Similar to Dick Hebdige's reading of punk style in Subculture, OFWGKTA compensates for the anxieties felt by 21st Century youths. Increased globalization, acts of terrorism, and ever growing technology has lead to an ADD medicated youth culture that responds with unprecedented anger and a rebellion against handling the world as it is being handed to them by the older generation. OFWGKTA's "zero fucks" attitude, marijuana smoking, and songs about rape and violence is really LA youths responding to the increasingly violent and sensationalist world surrounding them. It's no surprise that the group has gained so much popularity.
To aid in their rebellion, OFWGKTA heavily relies on music videos that promote their philosophy. The videos that OFWGKTA produces are important to the image that they portray. The group's music videos promote the OFWGKTA brand. Contrary to the incorporation of punk style via stores like Hot Topic, OFWGKTA commoditizes themselves, heavily promoting their brand. Each member is always sporting one of the many products that come out of OFWGKTA ("Golf Wang" hats, "Supreme" sweatshirts, marijuana leaf socks, cat t-shirts, etc.). In a overly commoditized world, OFWGKTA owns themselves so that no one else can own them.
Furthermore, the videos provide the members with an artistic platform to showcase their attitude and lyrics, which are by no means accidental. It can be hard to miss the lyrical talent of these young rappers through their behavior and attention grabbing gimmicks, but it's there. That talent allows OFWGKTA to be as off-putting and attention hungry as they are and still gain respect in the rap community.
In this video, "Whoa" by Earl Sweatshirt with Tyler, The Creator, viewers seemingly get to step into a day in the life of OFWGKTA. Rotten food and cigarettes for breakfast, skate boarding in an abandoned pool, riding in a shopping cart with sparklers, and zero parental supervision--OFWGKTA is living the dream of every 19-year-old boy. Their videos are more than entertainment, they realize the fantasy of the 21st Century youth generation.
The video begins with the simplest rebellions. Not using a sink to brush his teeth and not getting dressed are two seemingly simple actions that Earl does to establish his independence. Similar to subculture's division between parent and youth culture, OFWGKTA does away with adults entirely, creating a youth-centric universe in which there are no consequences and everything goes. Hebdige notes in Subculture that subculture groups are continuously "attempting to negotiate a meaningful intermediate space somewhere between the parent culture and the dominant ideology: a space where an alternative identity could be discovered and expressed. To this extent they were engaged in that distinctive quest for a measure of autonomy which characterizes all youth sub- (and counter) cultures" (88). OFWGKTA demonstrates that autonomy through the independence exhibited in their music videos.
"Spectacular subcultures express what is by definition an imaginary set of relations. The raw material out of which they are constructed is both real and ideological" (81). If OFWGKTA is trying to accomplish anything, it is to become an ideology of their own. Just as Hebdige explained that the punks were not only "responding" to the changes in Britain (joblessness, the Depression, aftermath of WWII, etc.), they were "dramatizing" it as well (87). OFWGKTA exhibits a similar dramatization that embodies the "genuine aggression, frustration and anxiety" (87) felt by youth subcultures, however, this time it is in the 21st Century US with a news set of anxieties (post 9/11, the Recession, globalization, etc.). OFWGKTA rebels with the fantasy of not only autonomy as described above, but of eternal youth. This is demonstrated, for example, by Tyler, The Creator being pushed in a shopping cart, something usually reserved for small children.
The video is filled with symbols that characterize OFWGKTA. The upside-down crucifixes, the "Supreme" hoodies, "Golf Wang," the simple donut drawing, cat t-shirts, marijuana leaf socks--the list goes on. Each piece makes up the OFWGKTA style. As safety pins were to punks, so are cat t-shirts to OFWGKTA. Their style makes up the "coded response" to changing worldly conditions that motivated so many subcultures before OFWGKTA.
Eventually, the fad that is OFWGKTA will pass. The group members will go on to commit entirely to their side projects, Tyler will outgrow the group and need a new venue through which to funnel his creativity, but the group proves that what Hebdige discussed in relation to punk was not unique to that era. As youth culture continues to grow as a commodity, so will the need for subcultures to form and rebel against the main stream. The signs, styles and mediums used will become more complex as groups have more access to resources and people, but the underlying message will be the same: We are not ready to grow up, we are not ready to handle the world, we don't want to inherit this mess you've made.
