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This album was released on June 9th this year. BROCKHAMPTON is a Hip Hop collective that’s been quickly gaining popularity ever since 2014, when the crew’s most popular member, Kevin Abstract, dropped his debut album, MTV1987. The group is comprised of Kevin Abstract, Ameer Vann, Merlyn Wood, Dom McLennon, JOBA, Q3, Romil Hemnani, bearface. & Matt Champion. There are also non-musical talents in the crew, including HK Covers, who I’m actually the most familiar with out of all of them. I’ve been following his blog since 2014. He’s one of my favorite graphic designers. The first time I ever heard of Kevin Abstract was in 2014 when I saw a cover for his music that HK Covers designed. I was curious about Kevin, but for whatever reason I just never ended up checking out his music until recently. He’s the only artist in the collective who’s music I’ve ever heard, so I don’t really have a solid idea of what this project’s sound will be. I’ve heard great things about it tho, and I really enjoyed Kevin Abstract’s latest album, so I think I’m gonna enjoy this. Every song is produced by Romil Hemnani, except where noted.

Track 1: Heat (Performed by Ameer Vann) Feat. Merlyn Wood, Dom McLennon, JOBA & Matt Champion

Okay, this is already REALLY different from anything that was on Kevin Abstract’s album. The production is a lot harder. I guess this is a more traditional style. Ameer’s on the first verse. Okay, this is NOT what I was expecting at all. This is dope tho. I’m glad it’s not one of those situations where the only member that can rap is the one we’re all familiar with, and the other guys are trash. Everything’s going well so far tho. Ameer Vann is dope.

I love to watch ’em squirm / I love when bitches bleed / If she’s sucking on the barrel, you can’t hear her scream / So kiss the fucking carpet / This aggravated Larson / And then I’m out the door / It’s monsters in your home / Black gloves, mask on, muzzle plated chrome.

This shit is hard as fuck. I’m so surprised. I guess it was dumb for me to assume that they’d all be like Kevin Abstract. This shit is so fuckin’ gangsta. I love this hook. Merlyn Wood’s on the second verse. Holy shit. BRUH. Okay, I fucking love these guys. This dude’s delivery is so fucking dope. He has a really animated style. He almost reminds me of ODB, except instead of just making bizarre moaning noises and singing terribly he’s actually rapping well. Man, Dom McLennon’s delivery is awesome too. Okay, THESE DUDE’S ARE FUCKIN’ AWESOME. For me the main appeal here is their delivery, kinda like Flatbush Zombies & The Gravediggaz. They aren’t Horrorcore or anything, but their eccentric deliveries kinda reminded me of them. This shit is just super hard. Dom fuckin’ killed this shit.

I’m trying to make it to tomorrow / Internal honesty could be the hardest pill to swallow / So I need two shots of everything that’s on the fuckin’ menu / I’m dancing with myself; setting fire to the venue, motherfucker.

Oh, maaan… This bridge from JOBA is HARD as fuck. Dude… This is crazy. I feel like if every member of Odd Future was normal, this is what it would sound like.

I’ll break your neck so you can watch your back.

This is one of the hardest songs from 2017 that I’ve heard. I’m loving this shit. JOBA’s screaming like this is Heavy Metal or something, but for whatever reason it’s not bothering me. There’s also an electric guitar in the beat. Would this be considered Nu Metal? I guess it could be… Matt Champion’s verse was pretty good. His flow and delivery were nothing special, but I really liked it lyrically. This is awesome. I definitely fuck with this shit. This is dope af.

Track 2: Gold (Performed by Matt Champion) Feat. Kevin Abstract, Merlyn Wood, Ameer Vann, Dom McLennon & JOBA [Prod. Q3]

OOOOhhh fuuuuuk… Lmao. This beat is fucking fantastic. The hook from Kevin is nice. Matt’s verse was decent. His flow was really cool. This song isn’t that interesting lyrically so far.

Keep a gold chain on my neck / Fly as a jet / Boy, better treat me with respect.

