Odd Future (OFWGKTA) Radical

The Radical Mixtape is unique within the Odd Future catalogue especially because it doesn't feature any production from mavericks Tyler, the Creator and Left Brain, the main producers of Odd Future material. Rather, they use the production of artists they listen to, such as Rich Boy's "Drop" and Gucci Mane "Lemonade." Since they usually keep the production in-house, it presents a departure from typical Odd Future music.

Highlights of the album for me are mostly Tyler and Earl Sweatshirt's contributions. "Splatter" was the first Tyler, the Creator song I heard, and quite frankly, it was one of the most evil things I've ever heard (I've since become quite desensitized to Tyler's shocking lyrics). The Fam-Lay beat ("Skrung Owt") sounds incredibly evil, and Tyler's asthmatic rasp is chilling. His voice has a complicated character to it that certainly puts him in the ranks of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

Earl's major solo piece on the mixtape, "Drop" (his other solo appearance being "Blade," which was meant to be a song with Domo, but was unavailable to record his part), is him at his prime. He had just recorded and dropped Earl, so this was just before February 2010, when he was sent to the Coral Reef Academy reformatory school in Samoa. He starts the song in his usual dark, morbid way: "tell your bitch to stop complain' bout her achy tits/her body is a temple, I don't give a fuck, I'm atheist." Overall, "Drop" ranks as one of my perennial favourite Earl songs.

Of course, a Tyler-Earl collaboration is always welcome (AssMilk always a favourite song in the OF discography), so "Orange Juice" is a highlight of the album. Tyler and Earl both give solid verses, although it might fall short of Gucci Mane's original (Earl definitely robbed Rich Boy of his beat though).