Founded in 2014 (but originally started as AliveSinceForever in 2012), the self-proclaimed "best boy band since One Direction" known as BROCKHAMPTON released two last albums in November of 2022, marking the end of their musical exploits together. It was a quick turnaround for me as a fan, as I had only discovered their music that summer, starting with the Ginger album originally, then Saturation III, and then expanding to the rest of their albums. Well, except Saturation II and a number of singles and unreleased albums that can be found on YouTube. I still have plenty of new BROCKHAMPTON music to discover after all this time, which is a testament to the prolificness of the band. I can't remember exactly what lead me to discover this fantastic band, but I was immediately drawn to the rawness, honesty, and relatability of their lyrics, as well as the high quality and consistency of the production. During that summer, I was deeply in the process of deconstructing my Christian upbringing and deciding who I really wanted to be, and the lyrical content of tracks such as IF YOU PRAY RIGHT and I BEEN BORN AGAIN seemed to echo much of what had already gone through my mind. The first song I heard from the iridescence album, SAN MARCOS, had one lyric in particular that is still stuck in my head:
I'm afraid of commitment
don't know how to fix it
I can empathize with the difficulty to commit to a relationship and thus become perpetually indecisive, especially in romantic relationships. Or consider this portion from another song, TRIP:
"You came with black folks?"
Hoe, your parents racist
you say they hate me?
Well I love them
we still roll up, we still best friends.
This revelation is very sad considering that they had to endure this overt racism in the 21st that stirred unnecessary controversy, but also wholesome in that despite voices of authority explicitly advocating racism, these multiracial friends defied parental orders and became a tight-knit group regardless. And BREAKFAST from BROCKHAMPTON's first major album, ALL-AMERICAN TRASH, addresses the crushing feelings of guilt and perhaps even suicidal ideation:
I'm swimming in a sea of regret,
the more I forget how to swim.
I try to breathe,
I know the feeling too well.
I'm fighting myself,
I'm losing again.
BROCKHAMPTON isn't afraid to tackle any issue, it seems. Their lyrics frequently tackle a variety of issues, including homophobia, parental conflicts, community violence, confederate ideology, suicide, racism, poverty, religious trauma, interpersonal trust dilemmas, and police brutality. The point here is that this boy band has lyrics for everyone.
The early history of BROCKHAMPTON is truly fascinating, especially considering the sheer number of members in the collective. The core five, Kevin Abstract, Ameer Vann, Joba, Matt Champion, and Merlyn Wood attended The Woodlands High School together in the northern-most suburbs of Houston, Texas. Before arriving in The Woodlands, Kevin had ran away from his parents' home and Mormon upbringing in Corpus Christi, TX, something that he believes was a sound decision as "It kinda allowed me to be a little more free throughout the years". During this time, Kevin nurtured a dream to create his own boy band. The first step towards achieving this lofty goal occurred in 2010, when he posted a message asking if others would like to form a band on the KanyeLive online forum. A ton of other users responded with interest. Two years later, AliveSinceForever was formed.
They later condensed and rebranded as BROCKHAMPTON in 2014 and after experimenting with various sounds and styles. In the meantime, Kevin released his first album as a solo artist, MTV1987. An important stepping stone occurred in June 2015 when the boys won a professionally directed music video of the single Hero through the VFiles Loud contest. They released their debut album, ALL-AMERICAN TRASH, for free on March 24, 2016, which sought to highlight the individual talents of each member. This is something I really appreciate about the group—each individual talent from each member is distinguishable and shines, from Dom's slicing delivery to Joba's high-hitting falsettos to Kevin's brooding hooks. But at the same time, the end result of each song is a beautiful conglomeration of each of their contributions that could be likened to a tapestry. This simultaneous interplay showcasing both the individual and collective talents of the collective has certainly continued through the final releases at the end of 2022.
