BROCKHAMPTON – “T.M. (The Mountain)” review

BROCKHAMPTON was a hip hop “boy band” that originated in San Marcos, Texas in 2010 via the “KanyeToTheForum under the original name AliveSinceForever. But when things started to look good for them after they released the SATURATION trilogy to universal acclaim in 2017, one of their founding members Ameer Vann was kicked out midway through the following year due to sexual misconduct resulting in the boys’ next 2 albums following iridescence & GINGER were both released to moderate reception. ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE however became their best post-Ameer album a year & a half ago at this point but after announcing their disbandment following their Coachella performances this past April & only a day after their de facto leader Kevin Abstract dropped his new solo effort The Family, the boys are getting back together one last time for their 7th & final album.

“F.M.G. (Fuck My Gang)” is an aggressive trap opener produced by Kiko Merley & JOBA with Dom McLennon & Matt Champion accompanying Kevin to quit being humble whereas “Animal” finds Jabari Manwa, Kevin & Matt talking about turning into beasts over a cloudy Romil Hemnani instrumental. “Listerine” though returns to trap territory as Dom & Jabari addressing a bitch that’s tripping ’cause it’s less on them prior to the playful sounding “New Shoes” with Kevin, Dom, Matt & Merlyn Wood assuring everyone that the group is still on good terms with one another even though they’re disbanding.

However on “Keep It Southern”, we have Kevin & Merlyn over a trap beat with some synths paying tribute to their Texas roots just before “Man on the Moon” dives into more melancholic territory with a cool dance break at the end for Kevin & Matt to talk about wanting to make out with their lover on the actual moon itself & the hook is probably the catchiest on the album. “Better Things” is pretty much a moody Kevin Abstract solo cut with Matt on the hook & an outro from JOBA to speak on the next chapter of their lives just before “Crucify Me” works in some live drums & pianos for Kevin & Matt express their desire to rewind & pretend that they knew what they were in for with a crazy instrumental outro pulling from jazz music.

The song “Duct Tape” has a more booming quality to the instrumental as Jabari, Matt & Kevin admitting that they don’t have anything to talk about anymore as a unit while the penultimate track “Always Something” shoots for a more melodic approach as Dom, JOBA & Kevin sing about letting motherfuckers in something they should know. But then, “GOODBYE” serves as a bittersweet EDM-influenced coda with JOBA & Matt talking about not the “best time of our lives” for granted.

I’ll never forget seeing the SATURATION artwork everywhere when that album was first released when I was 20 & it prompting me to check out their music because it was good enough to make me to stick around for the whole ride, to which I’m happy I did because this was great swan song from them. I like how they fuse elements of trap, alternative R&B, cloud rap & even neo-psychedelia with their west coast pop rap style as everyone braces themselves for the next chapter. And before I end this review, I just wanna thank BROCKHAMPTON for all the dope music they’ve given us in the last 5 years & I wish them all nothing but the best going forward.

Score: 4/5

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Kevin Abstract – “The Family” review

This is the 4th full-length album from Corpus Christi rapper, rapper, singer-songwriter, producer & director Kevin Abstract. who made his debut in 2014 with MTV1987. He followed it up 2 years later with the fantastic American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story & then the following year, he rose to stardom as the de facto leader of BROCKHAMPTON. But with their 7th & final album TM coming tomorrow, Kevin’s re-emerging on his own with The Family marketed as a group project only to fulfill their RCA Records contract.

“Take It Back” is a chipmunk soul opener with Kevin admitting that he had to wash the blue paint off to set himself free & promising the next chapter to be everything whereas “RZA” works in another pitched-vocal sample from bearface talks about having to be more like The Abbot himself after speaking to his mother the other day trying to give him advice. “Gold Teeth” looks back on the early days of the boy band over a crooning loop kin to “They Don’t Care About Us” by Michael Jackson just before “Big Pussy” has more of a jazzy boom bap flare to it asking to stop harassing him because the show’s over.

