Over-under on the date of his first Drake collaboration, then?…

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[6.60]

Martin Skidmore: I like this a lot: the music is sinister, uneasy, disturbing, almost scary in tone. He mutters terrific lyrics over the top of this extraordinary backing, witty and aggressive and original, daring in a way that Eminem managed many years ago. I need to hear lots more of him and his crew.
[9]

Zach Lyon: This is the first Odd Future-related track I’ve listened to and… is this it? All this controversy culminates in some ASS FUCK kid FUCKing emphasizing every DAMN curse word like SHIT emotional problems BITCHes wolf COCK gang BITCH we’re on the internet CUNT etc, and stabbing Bruno Mars in his GODDAMN esophagus is as subversive as it gets? I can’t find a reason not to just listen to, say, “Damage” by Non-Prophets instead. Yes, it’s almost as intense as the side project Sage Francis did to prove he wasn’t a pussy.
[2]

Jer Fairall: Minimalist hip-hop perversity delivered with a scary zoned-in intensity only heightened by the offer of “here’s the number to my therapist.” I get why all the hype, but too much of what I read about this guy and his crew hint at another asshole-for-assholisms-sake con job (see also: Eminem), which the gay bashing and the making light of school shootings here would seem to point towards, so further points withheld until I figure out otherwise.
[6]

Jonathan Bradley: There’s a gaping black void at the center of Tyler, the Creator, a determined and incessant ugliness that infuses all he turns his mind to. “I’mma scribble this sinnin’ shit” is basically a mission statement for he and his Odd Future cohort, but it’s not just a scampish desire to outrage. It’s as if he looks at people — including himself — and sees nothing worth liking. All of which would be observation, not praise, were it not for the gripping charisma with which Tyler undertakes his turn to the bestial. On “Yonkers,” he rids himself of the pain of being a man with a beat built from a mechanical whir, like his mind is a disc drive with a malfunctioning floppy inside. He visits a psychiatrist, he pops pills, he watches cartoons, he experiences confusion about his sexuality, he gets upset about pop singers and internet writers, he drowns in the numbing stasis of his song. Where Slim Shady — who also liked to make reference to school shootings — was Eminem’s response to late ’90s anomie, Tyler’s banal provocations are focused on the personal. Or — more precisely — the destruction of the same.
[9]

Josh Langhoff: Shocking! An outrage! He goes too far, debases all that we cherish! EVERYBODY KNOWS TRICERATOPS WAS MONOGAMOUS!
[1]

Alex Ostroff: The signal-to-noise ratio on Odd Future has become so overwhelming that thinkpieces have managed to obscure the heart of OFWGKTA’s appeal: they make damn good music. Over a beat that sounds like a malfunctioning electric pencil sharpener, Tyler opens with “threesomes with a fucking triceratops.” He’s hilarious, introspective and terrifying. He tells off his DJ, Jesus and his shrink, and tops it all off by murdering milquetoast banes of hip-hop B.o.B and Bruno Mars, followed by his alter egos and his conscience. Forget the hype. Forget the video (If it’s possible to erase the image of Tyler crunching a cockroach between his teeth.) Just listen to Tyler spit for four minutes, and tell me that this isn’t something to get excited about in 2011.
[9]

John Seroff: Gonna swim upstream here and say that I can give or take the video but the song is NECESSARY: brutal and vulgar polluted stream of consciousness over the darkest horror movie beats of the year. Tyler is in a crazy world right now, hanging with the Biebs not a year after an OFWGKTA track talks about turning Justin’s skin into a baby coat, sending beats to Pusha T and just generally having a major moment and knowing it. I only hope he manages to take the credit, the “next big thing” mantra and the possibilities and fucks them up as drastically as possible cuz I want more off-kilter, media-savvy madness like this for the next few decades, plz.
[9]

Katherine St Asaph: You guys, I don’t even know. Part of me is repulsed by this whole enterprise, much as Zach Lyon was. But part of me finds this oddly compelling, all the low-budget rivet-screwing and buzzes and trip-hop pianos fusing into what’s actually a decent groove. And then part of me just wonders why you’d make the George Washington meme a career model.
[5]

Katie Lewis: Tyler the Creator’s weird and thoughtful lyrics delivered in his acerbic yet bassy Barry White-esque voice sends chills down my spine, and while I’ve heard other OFWGKTA tracks featuring him that I am more impressed/disgusted/obsessed with, I feel like “Yonkers” is a smart and strong (and not-totally-horrifying) introduction to the masses.
[8]

Josh Love: The most focused and musically polished thing he’s done to date, though that’s not altogether a good thing. Bastard thrived on its off-the-cuff rawness and unpredictability, and a more calculating Tyler could easily sacrifice some of that appealing edge. Still, he’s a commanding performer, both vocally and visually, and “Yonkers” (and its accompanying video) is an excellent showcase for both. The Eminem comparisons are inevitable, and while Tyler’s nowhere near young Em’s level as a rapper right now, I do appreciate the distinctive fact that he generally keeps his terrific growl of a voice at an even keel here, because it makes it seem like he’s not trying just to shock you, except for those moments when he so clearly is (here, the Bruno Mars murder fantasy) and then it’s extra-thrilling to hear this menacing young sociopath go ballistic.
[8]