He worked at FedEx for just under two weeks and at Starbucks for over two years. Career 2007–2011: Odd Future, Bastard, and Goblin Okonma took his stage name from a Myspace page he used to post his creative endeavors. Okonma co-founded the alternative hip hop collective Odd Future in 2007, alongside Hodgy, Left Brain, and Casey Veggies. They self-released their debut mixtape, The Odd Future Tape, in November 2008. On December 25, 2009, Okonma self-released his first solo mixtape, Bastard. The mixtape was eventually ranked 32nd on Pitchfork Media's list of the Top Albums of 2010. On February 11, 2011, Okonma released the music video for ' Yonkers'. The video received attention from several online media outlets.
An extended version with a third verse was made available on iTunes. Okonma won Best New Artist for 'Yonkers' at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. Okonma's thematic content in these first two solo projects led fans and publications alike to categorize him in the horrorcore scene, although he vehemently rejected his connection with it. In early 2011, Okonma was gaining the interest of a number of figures in the music industry, including Steve Rifkind, Jimmy Iovine, Rick Ross and Jay-Z. Okonma and the rest of Odd Future eventually signed a deal with Red Distribution/Sony in April 2011. His debut studio album, Goblin, was released May 10, 2011.
