If you have ever been on Twitter and found OFWGKTA trending, and wondered “WOE!” (what on earth!), then this post is for you. If you have yet to see OFWGKTA trending on twitter, rest assured, you will very soon. It stands for Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (or just Odd Future if you need them), a 10 man, 1 woman hip-hop crew consisting mostly of late-teenage skate junkies from Los Angeles. The two standouts from the group are 19-year-old de facto leader Tyler, the Creator and the mysteriously absent 16-year-old rap prodigy Earl Sweatshirt. Other names include Hodgy Beats, Domo Genesis, Jasper Dolphin, Taco Bennet, et al. Even more odd than these names is that this quirky collective of skateboarding, black-adolescents are fast becoming one of the hottest names in music.

In 2008, Odd Future began prolifically posting its music for free download on its own tumblr account. Over the last week or so they have performed live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and trended on twitter (again). Tyler, the Creator has signed to a prestigious British independent music label in which Radiohead will be his labelmate, and released a music video for his new single “Yonkers” that has been receiving 100k YouTube views per day. As of an hour ago from the time of this being typed, Kanye West tweeted a link to the video and a simple message to his 2.5 million followers: “The video of 2011.” I could go on about articles from MTV, Esquire, NPR and others, but I think you get the point.

They’re big news.

All of this from a group who had been essentially ignored, and even black-balled, by certain hip-hop blogs, up until about 6 months ago. In fact, Shake from 2DopeBoyz, a well known hip-hop blog, told Tyler, to “enjoy (his) 3 minutes of fame” in January 2010, after Odd Future dissed the blog for refusing to post some of their music. Fast forward one year later, Odd Future is receiving interest from hip-hop elites such as Jay-Z, Lupe Fiasco, and of course Kanye West.

So let’s review:

A group of teenage skateboarding rap prodigies from LA who posted a plethora of music on their blog for free over the last 2-and-a-half years have now become one of the biggest pop-culture stories thus far in 2011. Its pretty much unprecedented.

I used to listen to a lot of rap. No really…A LOT! From Snoop Dog to Aesop Rock, Outkast to The Post-Modern Pat Boones (no, seriously). I listened to Jay-Z before he became huge, The Roots before they became a House Band, and the Fergie-less Black Eyed Peas before they became aliens. So believe me when I say that this Odd Future thing is significant.

And that is extremely, extremely unfortunate. Because what I have not told you is that in spite of the groups mostly harmless appearance, (with the groups leader Tyler, the Creator, rocking a decidedly early 90’s, Fresh Prince-esque look), their lyrical content is some of the most violent, vile, depraved, disgusting, demented, and disturbing that you will hear. Murder, rape, torture, necrophilia, misogyny,  and any other unspeakable act that pops into their minds is unapologetically addressed by this crew, the majority of which are not yet old enough to legally consume alcohol.

Anarchy, nihilism, random acts of violence and destruction, and even nazism (remember, these are black teens) are common themes in much of the groups music. There is a YouTube video of the group at a sold out show performing their yet to be released song “Kill People, Burn (Stuff), (Skip) School” (except they didn’t say “stuff” or “skip”). Not to mention a very strange reference to them wearing “swastikas on the(ir high school) letterman (jackets)” from a song off from Earl Sweatshirts solo album.

Most disturbing and offensive to me, and probably most readers, are the satanist themes that find themselves in the music and imagery of OFWGKTA such as upside-down crosses and chants of “triple six” at their shows.

Now, I don’t think that they are actually satanists, just like I don’t think that they (as black teenagers) have Neo-Nazi sympathies. In fact, I don’t think that you can take much of anything that they rap about seriously, at least in the sense that they are not really murdering, raping, and/or committing arson. But the casual (and yet, admittedly skillful) way that they weave multi-syllabic rhymes through some of the most deplorable sonic images is disturbing.

The music video for “Yonkers”, which in two weeks has 1.4 million views, is one of the most unsettling 3 minutes one can experience. I have decided against posting the link (or any link for that matter), but it goes something like this:

Tyler sitting on a stool by himself rapping >> Tyler eats a roach that crawls on his hand  >> Tyler vomits immediately after eating roach >> Tyler continues rapping >> Tyler takes off shirt as he continues rapping >> Tyler’s nose drips blood >> A noose drops from the ceiling >> Tyler places noose around his neck, stands on stool, and hangs himself, only showing his twitching feet as the beat plays and the song comes an end.

All of this done in an artistically minimalist setting, which (no doubt intentionally, as Tyler was a film student before OF began to take off) contrasts the dramatic and horrifying imagery.

Shocking, disgusting, disturbing, and with an overt intent to push the envelope and cause a stir.

However, their music, from the little bit that I could stand to listen to, doesn’t have that “we just want to shock parents and scare republicans” shock for shock’s sake feel to it like similar controversial artists. There is a certain amount of emotional intelligence, albeit profane, within some of the lyrics. For instance, a line by 16-year-old Earl Sweatshirt, who has been missing since June 2010, allegedly because he was sent to a restrictive boarding school by his mother because of his music goes something like “I’m smart but act ignorant/ I’ll start passin’ classes when my dad starts to give a (expletive).” Or the claim that “we’re products of popped rubbers and pops who don’t love us.” In no way am I justifying their more nefarious content, but I am suggesting that amidst the overshadowing lack of moral compass there is underlying pain.

It’s the type of pain that many of your students can and will identify with. Mix that with audio debauchery, teenage toilet-humor, ferocious beats, catchy hooks, artistic brilliance, horrifying imagery, accidentally genius/hilarious marketing ploys, and youthful charisma. This is the recipe for a disastrously attractive music act that will likely draw some of your students, like a plane-meets-train wreck.

I realize that some would prefer me to just flat-out bash such an irreverent, sacrilegious, blasphemous excuse for music as a threat to all things normal. So let me be clear: Odd Future’s music is extremely offensive. It is a threat and danger to the minds, hearts, and souls of the students under your watch. Listening to OFWGKTA should be forbidden by parents and strongly discouraged by student pastors.

We know it’s wrong on virtually every level. That’s the simple part.

But I think we can do better than an obligatory bashfest of obviously unconscionable music. Because there is a reason, or reasons that Odd Future is getting so big. I want to know what those reasons are, and what that says about culture.

I’m not as scared by the content of the music as I am the fact that the music is receiving critical acclaim! I’m not bothered by the plethora of songs that they have floating around the internet, but by the massive amount of praise that they have been given for those songs. I am frightened by the prospect of a world in which OFWGKTA becomes the musical voice of a generation. That would be a sad, scary future.

Quite frankly, I don’t know what it says about the world that we don’t already believe. Depraved, depressed, and disturbed. Perhaps Odd Future only serves as a blaring, in our face, primal scream that reminds us of the desperation of world around us is becoming more and more intense.

I just pray that I will hear it and act accordingly.

Steven Guttridge is married to Lindsay and serves as Assistant Pastor at The Pentecostals of Cooper City, in South Florida, and is currently blogless. His goal is to become the most sought after guest-blogger on the internets.

Upon reading a few concerned Tweets of his regarding the band you just read about, I asked him if he would be interested in doing a guest spot on S&C. You can connect with him on Twitter under the name @StevenGuttridge.

-Aaron