’s growth as an artist with the release of his new LP, we’ve taken the opportunity to document Odd Future’s development up until this point by highlighting some of their essential projects. Of course, the list is limited to vinyl releases, so early internet-only releases (Bastard, Earl) and albums that have not been officially pressed to wax (Channel Orange, Cherry Bomb, Fireplace, Flower Boy) were not considered.