If you googled 'Brockhampton' before their Saturation trilogy, chances are you'd stumble on excerpts of their 2016 mixtape All-American Trash having learned all there is to know about an English manor, 'Brockhampton Estate'. Although by the end of 2017 - the tables hadn't just turned, but were flipped over. In just the last year alone, the 14 member Texan 'boyband' made three albums, a 'demos' album, twelve music videos, a short film, a feature length film, a tour film, a 2½ hour documentary and starred in their own VICELAND documentary series.
For a collective that met through a thread on a Kanye West fan forum, that's impressive. But what makes Brockhampton such a unique group? How can we set them apart from other rap groups like NWA and Odd Future? Well, in addition to their productivity, Brockhampton's big USP is how honest they are when it comes to nearly everything they do.
The Saturation trilogy covers a lot of themes, one of the prominent of these being homophobia, something the band's ringleader Kevin Abstract has struggled with throughout his life. Some of his best lyrics across the trilogy often deal with the struggles of living as a black, gay man in a surrounding oppressive society. His struggles are detailed particularly in Saturation II's 'JUNKY' with lyrics like, "I told my mom I was gay, why the f**k she ain't listen? // I signed a pub deal and her opinion f**kin' disappearin", "Why you always rap about bein' gay?"' // Cause not enough n****s rap and be gay and "Where I come from n****s get called "fa****" and killed // So I'ma get head from a n***a right here".
Not only do these lyrics reflect his stance on homophobia, but also reflect the way it's percived by his family, the industry and society; most notably in the last lyric mentioned above. The first half has Abstract explaining the horrific implications homosexuality (being "called fa**** and killed") has in Texas - his birthplace, highlighting the pressure on homosexuals to conform to the hyper-masculine, 'American standard' set in strongly homophobic states like Texas. Abstract then goes on to reject this pressure on his sexuality, exchanging it for pride, telling his listeners "I'ma get head" and express his homosexuality in response to those that don't want him to.
Another way Brockhampton portrays this honesty, as a team, is by acting as an antithesis of what we've come to expect from the rap genre. A lot of up-and-coming rappers choose to centre lyrics around themes like wealth, drug use and women. Brockhampton, on the other hand, have lyrics themed around a lack of wealth, the pitfalls of drug use and how women are mistreated by men in modern society. This thematic juxtaposition to modern rap feels refreshing, relatable and, more than anything, real. It also reflects the simple fact that, despite being as famous (if not more) than other rappers in the genre, they're just like us. Using their fame, talent and lyricism to highlight the real issues that affect 'real people' like us rather than jumping on the vanity bandwagon, promoting a hyper-realism of drugs and brands that only high-earning rappers are able to access.
This realistic, amateur attitude can also be found in their music videos. With rap being music's most popular genre, having passed rock just a month ago, the bar for creative music videos is at a high. Videos like Ski Mask The Slump God's Babywipe and Joji's Window, directed by Cole Bennett and BRTHR, respectively, are laden with all sorts of special effects, transitions and countless other editing techniques. Instead of following this trend, Brockhampton's music videos deploy their own unique style that resembles the attitude they have towards their music.
The first thing you notice isn't in the video itself, but in the description. This is where you find that all of Brockhampton's music videos are directed by Kevin Abstract. This alone shows you that the creative vision of the band is represented by one of its own members, rather than through someone else. It's also noticeable that the videos were either shot on film, or edited to look that way, shown by the 4:3 aspect ratio and lower quality. This alone gives their videos the post-digital, essence of nostalgia; in this case the nostalgia of picking up an old film camera, finding some friends and making some movies.
Out of their twelve music videos, HEAT (Saturation I) visualises the boyband's creativity the best. When filming HEAT in the final episode of their VICELAND Documentary, Ashlan Grey (the DP of the video and Brockhampton's creative director) explained that the original idea for the video was scrapped in favour of a one-take, uncut video, where a camera set up on a tripod was moved to each member as their verse begun. The video goes from Ameer cooly rapping his verse into the camera at the start to Joba running to and from the camera, throwing middle fingers and headbanging as he screams his verse for the whole street to hear. As simple as the premise for the video is, it manages to capture the energy of the song as well as the individual qualities of each member when it comes to their approach to music. Just like the video, for the majority throughout the Saturation trilogy, Ameer's cool, Merlyn's manic and Joba's a bit all over the place. With HEAT being Brockhampton's first single, and thus first video, of the Saturation trilogy it provides a fitting introduction to the boyband.
On the whole, in what they create, how they create it and the way they visualise those creations express a rejection to what we think we know about a 'rap group' or a 'boyband', they're not trying to be like anybody else. They understand they're not like everyone else, so instead of trying to fit in, they set themselves apart by experimenting with different genres, honest lyrics and post-digital visuals. At their core, they're still getting to grips with stardom - because at their core, they're just some (incredibly talented) guys that met up on the internet to make some (profoundly inspiring) music.