Meanwhile on “All That”, we have Kevin admitting that the boys’ success came with problems of becoming rich with an amazing interpolation of the theme song from the titular Nickelodeon show that I grew up watching leading into “(Back from the) Road” reflecting on the Love Your Parents tour over a jangly instrumental. “Basement” has a more experimental quality to the production acknowledges his love for the fans despite that they’d kill him if they could, but then “Southside” tells those to stop actin’ like they know him over a sample-based trap beat.

“Good Time” has a more drumless approach to it speaking on the days when the boys played their final shows in London while the syrupy sample throughout “37th” is a cool ode to their Texas roots talking about ending up on the titular street if he could fly through a Cali night. “Boyband” weaves a gospel loop into the fold à la Kanye West’s last finished full-length DONDAacknowledging that they’ve always been outside of the lines while “Any Way You Want Me” asking what if he could change for us because we have him everything over a guitar.

Moving on to the title track, where Kevin jumps on top of a peppy beat with no drums talking about those not knowing shit about him while “Prayer” is a more melodic cut with some bare synths asking God not to make him grow up because he doesn’t want to move on from this amazing chapter in his life. The song “My American Life” goes in depth of how far he’s come in the last 7 years over some acoustics while the penultimate track “The Ending”samples “Let Me Be the One” by Willie Hutch asking if this is the way we all visioned the demise. “Brockhampton” though is a symphonic closer to the album with Kevin bidding farewell to the best boy band since 1 Direction.

It’s pretty much a Kevin Abstract solo effort labeled as a BROCKHAMPTON album & I’m assuming that’s the case because of contractual reasons, but I happen to think The Family is the best thing Kevin has done since American Boyfriend only 6 years back by now. He comes from the heart as he reflects one last time on the journey he & the boys have been on together with the production pulling from chipmunk soul, drumless, jazz rap & gospel. Considering that, I think TM will be a remarkably bittersweet swan song when it drops tomorrow.

Score: 4/5

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BROCKHAMPTON – “ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE (PLUS PACK)” review

This is the surprise 2nd EP from San Marcos, Texas hip hop boyband BROCKHAMPTON. Originally emerging under the name AliveSinceForever in 2010, they put out a self-titled EP in 2013 under the radar before catching some attention off their debut mixtape ALL-AMERICAN TRASH back in 2016. However, it wouldn’t be until the following year that we saw them completely reinventing themselves by dropping the near-perfectly creative SATURATION trilogy. Then there’s the infamous sexual misconduct scandal revolving around the boyband’s most popular lyricist at the time Ameer Vann halfway through 2018, which resulted in him being kicked out of BROCKHAMPTON. A decision that to this very day resulted in many people to fall off with the boys. Their next 2 albums iridescence & GINGER were both released to moderate reception, but they eventually took 2020 off & returned to form a couple months back off ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE. However after being initially released with the box set as CD exclusive bonus tracks, Kevin Abstract & company have finally decided to make them available for streaming.

“PRESSURE” is pretty much Merlyn Wood & Dom McLennon on top of a generic trap beat showing off, but then the 2nd half “BOW WOW” is pretty much a brief ssgkobe solo cut with a summery instrumental & Kevin Abstract on the hook taking it back to the fashion style of the early 2000’s.

The next song “SEX” finds the whole gang together on top of some hi-hats & synthesizers to rap about fucking, but then the EP finishes off with the remix & original version of “JEREMIAH”. The lyrics on both versions are the same proclaiming themselves as profits, but the difference between them is that the remix has a guitar intro, the vocals are pitched up & there’s a shorter beat outro. The original is the other away around.

I’ve said before that ROADRUNNER is the most consistent BROCKHAMPTON album I’ve heard since SATURATION III & that still stands. However, I’m kinda torn on this EP. None of these joints are necessarily amazing or horrible, they just feel like mediocre throwaways to me.

