BROCKHAMPTON: World’s Best Boy Band

BROCKHAMPTON (BH), a self-proclaimed boy band, is a group of over 14 members that rap, sing, produce, and make films for their music. Their newest album, Ginger shows their love for music and production and continuation to want to change the music scene.  Without going into too much detail, BH reformed as a group in 2014 as they decided to rename and rebrand from the previous group, AliveSinceForever. There are 6 of the members that sing and rap on the album. These members are Kevin Abstract, Matt Champion, Joba, Dom McLennon, Merlyn Wood, and Bearface. BH defies the normal standards of rap and hip-hop and instead takes on the genre of underground rap that provides more conscious lyrics about the real-life struggles that the band members deal with.

Ginger, BH’s fifth studio album was released on August 23, 2019, after what some are calling a hiatus in between their fifth and fourth album. Ginger is one of BH’s more talked through albums and one that connects more with the real issues and struggles that the band members have felt or current issues they were feeling. The inspiration for Ginger came from Friday Therapy, which were talk sessions that BH did every Friday at their house in LA to allow the members to express their feelings, making the members closer to one another and leading ultimately to the inspirations behind their new album. This album is the birth of those Friday Therapy sessions, the album covers moods of unhappiness, depression, loneliness, death, and other issues that the members have battled. The first song on the album, “No Halo” concludes with lyrics from Joba “Been goin’ through it again – been talkin’ to myself, wonderin’ who I am”, making listeners wonder if it will get happier.

There are a few upbeat songs on this album though, ones that you “could play at a cookout” (Dom McLennon). One of these songs is the third track on the album “Boy Bye”, now even despite the upbeat rhythm and the thrill of the music this song still has the serious lyrics of what fellow BH members are struggling with. McLennon opens with “Everybody asks me how I deal with my depression – man look, man, I don’t got the answer to your question”. This song still highlights the suffering the members are facing but allows it to be upbeat at the same time. When asked, McLennon said that the idea behind this song was “to be upbeat and playful like “Gucci Gang” but with the seriousness of “All Falls Down””, this song does just that.

This album has stemmed from an intense love and respect toward fellow musician and actor Shia LaBeouf who has been cited as a key source of inspiration for BH songs and music videos inspirations. LaBeouf leads some of the Friday Therapy sessions and has become a key role model and leader among the fellow members of BH. His styling in the hip-hop department has been very helpful as the boys of BH have learned from LaBeouf that it’s okay to rap about hard things and to let people know when you are struggling or going through a hard patch, this is one of the ways BH has learned to display their feelings in music because of LaBeouf.

Another significant song on this album is “Dearly Departed”, many fans believe this song is about the former leader and member of BH, Ameer Vann – who back in 2018 was kicked out of BH due to allegations of sexual abuse. The removal of Vann was hard on all members of the group but was especially hard for Abstract to kick him out. “It fully fucked me up,” said Abstract since all the members are like family once they get into the band. This was a moment where the band knew that they had to restructure and really go in a different direction or completely fall apart, luckily for fans the members choose to stick together and continue to push their music. So, it would be fair for most to assume that “Dearly Departed” would be about Vann but when the group was asked this question, the answer was yes but not entirely. Champion states that “A part of  Dearly Departed was about Vann but the songs tackle many other departures including several relatives and friends in my life that have passed away”. Joba then builds off of what Champion says and states his ties into the track is the death of his grandma, he then also mentions that his other grandma has dementia, and she doesn’t recognize the person he is.

Another positive of this album was the cover of the album, the cover of this album is Joba and Wes (who deals with production in the band) hugging after some of the members of BH spent all night spilling personal struggles, insecurities, and anything else that had been bothering them. This cover to the boys of BH represents “honesty and vulnerability” states McLennon. It is one of the many personal touches that make this album personal, vulnerable, depressive, and filled with insecurities each of the members faces.

Overall, the boys of BH have created a beautiful creation of sadness and depression filled with loneliness but also filled with joy and upbeat rhythms that the members have created. The music in Ginger is sad, but one that reaches so many people and talks about all kinds of different issues. BH has created a production that is perfect for people that love rap but love rap that also has meaning and heartfelt messages behind the lyrics. A perfect album for college students or young adults that love rap music but also look for lyrics full of meaning and heartfelt messages that truly tackle what life has to offer. BH will continue to make music and continue to defy musical barriers and truly do what they want in music and how they want to define themselves.