After the success of the new album, Kevin's task was to convince everyone in the group that they would be moving to the Houston area to pursue their boy band ambitions even more seriously. This decision involved a massive amount of mutual trust on both sides. This required several members to drop out of college or otherwise end their commitments and move to Texas (and later music mecca California). They had to trust Kevin and the others that they would be financially sound as full-time band members. Meanwhile, Kevin had waited patiently for years to assemble the right members and get them physically together as a boy band. But everyone delivered and BROCKHAMPTON moved into a house together in the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles.
2017 proved to be an explosive year of songs, and success, for the collective. In the span of six months, the boys would release three albums as part of a trilogy called Saturation. Saturation I would be released on June 9, 2017, after releasing six singles. Vocally, it featured members Kevin Abstract, Ameer, Merlyn, Dom McLennon, Matt, and Joba. Bearface, now know as Cierán, was featured prominently on the last track, Waste. Meanwhile, production was headed by Jabari, Romil, and Kiko. A number of other members occupied other supporting roles, such as Henock "HK" Sileshi, Robert Ontenient, Ashlan Grey, and Jon Nunes. The lineup would be the same for the rest of the trilogy, Saturation II and Saturation III. The trilogy would showcase the variety of talents of the collective, as everyone had their shining moments. With each passing day, BROCKHAMPTON quickly gained popularity, landing at #15 on the Billboard 200 with Saturation III. And even after all those songs in such a short time frame, the band still had more energy, announcing their next album, Team Effort, in December of 2017. They would tour the country as well, starting in September of 2022. Things only seemed to be going up for the blossoming band.
While in Boston on tour on May 26, 2018, the members discovered that one of their very own, Ameer Vann, had sexually and emotionally abused multiple women. It was a shock to everyone in the collective, as they had known him for years and had no inkling that he would do such a thing. Furthermore, Dom discovered in the ensuing months after the initial revelations that Ameer had also orchestrated the robbing of a childhood friend back home, as he explained with a Tweet: "“So I’m supposed to be cool with a n***a I found out set my friend up to be robbed that didn’t have the heart to tell me until after he got kicked out for all the other f**k s**t he did?" Those from the core group had known Ameer since at at least high school, so these revelations were especially difficult for them to come to terms with. Their sense of reality seemed to be distorted, as someone who they had trusted so much had committed such heinous acts, and then hid it from them. They were supposed to be open with each other and their music, but Ameer had invariably desecrated this sense of mutual honesty and trust that had in many ways made their band so successful. The next day, BROCKHAMPTON released the following tweet in response to the unfolding situation.
Furthermore, the group extended an apology to the victims of sexual misconduct: "Brockhampton was intended to bring people together and make everyone feel safe and included, we wish to apologize to anyone who has experienced similar scenarios we wish we had acted sooner. As a band we wish to extend our apologies to those who may no longer be able to listen to our music and feel safe". While the collective would otherwise remain intact through the end of 2022, these turn of events in the space of only 24 hours represented a massive turnaround for BROCKHAMPTON and their overall trajectory.
Just earlier the night before, the band were playing together in harmony, but suddenly Ameer was gone and the group had to figure out what to do next. A month went by before their next performance, in which the collective were featured on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Kimmel and they performed a new single, TONYA, from their upcoming album. TONYA was created during the band's getaway to Hawaii following Ameer's departure, with the lyrics hearkening back to simpler times before the catastrophe:
I'll switch my place if that's good for you, is that good for you?
They finished their tour from earlier in the year after crisscrossing North America and Europe. Shortly afterwards, the new album from the group was released on September 21, 2018, which included Tonya and 14 other songs, many of which channeled the unrestrained anger towards Ameer's actions felt by the remaining BROCKHAMPTON members and their disillusionment with the world. Perhaps these feelings of rage were best delivered by Joba in J'OUVERT.
Misunderstood since birth
F**k what you think and f**k what you heard
I feel betrayed, you can keep the praise
And all of the f**k s**t, need to get away
Starting on the album's release date, BROCKHAMPTON played several shows in Australia and New Zealand and then completed the I'll Be There Tour of the U.S. and Vancouver, Canada to close the year.