It’s pretty basic stuff. This is great sonically tho. Ameer Vann’s verse was cool, and I like the way Merlyn came in for a quick handful of lines in the middle. Merlyn’s verse kinda sucked to be honest. I still really like his delivery, but something about this verse just seemed lazy. He had the least interesting flow so far, and towards the end of the verse he kinda just started repeating the same lines as if it was a hook or bridge. Dom McLennon’s flow was smoooooth as hell on this shit tho. He definitely had my favorite verse. I liked JOBA’s singing on the outro too. This is a really dope song. I liked the previous track more, but this was still really fucking good. This is dope af to me.

Track 3: Star (Performed by Kevin Abstract) Feat. Dom McLennon & Ameer Vann [Prod. Jabari Manwa]

Oh my fuck. Lmao. This beat is amazing. Good lord. Dom McLennon’s on the first verse. His flow is really nice. Man… To me these guys really sound like A$AP Mob if A$AP Mob could rap. I’m having trouble thinking of the perfect comparison to make. I like the way Ameer Vann comes in right behind Dom. This shit is so hard. Bruh… You know what would be fucking awesome? A remix of this song featuring the Migos. That would be a fucking dream come true. This is already really dope tho. LMAO. I love the way Kevin comes in right after Ameer Vann with this line.

Heath Ledger with some dreads / I just gave my nigga head.

Kevin killed this shit. Man, I’m loving this album so far. Lmao. I definitely fuck with this track. The only thing I can nitpick is the fact that they all used pretty much the same flow, but it honestly didn’t even really bother me that much. This song is fucking great.

Track 4: Boys (Performed by Ameer Vann) Feat. Matt Champion, Dom McLennon, Merlyn Wood & Kevin Abstract [Prod. Jabari Manwa]

This beat is dope af. Okay so far this project really just sounds like a collection of really catchy singles that have a lot of mainstream appeal. That’s not really a bad thing. As you can see I’m really enjoying it so far. They actually do this sound justice unlike a lot of other collectives these days. This hook from Kevin Abstract is cool. Ameer’s on the first verse. Man, this production is so fucking good. Ameer did his thing. Matt Champion’s verse was alright. He’s definitely my least favorite member. Nothing about him really stands out in my opinion. This bridge from Merlyn Wood is awesome. The vocal effect he’s using makes his voice sound really robotic, but not in a bad way. I like it a lot. Dom had the best verse. He was using the same exact flow that everyone used on the previous track at first, but he eventually switched it up towards the end of his verse. I like this song. The hook lasts a little too long for me personally, and I wasn’t really that interested in this lyrically, but it’s still a really catchy track, and I love the production. This is dope.

Track 5: 2Pac (Performed by Ameer Vann) Feat. Kevin Abstract [Co-Prod. Jabari Manwa]

This beat is cool. It’s a lot smoother and more laid back than the others so far. Ameer Vann’s going in using a voice synthesizer. I just listened to the whole song. Nah… I’m not feelin’ this one. That vocal effect was a poor artistic decision in my opinion, and Kevin’s vocals on the outro were heavily edited as well. It just doesn’t sound very good. The verse from Ameer is dedicated to his deceased mother. It was decent I guess. There was nothing wrong with it. His flow was nothing special. The only thing I really liked about this was the production, which didn’t even really stand out that much. I’m not feelin’ this one. This is wack to me honestly.

Track 6: Skit 1 (Performed by Jabari Manwa & Robert Ontenient)

This skit was weird as hell. I don’t understand it. I mean, I literally can’t understand it because most of it is in Spanish. The production sounds really cool tho. Actually it kinda sounds like the music that played in the background of Tech N9ne’s dumbass “News With Mark Alford 2” skit. I thought it sounded interesting tho.

