With their June released album, Saturation, they quickly rose to the front page of hip-hop forums such as Reddit’s r/hiphopheads and kanyetothe.com, but they actually had their beginnings years ago.
In 2016, rap super-group, collective, and boy band (as they like to call themselves), BROCKHAMPTON, released their first project, a mixtape titled All-American Trash. While this mixtape did prove that the group had potential, someone listening to it would never have predicted the takeover that the group has been plotting and producing over the last couple of months. With tracks like “Ben Carson” and “Contacts” garnering early support and audience build-up, it would be unfair to say that the group’s quality of output went from 0 to 100- but it has skyrocketed.
This summer, they have already dropped one critically acclaimed and hip-hop fan loved project; however, they’re planning on dropping yet another one soon this August: Saturation 2. Nobody can say for sure how they create and release so much quality music in short time-spans, but there are a few ideas that can be thrown out there. For one, all group-members live together in LA. Maybe this explains how they always have enough time to make music and create what makes their music good- the chemistry. With all legendary hip-hop collectives (not comparing or praising BROCKHAMPTON to these groups’ talent or legacy, just mentioning the utmost examples) such as Wu-Tang and Odd Future, the one thing that kept their music rock solid and of the highest quality was the chemistry between group members that could be felt by any listener. With BROCKHAMPTON, this presence of chemistry is felt as much as ever.
But, how they all got to the point of forming a collective and starting their “boy band house” is actually another story. While some members of the band knew each other and started making music with each other earlier on due to being school-mates, some of the members actually helped form BROCKHAMPTON on aforementioned Kanye West fan-forum kanyetothe.com. Crazy how the group went from being formed on the website to being talked about daily on the music forum’s front page.
In 2017, the band escalated to being an all-around entertainment group, after being offered their own television show on Viceland, a show currently in its first season titled American Boyband. Viceland’s website, I find, summarizes the show, as well as BROCKHAMPTON, pretty well- “Kevin Abstract wants to be a pop star. Along with his self-proclaimed boy band ‘Brockhampton’, he is on a mission to translate his faithful online following into real world success.”
Members
Kevin Abstract
The most popular and wide-spread member, Kevin Abstract, is known as being one of the group’s pioneers and “front-men”. As the hook vocalist on many of the band’s songs such as “GOLD”, “BOYS”, and more recently “GUMMY” and “SWAMP”, Kevin is known as turning tracks into instant catchy hits that are unable to escape the heads of listeners. As well as being a member of BROCKHAMPTON, however, Kevin also has a solo career that has turned the heads of hip-hop fans. In 2016, Kevin dropped a solo album titled American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story. This album was one of the best projects of 2016. The album, which was more sonically versatile than his 2014 project MTV1987, dealt with themes rare in hip-hop such as sexuality and family troubles, all the while proving that Kevin does, indeed, have all the proper tools to reach what he wants to become- a pop star.
Listen to “Empty” off of All American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love below:
Ameer Vann
This next member is one that many fans consider the best lyricist of the group. In songs such as “STAR” and “HEAT” off of Saturation, Ameer can be heard snapping over the instrumental coldly, providing for comparisons to legendary rappers such as Pusha T. While Ameer Vann does have a solo career, it has not been delved into as much as Kevin Abstract (of all the band members, Kevin is the only one who has really gained mass traction and dropped a good amount of work as a solo artist). However, his catalog does have a few highlights. I’m looking forward to wherever Ameer Vann takes his solo career, as well as BROCKHAMPTON, next.
Listen to Ameer Vann single “High Tolerance” below:
Merlyn Wood
“That’s so Merlyn, that’s so Merlyn, that’s so Merlyn”, could be heard echoing through the track “GOLD” off of Saturation. Of all the group members, Merlyn Wood is definitely the most noticeable character. Characterized by bright, bleached, hair, and a usually half-nude appearance, Merlyn can be identified as BROCKHAMPTON’s most enthusiastic artist. For this reason, he strikes me as a Danny Brown type of artist- someone who is a fan favorite due to his craziness on/off tracks paired with undeniable talent.
Listen to Merlyn Wood single “Flip Mo” (ft. Dom McLennon) below:
Dom McLennon
Whether or not you think of Dom as the best or most easily noticeable rapper of the band, one thing is for sure; track in and track out, Dom is the one who brings consistency to the group. Although he has not reached the likes of Ameer Vann or Kevin Abstract in terms of fan popularity, he is most respected for being the glue of the band.
Listen to Dom McLennon single “Aurora” below:
Matt Champion
In BROCKHAMPTON music videos, Matt Champion can be identified as the white guy rapping- but, he’s more than that. On the tracks he’s on, Matt’s lyrics can be heard as having a dark, almost emo, yet braggadocios contrast to the rappers around him. Lyrics such as “Lowkey I’m a heart throb, And I ain’t drop an album yet, I’m something like a poster, Sitting on your girls wall” off of “BOYS” create a presence around Matt that isn’t as instantly felt as with the other artists. Outside of BROCKHAMPTON, Matt Champion has delivered a quality EP as well as numerous singles to get the hype rolling for his own solo album to be someday heard.
Listen to Matt Champion single “Fangs” below:
JOBA
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When it comes to the group he’s apart of, JOBA almost provides everything. He raps on some songs, he sings on some songs, he produces some songs, he is part of the group’s engineering, etc. etc.
When mentioning members of the heavy-duty group, one thing is for sure- credit is due for JOBA.
Listen to 2015 JOBA single “Sad Saturdays” below:
Bear//Face
Like JOBA, bearface. provides both vocals and production. Off of Saturation, Bear//Face is actually the sole director of one of the album’s best songs, “WASTE”. Bear//Face, also provided production for earlier BROCKHAMPTON songs such as “Bet I”, “Hero”, and “Home”.
Listen to “WASTE” off of Saturation below:
Romil Hemnani
Romil Hemnani, one of the group’s main producers, produced a handful of Saturation‘s highlights, including “GOLD”, “TRIP”, “SWIM”, “BUMP”, “CASH”, “MILK”, alongside Saturation 2 single “GUMMY”. He also provided additional programming and production for other tracks, even if not primarily produced by him. When it comes to the band, Romil Hemnani has input on how a lot of the songs come out (as seen by the amount of tracks he produced solely off of Saturation).
Listen to Romil Hemnani produced track “BUMP” off of Saturation below:
Q3
Q3 is actually a subgroup of BROCKHAMPTON, consisting of members Jabari Manwa and Kiko Merley. Each of these members, however, provide production to BROCKHAMPTON in different ways and on different tracks, as well as together. Most Saturation tracks not produced by Romil Hemnani were mainly produced by Manwa and Merley, such as “GOLD” (both), “FACE” (Merley), “FAKE” (Merley), “BANK” (Manwa), and “STAR” (Manwa). Together, these two provide for a lot of the direction that BROCKHAMPTON has been headed in instrumentally. Without Jabari Manwa and Kiko Merley, some of the hard beats that BROCKHAMPTON have flowed over would not exist
Listen to Jabari Manwa produced track “STAR” off of Saturation below:
Listen to Kiko Merley produced track “FACE” off of Saturation below:
EAR FOR THE BEAT 