The first half of 2019 was primarily spent working on their upcoming album, Ginger. Then the collective attended various festivals in Europe, Japan, and the U.S., before kicking off the Heaven Belongs to You tour for their newest album, which was released on August 23, 2019. The album reflected themes of mental health issues "and putting it on a song that a bunch of people could dance to", as explained by Kevin Abstract. Kiko, Romil, and Jabari had produced about 100 songs in the making of Ginger, so only the very best made the cut. The album was a massive success, debuting at third place on the US Billboard 200. Interestingly, this release was also reportedly their favorite project. Mental health issues like depression and anxiety were certainly present throughout the album, for example, in SUGAR.
You can find me dancing in between the raindrops
Tryna find a way to make the pain stop
And the group made it clear that they had not in the slightest forgotten or forgiven Ameer's actions, especially in DEARLY DEPARTED.
When somebody that you know throws you in the fire
How do you survive?
I kicked down the door inside a home
I did it all just to save a friend's life
Little did I know, the one who pulled the strings was once on my side...
Pass the weight off to your friends and never face the truth
Because you never learned how to be a man
And it's not my fault, and it's not my problem anymore
That's just where you stand
That's just who you are
That's your cross to bear
You could talk to God
I don't wanna hear, motherf****r!"
After the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, BROCKHAMPTON released another album, ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE. It had more of a pop sound and performed well in the charts, reaching the 11th position of the US Billboard 200. This album also featured several other artists, including JPEGMAFIA, Danny Brown, and A$AP ROCKY.
On April 16, 2022, the collective announced their final album, which would be titled The Family. It notably featured lots of samples (from artists such as The Germs, James Carr, Ruby Winters, and Raymond A Myles) and Kevin Abstract (along with a little bit of help from Bearface) as the lone vocalist. Many fans were surprised that the other members were not included at all, but perhaps it made perfect sense for the "glue" of BROCKHAMPTON to have his own album. The album was sober about the internal disagreements within the collective, addressing hypocrisy and other issues. In this album, Kevin opens up about his struggles with alcoholism and arguments with fellow member Dom about missing Ameer's presence. Kevin even mentions his meeting to catch up with his fomer bandmate in the track 37th.
To my brothers who I love
I know I failed you
Linked up with Ameer to see what he been up to
The Family explicitly stressed that the whole band was done for good throughout the album, as many of the members had already went their own ways to further pursue music or otherwise continue their life journeys. Kevin expresses remorse for the breakup, even equating the band with his own family. This comparison emphasizes how close the members had become over the years, as explained in RZA.
My momma asking me
"Ian, why don't keep the band together?"
I know it's hard but keep the band together
Me and your dad were fighting, we stayed together
Even once we split we stayed together
Be like your mom and keep the fam together
The very next lines from the track highlight the hypocrisy of the music business and the frequent compromising of Kevin's moral values and commitment to his family.
All of the songs where I dissed my mom Helped me help her stay in her home
Now I'm finna lose my home
So never diss where you come from
Despite the bittersweet nature of the album and the undeniable knowledge that BROCKHAMPTON was no longer, fans across the world were treated to a wonderful surprise—an extra album! Some astute fans noticed on The Family release announcement graphics that there were the letters "TM" at the bottom right and conjectured that there would be yet another album. TM, which stands for "The Mountain", was described as a "parting gift for the fans" by the band. In my view, "The Mountain" speaks to summiting the mountain, a metaphor that asserts that perhaps assures listeners that the collective had now accomplished everything they intended to do via their music endeavors. It was released on November, 18, 2022, just one day after The Family. It sounds quite different from previous albums, with pronounced influences from genres such as EDM and Lo-fi. MAN ON THE MOON features a catchy chorus and upbeat synth.
I wanna kiss a man on the moon
And I just gotta say
"I know everybody here in this room"
Touchin' me, touchin' you
If I had to be stuck with anyone
I'm so happy it's you
Meanwhile, FMG features some slick, laid-back, and clever deliveries.