Score: 2.5/5

BROCKHAMPTON – “ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE” review

BROCKHAMPTON is a hip hop boy band that originated in San Marcos, Texas in 2010 via the “KanyeToTheForum under the original name AliveSinceForever. But when things started to look good for them after they released the SATURATION trilogy to universal acclaim in 2017, one of their founding members Ameer Vann was kicked out midway through the following year due to sexual misconduct. The boys’ next 2 albums following iridescence & GINGER were both released to moderate reception & after taking 2020 off, Kevin Abstract & the gang are returning from the shadows by dropping their 6th & allegedly penultimate album.

“BUZZCUT” is a off-the-wall opener as Kevin & Danny Brown come through with some conscious undertones through their lyrics backed by a psychedelic instrumental from Jabari Manwa. The next song “Chain On” goes into a more cloud rap direction as Kevin connects with JPEGMAFIA to speak out against police brutality whereas “Count on Me” is a summery anthem about how everything will be ok regardless of what they say & even though I think Matt Champion & A$AP Rocky both kill their verses, I can’t say the same for SoGoneSoFlexy.

The track “Bankroll” is a hazy trap banger with Merlyn Wood, Jabari & A$AP Ferg to show off their wealth while “The Light” is pretty much JOBA & Kevin venting about something being missing deep inside them over an ominous boom bap instrumental. The song “Windows” everyone reuniting with SoGoneSoFlexy to talk about how crazy they are with an icier instrumental than the previous cut & then “I’ll Take You On” finds Charlie Wilson joining Matt & bearface to cook up an gorgeous alternative R&B joint.

The instrumental on “Old News” kinda reminds me of Baby Bash’s “Suga Suga” for some odd reason as the boys tap in Baird to address the games their lovers put them through, but then Matt & JOBA get together on “What’s the Occasion?” to vent about how “a million little pieces all add up to nothing lately” on top of an acoustic/boom bap instrumental with some occasional synths. Chad Hugo laces the piano ballad “When I Ball” that sees Matt & Dom McLennon looking back on their younger days whereas the chaotically-produced “Don’t Shoot Up the Party” finds Kevin & Matt speaking against the bigotry in America. The track “Dear Lord” is a short, a capella bearface solo cut about his brother needing help & then “The Light, Pt. II” is an optimistic, almost gospel-flavored closer from Kevin & JOBA.

If anyone’s been turned off by these guys given the moderate reception of their last 2 albums, then I highly recommend giving this a shot because this is their most consistent effort since SATURATION III. I really dig how they started to incorporate more outside collaborators even though not all of them stick the landing & the boys do a great job at showing listeners what’s been going on in their world ever since GINGER came out.

Score: 4/5

BROCKHAMPTON – “GINGER” review

This is the 5th full-length album from San Marcos, Texas hip hop boyband BROCKHAMPTON. They first came together with an average debut mixtape in 2016 called ALL-AMERICAN TRASH, but it wouldn’t be until the following year that we saw them completely reinventing themselves by dropping the near-perfectly creative SATURATION trilogy. Then there’s the infamous sexual misconduct scandal revolving around the boyband’s most popular lyricist Ameer Vann last May, which resulted in him being kicked out of BROCKHAMPTON. A decision that to this very day is still polarizing by many. However, I think they managed to pull through shortly after with their last full-length album iridescence. Fast forward 11 months later, here we are with GINGER.

The album kicks off with “NO HALO”, where the boys sans de facto leader Kevin Abstract venting about personal issues over an acoustic instrumental from Jabari Manwa. The next song “SUGAR” gets romantic over another acoustic instrumental while the track “BOY BYE” talks about each member’s highs & lows over a quirky beat from Romil Hemnani & Q3. The short “HEAVEN BELONGS TO YOU” is a completely random slowthai song while the track “ST. PERCY” finds the boys charismatically bragging over a bassy instrumental & I absolutely love the Missy Elliott/Timbaland vibes during the hook. The track “IF YOU PRAY RIGHT” gets spiritual over a prominent tuba with Dom McLennon starting it off in a charming fashion while the song “DEARLY DEPARTED” addresses Ameer Vann’s dismissal over a cavernously melodic beat.

