BY JOSEPH DEBELL, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Album Rating: 1/5
Brockhampton is a boy band of rappers, singers and producers that really have made a distinct sound in music during their discography. During their time that they broke out, they dropped some stellar albums. More specifically the group’s trilogy of Saturation. And while the group was getting more and more credit success, it would be their popularity that would lead to their downfall in the end.
During their fall off, I still enjoyed the records Iridescence and Ginger. Despite a population of fans suggesting that Iridescence did not meet expectations, and Ginger was too moody or subtle in comparison to other records in their discography. Regardless of how others felt, my personal favorite of their entire discography is the album “Roadrunner.”
However, even I can recognize how Roadrunner has not provided the fanbase with the same longevity or reply ability as the records inside the Saturation trilogy. During this time of album rollouts after the Saturation highlights, the fanbase knew the end of Brockhampton was coming and soon. In my opinion, Brockhampton stumbled over the finish line of their record deal by releasing their second to last record, “The Family.”
The Family is held down by Kevin Abstract’s vocals and lyrics. This record does include some interesting production, and thoughtful lyrics from Abstract. His lyrics on this record provide a lot of food for thought as he describes his perspective of Brockhampton while they were going through all of the drama.
However, while I do enjoy the perspective of Kevin Abstract from a fan perspective, I’m left with more questions than answers after listening to The Family. Not to mention that a lot of the songs in this LP are disappointing because they seem really unfinished.
“The Family” sounds like potentially good starting points for more finished and creative songs. The biggest example of this is the song “All That.” This song includes an interpolation of the Nickelodeon show titled “All That.” This really seems like a forced idea from Brockhampton and comes across unflattering. It almost seems like by trying to do a lot on this song, they really get nothing accomplished.
Another uncomplimentary moment on this LP is the song “Gold Teeth.” The vocals here are grating and are out of key. Sounds like a worse and tone-deaf version of “OutKast.”
The only compliments I can give to this record are the really fulfilling and pensive lyrics from Kevin Abstract on the songs “37th” and the closing song named after the boy band titled “Brockhampton.” The closer really provides an interesting look into Kevin Abstract’s thoughts about the group ending in general. He even goes as far as to give compliments to certain band members while criticizing himself when addressing drama from Brockhampton.
debelljb22@bonaventure.edu
