Odd Future's leader, Tyler, the Creator, has been puttin' in his hours since his independet debut album, Goblin, took over the Billboard charts. As a result, the attention, magnified by the success of the group's other members like Earl and Frank Ocean, means Tyler's work and personality are on full blast as anticipation builds for his second allbum, Wolf, due out on April 2.
LAWeekly hung out with Tyler during a filming session for Odd Future's Loiter Squad on Adult Swim, in another attempt to try and understand the creative drive behind Odd Future. Tyler is off the wall. Described as "relentlessly absurd" by the author, Tyler is on a mission to find a do-rag for a horse.
If this seems absurd, that's the point. Tyler's absurdist at the core, incorporating midgets onstage and shooting trailer trash in tutus for his videos. That's why he's an ideal fit on the cable network that pioneered the first animated milkshake detective. During his first hour at Willow Studios, he asks if he can call me Dad and whether I want a lap dance. In his Howlin' Wolf Haley baritone, Tyler gurgles: "I don't like having random purses around."
In actuality, Tyler and the rest of his crew are some of the most forward-thinking and intelligent kids around. Despite being banned from New Zealand for lyrics considered, "extremely homophobic, misogynistic and hateful" they have two sexually ambiguous members in Ocean and Syd. Tylers off-the-wall antics are, in part, a shield. People think "I'm a joking piece of shit," Tyler told LAWeekly. "They don't understand that I'm smarter than them."
Humor, artistic ability and leadership are all signs that Tyler is correct, pulling puppet strings wherever he goes to get a reaction — like constantly dishing out slaps during a video shoot in England with Tim Westwood. Why not? He's one of the hottest artists in the game and already diversified his portfolio from rapper to producer to director for music videos and commercials. It's not hard to imagine a movie in the near future.
Tyler is living it up, pretty much like he's always done throughout his blossoming career.