Track 7: Fake (Performed by Ameer Vann) Feat. Dom McLennon & Meryln Wood [Co-Prod. Q3]

This beat is dope af. I like the hook from Kevin Abstract too. It sounds really good, despite the pitch of the vocals being shifted up just like on the previous song. Damn. Ameer’s rapping with a voice synthesizer on this track too. It sounds better here than it did on the previous track, but I still kinda wish he didn’t do that. It’s not too bad tho. His flow is really nice. His verse was great. Dom’s singing his verse with autotune. You’d think it would sound annoying as hell with the voice synthesizer, but it actually sounds really fuckin’ good. It actually kinda sounds like a little kid singing. Just imagine kids rapping this song. It’s not hard. They sound like kids. In a cool way tho. Merlyn’s verse kinda sucked to be honest. His flow was pretty weak, and the lyrics were a little dumb. It wasn’t too bad tho. This is honestly one of my favorite songs on the album. There are a lot of things they did with this track that shouldn’t work, but surprisingly they pulled it off. This is dope af.

Track 8: Bank (Performed by Dom McLennon) Feat. Kevin Abstract & Ameer Vann

This hook from Dom McLennon is cool. It’s kinda hard to understand what he’s saying, but it sounds pretty good. This beat is fucking awesome. I like Dom’s aggressive delivery on this first verse. I’m starting to forget what their actual voices sound like. I can’t tell if he’s using a voice synthesizer right now or not. I think he is. Wait never mind. I don’t think he is. His flow on this first verse was really dope. This bridge is pretty cool too. It sounds like Kevin’s just doing some background vocals. Ameer’s on the second verse. I love the way the beat switched up for him. Jesus. This production is amazing. His verse wasn’t that impressive technically, but his voice sounded so good over this beat. This is a really weird track, but I love it. This is dope af.

Track 9: Skit 2 (Performed by Robert Ontenient)

This skit is also mostly in Spanish. I guess I should look up what’s being said… Okay, let’s see. I’m gonna go back and see what the first skit was about first. Okay, the first one is some shit about Robert destroying a house and never being seen again. Alright, let’s see what this second one’s about. Woah… Holy fuck. This is creepy as hell. It’s fucking awesome tho.

I don’t think anybody will remember me after I kill myself tonight.

I hope this actually goes somewhere and they explain what the hell these skits are about. I’m gonna be annoyed if the third skit is just as strange, but doesn’t answer any questions. This is really cool tho.

Track 10: Trip (Performed by Kevin Abstract) Feat. Ameer Vann, Dom McLennon & JOBA [Co-Prod. Kiko Merley]

This hook from Kevin is great. The beat is amazing too. Kevin’s got some really weird vocal effects on his voice for this first verse, but it sounds good. It kinda sounds like something Kanye would do. Ameer used the same vocal effect for his verse. I feel like something like this would normally irritate the dogshit outta me, but it sounds really good here. They sound like robots, but not in a bad way. Dom McLennon definitely had my favorite verse.

Everybody smiling, I don’t see what’s funny / Everybody friends, guess I wasn’t lucky / Family full of athletes, I was kind of chubby / Shit was never sunny; wrists were sorta bloody.

Okay, THIS might actually be my favorite song. I’ve been wanting to say that after almost every track, but this seriously is really fuckin’ good. I love this track. This is dope af to me.

Track 11: Swim (Performed by Merlyn Wood) Feat. Dom McLennon, Kevin Abstract & JOBA [Co-Prod. Q3]

Ooooh. LORD. This beat is fucking incredible. This hook from JOBA & Kevin Abstract is really cool too. Lmao. Lord have mercy. This is so good. The first verse from Merlyn was surprisingly normal. He didn’t sound weird as fuck on this track at all. It was dope. Everybody’s singing on this track with autotune. It sounds really good tho. Dom McLennon’s verse was good. It just ended. This song has a much more simplistic structure than most of the other songs—it’s just a hook, then two verses, and then an outro—but it doesn’t sound undercooked like 2Pac did. Man, it’s gonna be impossible to choose a favorite track from this album. This shit is dope af.

