Sad Dads Vol 3 // Odd Future is for the Children: Tyler The Creator Comes to Prague

When you used to graffiti 'K1ll people burn sh1t f-ck school' and now you 'Educate people burn nothing (but old dreams) and work at school'

Odd Future is for the children. When the Tyler The Creator mural shows up in your neighbourhood, your rent about to go up.

OK, that subtitle is a bit of an exaggeration for sure, since Tyler The Creator’s original rap collective Odd Future rose to fame when I was well into my undergrad years. Plus I was too much of an actual straighty one-eighty (Aussie slang for straight A’s and rule-follower kind of guy) to graffiti anything into anything…but the sentiment remains!

Still, almost two decades into a wildly varied career, I found myself finally attending a Tyler The Creator concert. As a proud alumnus of the emo-indie-hipster-hypebeast-full-circle-back-to-elder-emo pipeline, Tyler is something of a bucket list artist for me. I was stoked to be able to attend, even if it was in the nosebleeds.

As a high school teacher now, I was surprised to find out how many of my students were excited to attend as well- really struck by how young these attendees would be. I had Year 8 girls asking me to play “Sticky” in class. I had to pull out the “Girls, I’ve been listening to Tyler The Creator since before you were born” card, as I assured them that that song was definitely not school appropriate.

Because let it be said that these listeners are 13 years old. They are bonafide Gen Alpha. They grew up with Tyler in his softer era - a sexually ambiguous fashion icon who openly cringes at his old material. Do you think these girls know that his visa was cancelled in Australia and New Zealand due to his lyrical content (he at least performed half a verse from “Yonkers” at the Prague show)? Have they listened to “Orange Juice”? dO yOu eVeN sKaTe BrO?

Rather than obsess on gatekeeping or lamenting the inescapable march of time as I count more and more grey hairs on my temple, I was glad to be part of an intergenerational experience at the concert. I was also pleasantly surprised at the enthusiasm of the fans - possibly the loudest singalongs I’ve heard from a Czech crowd - typically more reserved and uninterested.

Perhaps this is due to the specific niche target audience that Tyler appeals to - the outcasts, the artsy types, the misfits…these are all aspects of what made Odd Future so fresh in the 2010s rap scene in the first place.

With artists like Travis Scott and Don Tolliver passing through Prague recently, the wide mainstream appeal they have doesn’t quite hit for a Tyler audience. That’s why even way up in the nosebleeds of O2 Arena, fans were on their feet, singing and dancing along with reckless abandon.

On the one hand, I was reminded of my ageing out of the scene a little (not to mention the challenge of finding a replacement gig buddy after my wife had to stay home to take care of the kids. More #adulting problems. Shout-out to Arpi though who pulled through at the last minute!). I was also glad to witness the passing on the torch to the next generation of music listeners.

But as 50 Cent said, age is a mindset more than anything. Refusing to adapt and to learn and listen to new things is the first dangerous sign of stagnation with age. In his book Hustle Harder, he talks about physically getting older and accepting that the years don’t mean you have to mentally get old.

While we can’t avoid getting physically older, or ageing out of youthful trends, we can avoid becoming stubborn, grumpy gatekeepers by maintaining a soft mind and bright eyes. This applies to both the evolution of our favourite artists (of whom Tyler The Creator is a prime example), as much as appreciating the inevitable change of their fanbase.

So while I proudly maintain my Sad Dad status, there is something to be said for an artist like Tyler who has aged so graciously with the times. Longevity for an artist does not always mirror creative quality, but sometimes it does. His music has spoken to 3 or 4 different generations of rap fans now, and I for one am glad to still be a part of the ride.