The track “I BEEN BORN AGAIN” talk about their newfound fame over a minimalist beat while the titular song finds Kevin teaming with Matt Champion & bearface to get a bit darker on the topical end over an inebriating beat. The track “BIG BOY” sees Kevin, bearface & JOBA recalling their childhood experiences over a dream-like instrumental while the penultimate song “LOVE ME FOR LIFE” finds everyone from then previous joint getting with Merlyn Wood over a lively yet subdued instrumental. The album then finishes with “VICTOR ROBERTS”, which is an introduction to a rapper with the same name over a bare piano instrumental.

This is the boys’ weakest album so far, but it’s still solid. Of course each song stands out in it’s own way, but it kinda lacks in catchiness both rapping-wise & instrumentally. Hopefully, they’ll step it up on the next effort.

Score: 3.5/5

Kevin Abstract – “ARIZONA baby” review

Kevin Abstract is a 23 year old rapper, singer-songwriter, producer & director from Corpus Christi, Texas who made his debut in 2014 with MTV1987. He followed it up 2 years later with the fantastic American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story & then the following year, he rose to stardom as the de facto leader of BROCKHAMPTON. However after a rough 2018, he’s back with his 3rd full-length album.

Things start off with “Big Wheels”, where Kevin raps about his personal demons over a synth & some hi-hats. Not a bad opener, but it sounds unfinished. The next song “Joy Ride” melodically reflects on how he would never listen over a some soothing horns while the track “Georgia” talks about being at peace over a relaxing instrumental. The track “Corpus Christi” raps about feeling like a loner as well as addresses Ameer Vann being kicked out of BROCKHAMPTON over a prominent synthesizer while “Baby Boy” is a full-blown psych-rock that touches down on an ex.

The track “Mississippi” is a somber R&B cut telling his loved ones not to get it twisted with him while the song “Use Me” reflects on going from growing up rough to being successful over an atmospheric beat. The track “Peach” with Dominic Fike is a psychedelic tune about a past relationship while the song “American Problem” literally sounds like a leftover from Childish Gambino’s last album “Awaken, My Love!”. The penultimate track “Crumble” is a guitar ballad about getting back to his lover & then the album finishes with “Boyer”, where Kevin talks about how he & this guy can’t run forever over a banger beat.

While it’s no American Boyfriend 2, this in my opinion is still the 2nd best release in Kevin’s solo discography. He continues to show how diverse of an artist he is & the production is detailed, but he drowns in his influences on some of these cuts to the point where it’s distracting. Noneless, it’s still worth checking out if you’re a big BROCKHAMPTON fan.

Score: 3.5/5

BROCKHAMPTON – “iridescence” review

BROCKHAMPTON is a hip hop “boyband” that originated in San Marcos, Texas in 2015. They dropped a flawed yet decent mixtape in 2016 called ALL-AMERICAN TRASH but in 2017, they completely reinvented themselves by dropping 3 near-perfectly creative albums with the SATURATION trilogy. However, things this year looked bleak for them in part of Ameer Vann (who was featured on the cover of all 3 SATURATION albums) was kicked out in May due to sexual misconduct. They then dropped 3 solid singles over the summer but now, they’re finally returning with their 4th full-length album.

Things start off with “NEW ORLEANS”, where they talk about how they’re calling their own shots over a gritty beat. The next track “THUG LIFE” sees the boyband’s de facto leader Kevin Abstract linking up with his older brother Dom McLennon alongside bearface to talk about depression over a beautiful piano instrumental while the song “BERLIN” sees Dom getting with Matt Champion & JOBA to talk shit over an abrasive beat. The “SOMETHING ABOUT HIM” interlude is an endearing tribute to Kevin’s husband Jaden Walker with a smooth instrumental from Romil Hemnani & Q3, but it sounds unfinished.

