Send "MellowHype " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 When MellowHype first released BlackenedWhite on Halloween of last year, the world was a very different place for Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. Events that would eventually cement the collective's budding stardom-- Tyler, the Creator's "Yonkers" becoming a viral sensation, their seminal performance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon", Tyler inking a deal with XL-- were either weeks or months away. The group at large was still strictly a sensation in a small pocket of the Internet, somewhat mysterious, amorphous, confusing and-- as anyone who tried to grab an album from Odd Future's official blog only to be met with a broken download link could attest-- amateur.Released after that initial rush of online hype, BlackenedWhite (along with Domo Genesis' Rolling Papers) was, if not an introduction point, at least the first new music released since many had initially heard of Odd Future. Described on the crew's Tumblr as "The Perfect Soundtrack For Mobbing On A Dark Halloween Night," and littered with references to dead cops, the album easily fit into the general perception of what Odd Future's music was about. So here we are, some eight-and-a-half months later, and BlackenedWhite has now been remastered, rearranged, and re-released by Fat Possum into a market where Tyler easily coexists next to pop stars. And yet, oddly enough, MellowHype's role is almost precisely the same, again representing the first new release by Odd Future since being embraced again by a wider audience. But where in October 2010 it might've been hard to pinpoint exactly where MellowHype stood in relation to guys like Tyler or Domo or Earl Sweatshirt, time has allowed the different personas within Odd Future to distinguish themselves. Hodgy Beats' wild-eyed glare can be seen next to Tyler on stage during Odd Future's shows, and it's easy to see how he could be thought of as Tyler's sidekick. And in fact, when people talk about Odd Future on a macro level, especially when that discussion is boiled down to the more controversial elements of the music, who they're really talking about is Tyler (and, to a lesser extent, Earl), oftentimes glossing over the individual members of the group. Part of that is by design, of course: Tyler has always been front and center, and not only is his star power blatantly obvious, but he feeds on being on a lightning rod. But lost in the shuffle is that the other arms of Odd Future are putting out music that is far from Tyler's trolling self-autopsies, which is both a good and bad thing....full text |
| Consequenceofsound |
| BlackenedWhite is the second album from MellowHype, a collaboration between Odd Future members Hodgy Beats and Left Brain. Initially released as a free download last fall, the album has been stripped of a third of its tracks for a physical release, adding only two new tracks to make up for the six that were pulled. For those who missed it the first time around, the over-the-top violence and vulgarity on BlackenedWhite is in line with other Odd Future offerings. “Gunsounds”, where Hodgy Beats rhymes about filling someone with holes over the sound of cocking guns, is a solid descendant of gangsta rap’s golden years. The influence of groups like N.W.A. is never more present than on “F666 The Police”, where Hodgy Beats, Left Brain, and Tyler, the Creator trade verses about shoot-outs with the law. Left Brain’s straight-forward production keeps things moving well, and his skills are best showcased here on “Loaded”. From the original release, “Chordaroy” has been removed due to the legal issues surrounding Earl Sweatshirt’s vocals. Additionally, tracks “Hell”, “Stripclub”, “Loco”, “Based”, and “Gram” are lost from the reissue, presumably because of sample clearance problems. They’ve been replaced with two new songs: “64”, a bold horrorcore track that was recently released with a particularly creepy music video to promote the reissue, and “Igotagun”, a welcome injection of speed into an album that moves a bit slow at points....full text |
| Cokemachineglow |
| Although by this point you may think engaging with the whole Odd Future business is a task better left to an irreverent mainstream media icon like Nardwuar than to deplorably self-serious white male rock critics such as myself, BlackenedWhite, the proud product of Wolf Gang faction MellowHype—that’d be Hodgy Beats and production whiz Left Brain, for anyone out of the loop—warrants more than any other single OF mixtape or side-project release the unqualified praise I’m going to lend it now. It warrants this praise not only because it’s the strongest front-to-back album released by the prolific collective to date, but because of the quality most clearly distinguishing it from Earl Sweatshirt’s Earl (2010) and Tyler, the Creator’s Bastard (2010), two releases widely considered the group’s best: not only is BlackenedWhite wholly and not-uncomfortably listenable, it’s actually quite fun. And here’s the thing: it turns out that making thoroughly fun music is the primary thing at which Odd Future excel. All that juvenile shock-horror stuff we’re all probably sick of hearing about? That’s just a cheap gimmick. But the unbridled vitality displayed here, on the other hand, is a selling feature I can get behind. Bastard, despite whatever id-tapping therapy trip you want to argue it’s baring witness to, is emptily enjoyable—oppressive in the way that, say, Dogtooth or a bad Lars von Trier movie is. This is due in large part, as I’ve gone over before, to the content of the album’s lyrics, which run the gamut from tossed-off rape jokes to seething (and, in the context, totally believable) misogyny and homophobia. How serious Tyler is about this stuff is completely beside the point, because the end result is an album which feels, from start to finish, like a celebration of hate. I tried very hard to approach Bastard on its own terms, to maybe meet it half-way and excuse its reprehensible content in order to enjoy it on a different level, but it came down to a visceral reaction that I found I couldn’t really do anything about. I got a little closer to moral and aesthetic reconciliation with Earl, sole release of Earl Sweatshirt and a more stylistically interesting (if just as reprehensible lyrically) album than Bastard overall, but only because Earl himself lacks Tyler’s abrasive, guttural delivery....full text |
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