Condemnation is so easy. Just ask rap collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All head honcho, Tyler, The Creator, and half of Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara, Sara Quin. Tyler’s guilty of verbal cruelty, having penned extensive lyrics that depict acts of sexual violence against women. Quin, meanwhile, is one of many detractors of this behavior. Recently she took to the Internet to pen an open letter to Tyler, disapproving of his music as well as the music industry’s apparent disregard for his blatant misogyny and homophobia.
It’s not an invalid argument, by any means: Odd Future’s lyrical content is often disturbing—especially when examined on a purely base level. There appears to be little impetus for such brazen sentiments as when Tyler’s boasts that he “raped a pregnant bitch and told [his] friends [he] had a threesome” (“Tron Cat,” Goblin), or when then-16-year-old Earl Sweatshirt says he’s got “nuts to bust and butts to fuck and ups to chuck and sluts to fuckin’ uppercut” (“Earl,” EARL).
There’s no excusing the offensive nature of these lyrics. Nobody with even a shred of decency would suggest otherwise.
And age isn’t a defense either, despite it being the popular justification—each member of Odd Future is either in their late teens or early 20s and therefore wholly aware of how grossly inappropriate their lyrics can be. Tyler even admits it when says “I’m getting legal, so now I got to watch the shit that I blurt out” (“Golden,” Goblin).
But what each detractor of Odd Future has seemingly failed to do is dissect the lyrics without being inherently accusatory. Snap moral judgments and blatant soap boxing should never take precedent over objective critical thought, especially when discussing art. When that happens, you reveal yourself to be nothing more than a loudmouth who will jump at any opportunity to spew some sort of “holier-than-thou” rhetoric.
Which brings us to Quin, an openly homosexual woman who holds strong feminist viewpoints that stand in exact opposition to the more sordid elements of Odd Future. Her outrage is justified and her argument is valid—but only to an extent. Her line of reasoning loses steam when she approaches the matter from a single viewpoint: her own.
Never once does she consider what Tyler’s life may have been like growing up, or why he feels the need to lash out and use such vitriolic language in his music. Instead, she takes a divisive and insular stance—one that blatantly contradicts her message of openness and understanding.
If she—or any other vocal detractor of Odd Future—took a closer and more open-minded look at the music, they would see that Tyler isn’t as much a rape-happy, homophobic degenerate as much as he is a confused and dejected young adult whose life-to-date has been anything but jolly.
For every misogynistic lyric he pens, there’s another example of Tyler’s willingness to wear his heart on his sleeve: “My father died the day I came out of my mother’s hole/And left a burden on my soul until I was old enough/To understand that the fucking faggot didn’t like me much” (“Inglorious,” Bastard).
Another example: “I’m jealous as shit, cause I ain’t got no home meal to come to/So if you do I’m throwing fingers up, screaming ‘fuck you,'” (“Sandwitches,” Goblin).
And one more: “Love? I don’t get none/That’s why I’m so hostile to the kids who get some,” (“Nightmare,” Goblin).
Quin, who grew up with supportive and encouraging parents in suburban Canada, is either unaware or outright refusing to consider that Tyler’s venomous lyrical content may stem from real pain; that his assailing diatribes might derive from a confused and tumultuous upbringing.
Though to be fair, just because Tyler had a tough time growing up doesn’t make it okay to spew hate speech.
There are healthier, more constructive ways to express your discontent than taking it out on women and homosexuals. Tyler is simply begging for attention. And yet, he’s gotten it. In spades. That it has come in the form of antagonistic hate speech, however, is ultimately irrelevant.
Yes, it’s wrong. But his ascension to King of Controversy can be attributed solely to public obsession. In this regard, he’s no different than Kanye West and his award show temper tantrums and delusions of grandeur; or Lady Gaga and her deliberately contrarian religion-baiting and free use of the word “retarded.” Provocation is the name of the game.
And we, as the consuming public, are the ones who fuel the fire. Whether you vehemently oppose Odd Future or swag them the fuck out, Tyler is receiving the exact attention he’s seeking. If we ignored him, he’d go away. And so would the controversy.
Quin obviously felt an obligated to make a statement, so she did—an articulate and well-argued statement, at that. She sought to defame Tyler, The Creator. In the end, she contributed to his legend.
She did the right thing. But she was doomed from the start.