Track 12: Bump (Performed by Dom McLennon) Feat. Matt Champion, Merlyn Wood, Ameer Vann & Kevin Abstract

Woooah… Lmao. Holy fuck. Okay, this track is really fucking hard. This is more like the first track. I just realized that the intro to this album was really misleading. This isn’t a super aggressive, confrontational album. This is the first track on the entire project that sounds like it belongs on the same album as the intro. It’s not really much of a problem for me personally tho. Merlyn’s verse was crazy. I mean, his delivery was crazy. It wasn’t too impressive technically, but it was entertaining. Woah. What the fuck? This shit just switched up REAL hard. This is like… Hmm… I can’t think of a good comparison to make… Okay, you know how on No Exit by Childish Gambino the beat is really dark and the song sounds really chaotic, but the hook sounds really soft compared to the rest of the song? It’s the same with this track. Kevin’s singing on the hook, and the production switches from really hard bass hits to guitars. Ameer’s verse was cool. Dom did his thing. I’m not crazy about the intro and bridge from Matt Champion, but it’s not bad. This song’s got one of the more underwhelming beats, and I honestly didn’t even really like the… Well… Hmm… Actually, this entire song really isn’t that great. Now that I think about it, the only thing that really stands out is everybody’s aggressive delivery. I don’t think this is a bad song, but it just doesn’t really do much for me. It’s decent tho. I just won’t be returning to it personally.

Track 13: Cash (Performed by Kevin Abstract) Feat. Merlyn Wood, Ameer Vann, Dom McLennon & JOBA [Co-Prod. Jabari Manwa]

Oh fucking shit. This beat is amazing. The hook is really stupid lyrically, but it sounds fucking great. Kevin only spit like 4 bars, but they were dope. Merlyn’s verse was good too, and I really liked how it ended with that bridge from Kevin. Ameer’s verse was cool. Dom did his thing. The vocals on the outro from JOBA were nice. The song just ended. This is dope. It’s definitely not one of my favorites. The only thing that really blew me away was the production. The verses were cool tho, and I really liked JOBA’s outro. This is dope.

Track 14: Skit 3 (Performed by Robert Ontenient & Jabari Manwa)

I just listened to this entire track. Of course nothing is explained. I fucking knew this was gonna happen. Robert’s just talking about how sometimes he doesn’t feel like he fits in with his friends, and he doesn’t feel comfortable in his own skin. I get what he’s saying. This is unfortunately really relatable for me, but… I mean… Come on… I wanted an explanation for the other shit. What the hell was that house that got destroyed? Who is this dude who killed himself? Who is this guy? What was the creepy background music about? This track’s background music is really light. It doesn’t sound creepy like the other tracks. I thought the creepy skits were really cool, but they didn’t go anywhere. They were really pointless to be honest. It is what it is tho… Smh…

Track 15: Milk (Performed by Kevin Abstract) Feat. Ameer Vann, Merlyn Wood, Matt Champion & Dom McLennon [Co-Prod. Q3]

I ain’t the same nigga that I once was / I lost my fucking mind, and then I fell in love / I did a bunch of drugs because I couldn’t sleep.

Wow. The exact same thing happened to me, except in the opposite order. I liked that intro verse from Ameer. Holy fuck. Okay, this beat is fucking awesome. Lmao. I love this verse from Merlyn too. He’s actually rapping really well instead of just being different.

Walking through the pit falls of a college student / Crazy how you get them letters, and that make you feel accepted ’til you walking ’round the campus and you the only African.

Damn. I feel that. That’s not gonna happen to me tho because I already visited Pace, and most of the people are racially unclassifiable just from looking at them, just like me. That’s what grade school was like for me tho. Oh fuuck. Man, this hook is the most relatable thing ever…

I gotta get better at being me / I gotta get better at everything / I just want a friend that I can hang out with / Someone I can sit around, lay on my couch with.

Wooah. What the fuck? This verse from Kevin is crazy. The vocal effect he’s using sounds so fucking bizarre, but in a cool way. Duuude… Okay, I know I’m saying this about pretty much every line in this song, but this shit is way too relatable.

Sometimes I barely ever feel a fucking thing / Sometimes I wish that my fucking phone would fucking ring / And go off, and wake a nigga up / I’m used to being sad, and I’m used to being down / I’m used to being used / I miss my boy being around.