The track “WHERE THE CASH AT” sees Merlyn Wood & Matt Champion talks about their new rich life over a bouncy beat while the song “WEIGHT” is a heartfelt look into the boyband’s inner demons over some strings, but then it constantly switches from drum & bass with a piano to just simply punchy drums. The track “DISTRICT” is a club banger over a video gamey beat & after the “LOOPHOLE” interlude, we go into the song “TAPE”. Here, the boyband talks about their insecurities over a gloomy beat with skittering drums. The track “J’OUVERT” talks about success over a chaotic beat & while everyone’s performance on here was great, JOBA’s angry verse stood out to me the most.

The song “HONEY” gets braggadocious over an electro-funk beat while the track “VIVID” talks about how they’re making money now over an eerie electronic beat. The song “SAN MARCOS” is a guitar ballad about wanting more out of life while the penultimate track “TONYA” talks about unstable stardom over a prominent piano. The short switch up during Kevin’s verse & JOBA’s bridge was just ok, though. The album then finishes with “FABRIC”, where the boyband talks about still being depressed despite their newfound success & I absolutely love how the beat constantly switches throughout.

Being one of my most anticipated albums of the year, this did not disappoint. BROCKHAMPTON continues to be the most unique group in today’s hip hop landscape as their sound on here is refreshingly different than that of the SATURATION trilogy & I’ve also noticed that the chemistry between every member has improved.

Score: 4/5

Kevin Abstract – “American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story” review

With BROCKHAMPTON emerging with a decent mixtape ALL-AMERICAN TRASH just 7 months prior, their def facto leader Kevin Abstract is now delivering a follow-up to his 2014 debut MTV1987.

The album opens with “Empty”, which begins with some godly strings. He then proceeds to rap in a depressing tone about hating his last name as well as loving his mother & hating his boyfriend over a plinky piano. The strings I mentioned earlier eventually come back as Kevin beautifully sings the hook about needing his boyfriend right by him. The next song “17” is a mellow guitar-ballad about his ex-boyfriend changing him for the better while the track “Blink” recalls sleeping in from a day at high school because his sister took the car as well as talking about what he needs & what he’s sick of over some depressing keyboards & a wailing guitar. After the “Friendship” interlude, we go into the song “Tattoo”. Here, Kevin sings about throwing his life away as well as his home being fake & wanting to make out with his boyfriend at the bleachers over a an acoustic instrumental.

The track “Yellow” is a more upbeat guitar ballad where he sings in falsetto about making a sacrifice & while the song “Suburbian Born” is only a minute long, he raps about getting closer to this guy over a more dreamy instrumental & the effects on his voice were a nice touch. After singing about how it’s ok over a synth pop instrumental on the 30 second “Kin”, we go into the song “Runner”. It has an amazing instrumental that gets more layered as it progresses & the Roy Blair hook is infectious, but I wish Kevin added another verse. Preferably a longer one. After the “Flintridge” interlude, we go into the track “Papercut”. Here, Kevin passionately raps about his sexuality over a wavy guitar & some beautiful background vocals. ”

June 29th” is a 48 second guitar ballad about flying away while the track “Miserable America” insightfully sings about the struggles of being a gay African American over an art pop beat. The title track is about cutting of a simple girl & his parents because of his sexuality over a laidback indie rock instrumental while the penultimate track “Echo” talks about life crashing down on him & running away from home at 17. Also, I absolutely love how the tension rises & falls consistently throughout. The album then finishes with “I Do (End Credits)”, which is pretty much a “fuck you” to everyone who’s rejected him (even his mother) over an instrumental that sounds inspired by Tyler, The Creator’s classic 2013 sophomore album Wolf. I also like how he pitched his voice throughout.

As much as I enjoy Kevin Abstract’s last album, this is his best one yet. Aside from the interludes, the production is beautiful & we get to see Kevin at his most vulnerable.

Score: 4/5