She from Idaho
Her friends call her tater thot
She from outta town
She never seen the ocean, wow
The group features perhaps one of their most frank verses in their history on DUCT TAPE, my personal favorite on the album.
2001's the year, I remember I could never breathe
My momma left, she had no choice but to go overseas
I held the baggage with me, all the things she couldn't keep
I had to get my s**t together and roll up my sleeves
And thus ends the BROCKHAMPTON era. I could end the article right here, but something else stood out to me while doing the hours of research, listening to the beats, and analyzing the lyrics of this outstanding band. While not explicity political as far as I know, the collective certainly had points to make, whether criticizing the system of capitalism or pushing back against reactionary ideology, both of which harshly impacted the members. BROCKHAMPTON was unafraid to challenge the toxic music industry, which is driven by profit and commercialization, too often at the expense of artist authenticity and personal and societal morals. In The Ending, Kevin rips into the music industry, which had coerced him and the others into commodifying their personal relationships to make and promote their music.
This the most corrupted vision
I turned my friendship into a business
Into an empire
The collective made a similar critique in Brockhampton.
So I played the game
Even when the game was filthy
Derek and Brianm they was tryna convince me
That "COUNT ON ME" was the one to make us a bill
And in Good Time.
It be so f***ed up, I be doin' Zoom calls
Talkin' with n****s about personal s**t
I'm like, "Yo, make sure we filmin' this
Keep the camera rollin'"
That's a toxic relationship
That's what our friendship turned into
I turn everything into art
We may never know for sure, but I think we can reasonably infer that much of the conflict that lead to the band's demise had to do with this drive for profitability, not by their own accord, but by corporate overlords of the music industry. With no other realistic avenue to release music to an extended audience, big-time artists like BROCKHAMPTON have no choice but to sign record deals with the music industry, but that comes at a major cost.
At other times, BROCKHAMPTON would touch on more explicitly radical themes, such as over a relaxed guitar riff in CASH.
Cry wolf when the shepherd finds a way to strike gold
'Cause the stocks gon' crash and the dollar gon' fold
You don't know that the poor eat the rich when there's no profit
They gave you the floor but you brought up the wrong topic
The phrase "eat the rich", first coined by Pierre Gaspard Chaummete of the Paris Commune ("When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich"), is commonly used within anti-capitalist circles. For those unfamiliar with the phrase—don't worry, this phrase expresses the idea that the rich should be brought down from their position of tyrannical power; it is not encouraging people to engage in cannibalism. Meanwhile, WEIGHT touched on the the whitewashing and outright omission of history and social realities nearly ubiquitous throughout the American neoliberal education system.
And recognize them wolves that wanna try and leave you wool
Don't let 'em treat you like a window you know you a jewel
This world is cruel and not as simple as they teach in schools
Sometimes you've gotta step away and check your own intentions
And analyze if what they do can compromise your vision
If people trust you they don't need to question your decisions
You never needed them if they make you another villain
The education system in this country is often characterized as containing a "hidden curriculum"; this includes obedience to authority, preference for order, and hyper-individualism reinforced through, for example, the grading system. The instruction of these specific values directly reinforce the system of capitalism, as capitalists need obedient workers who will do their bidding without question or complaint. They also need workers to believe in concepts such as the American Dream and to act as the "petty bourgeoisie", otherwise known as the "temporarily embarrassed millionaires". In order for capitalists to retain a firm grip on power, they also want their underlings to feel that they just need to "work a little harder" to become wealthy. However, this is never the case outside of a privileged few. The education system routinely ignores, omits, or at the very least whitewashes historical events and circumstances which, portrayed accurately, would not represent the American state and private actors in a good light. The collective makes the point that the world is much more complicated than is portrayed in the American education system, and we should take it upon ourselves to learn all of history and so forth, not just the oversimplified pleasantries.
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