The bridge from Matt Champion was cool. It wasn’t anything that couldn’t have been performed by any other member tho. He honestly sounded exactly like Kevin Abstract to me. The final verse from Dom McLennon was fantastic. His flow kinda made it sound more like Spoken Word. It was awesome tho. It was more personal than any of the other verses. I definitely fuck with this track. This shit is dope af.

Track 16: Face (Performed by JOBA) Feat. Dom McLennon, Matt Champion & Ameer Vann [Prod. Jabari Manwa & JOBA]

This hook from JOBA is fantastic. He’s singing his fuckin’ ass off. This beat is really nice too. I love Dom’s flow on this first verse. His melodic delivery sounds really good. Matt Champion’s verse was actually pretty good too. This is pretty much a love song. It’s really fucking good tho. Honestly… Lmao. This is definitely gonna be a candidate for my favorite track on the album. The hook from JOBA is amazing. Ameer Vann’s verse was great.

You don’t love me like you say you do / White lies hold the hidden truth / You keep leaving when I need you most / It’s true what they say about love had, and love lost / Here you are and now you’re gone / I’m left alone in the same bed / I wake up in a cold sweat.

Oh man… JOBA’s verse was so fucking good. I love this guys singing. It’s reminding me of Sleepy Brown & Andre 3000 for some reason. This motherfucker sounds like he’s about to break down and start crying right now. This shit is amazing. I definitely fuck with this track. This is dope af.

Track 17: Waste (Performed by bearface.) [Prod. bearface.]

Damn. This dude is singin’ his motherfuckin’ ass off right now. Ooooh, fuck… It sounds so fucking good when those drums finally come in. Goddamn. This dude is a really fucking good singer. This is so fucking good. This isn’t Hip Hop, but… Again, this is another track in the running for my favorite song. This dude is singin’ like a motherfucker. Goddamn. Lmao. It’s got a pretty straightforward instrumental; it’s just a light electric guitar melody with some smooth percussion. I don’t usually like electric guitars, but this shit sounds fantastic. This is dope af.

Final Thoughts:

This album is phenomenal. I’m really glad I listened to this shit. I had no idea who the fuck BROCKHAMPTON was like a week ago, and now I see them as the most exciting Hip Hop collective to emerge in recent memory. They’re like a really great mixture of Odd Future, Kanye West, A$AP Mob, SAVEMONEY, and maybe a slight pinch of Flatbush Zombies. I’d say they’re much more interesting than OF, A$AP, and SAVEMONEY as a whole tho. None of the members are as talented as Earl or Frank Ocean, but in general they seem to be more consistent than OF. They’re not super technical lyricists, but they can rap. Again, they pretty much do what A$AP Mob does, except better. Actually, they’re probably more similar to SAVEMONEY. They’re definitely more introspective than A$AP Mob. This Romil Hemnani guy tho… That dude needs more placements. The production throughout this entire project was almost always super impressive. If I HAD to put each member in order from my favorite to least favorite, I’d have to say Kevin Abstract is my favorite, then Dom McLennon, then JOBA—even though he seems to be more of a background vocalist—then bearface., then Ameer Vann, then Merlyn Wood, and then Matt Champion. I think I named everybody aside from the producers. It’s kinda tough with bearface. & JOBA since they didn’t have as much of a presence as all the other members, but I really loved what little I heard from them. I’m still a little irritated about the whole thing with the skits; none of that shit is ever explained. It seems like there’s a story behind it, but it’s never really made clear. They’ve already announced that Saturation 2 will be coming out later this summer tho, so maybe it’ll be further developed on that project. I also hope that bearface. & JOBA contribute more to that project than they did here because they seem really fucking cool. So yeah. I definitely recommend this project. It kinda just sounds like a compilation, but that’s to be expected from a project with so many different members. This is definitely one of the best albums I’ve heard this year. It’s dope af.

Favorite Song: Milk

Least Favorite Song: 2Pac

Verdict:

A

Watch the videos below for more thoughts on this album