BROCKHAMPTON has released a new body of work for anyone who is currently going through a tough time, their sixth studio album titled ‘ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE‘.
Channelling old-school 90s hip-hop with their lead single ‘BUZZCUT’, the boys have travelled to another level of art and creative expression. The track wasn’t an easy one to record, with Kevin Abstract re-doing his verse over 100 times to get it right. The song samples Merlyn Wood’s verse from their track ‘BLEACH‘, and uses the beat from Jay-Z’s ‘Dead Presidents‘. The music video for ‘BUZZCUT’ is a really entertaining watch. The footage is in 4:3 formatting and uses a fish-eye lens with increased distortion and contrast.
Another track inspired by old-school rap is ‘CHAIN ON‘, featuring JPEGMAFIA. It holds an extremely strong message opposing police brutality, specifically in the case of George Floyd. The band speak up about racism in the police force, irritating the open wounds of many. Closing the song with Wu-Tang Clan’s ‘C.R.E.A.M‘, the song holds a fairly simple production with a very strong lyrical value. ‘WINDOWS’ and ‘DON’T SHOOT UP THE PARTY’ also broaden the horizon, sharing social issues in American culture like racism, homophobia, gun violence and paranoia. BROCKHAMPTON depict these issues melodically, with personal verses from each member who shares their own experiences with these issues.
“And these days no license / Only take the Jeep if my boyfriend is drivin’ / Plus he got the kinda skin that make the police like him”
The album includes a lot of collaborations, but not all of them are credited. ‘COUNT ON ME‘ has a verse from A$AP Rocky and SoGoneSoFlexy, and the chorus features vocals by Shawn Mendes. The fans would know that this is actually an inside joke and a reference from a previous BROCKHAMPTON song ‘STAR’, where Kevin mentions Shawn in his verse.
It feels funny and slightly staged that BROCKHAMPTON has got both A$AP Rocky and A$AP Ferg on the track ‘BANKROLL‘. This is one of the few tunes on the album that you can actually vibe to, with not much of a deep in the lyrics. The same can be said for ‘I’LL TAKE YOU ON‘ featuring Charlie Wilson, and ‘OLD NEWS‘ featuring Baird. The band have seemed to dive deep into more serious topics on this release, so it’s nice to have a few tracks that aren’t as deep.
A theme embedded into the album is the suicide of Joba’s father. It was first presented on the track ‘THE LIGHT‘, forming part of the album’s title. ‘THE LIGHT’ is the heaviest and most personal track on the album, both sonically and lyrically. Joba expresses his trauma by sharing the story of his father’s suicide, whilst Kevin Abstract ties in with stories of his family and his childhood in Texas. This is when the band start to promote the positive message: “The light is worth the wait”. These stories continue into ‘DEAR LORD‘, where the band comes together to form a choir, praying in a gospel hymn for Joba and his father. Bearface takes the leading role in this song, which makes me wonder if Kayne West was influencing the band as well.
‘THE LIGHT PT. ll’ is the final track on the album, representing someone who has overcome their personal trauma. Joba is addressing his father, questioning his choices and reflects on his own life. The line “The light is worth the wait, I promise” is regularly repeated, as a reminder to their audience to just keep going and stay positive.
BROCKHAMPTON have created a rather personal record, not than just delivering bangers to propel themselves into the music charts. They’ve been dealing with the pandemic like everyone else, and you can feel that they’ve grown to not care about success. BROCKHAMPTON are here to enjoy themselves and do what they do best.
