BROCKHAMPTON is self proclaimed as “THE WORLD’S GREATEST BOYBAND” on Spotify and has about 9 million monthly listeners. The band was founded in San Marcos, Texas in 2015 by Kevin Abstract. BROCKHAMPTON has 15 members that range from vocalists, producers, songwriters and art directors. 

Founding members of BROCKHAMPTON including Ian Simpson (Kevin Abstract), Russell Boring (JOBA), Ameer Vann, Matt Champion and William Wood (Merlyn Wood) all met at The Woodlands High School, in the outskirts of Houston. 

The group’s newest album, “ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE,” released on April 10, consists of 13 songs and runs for a total of 46 minutes and 36 seconds, similar to past albums where they consist of 13 to 17 songs per album. 

This is their second album since removing former member, Ameer Vann in May of 2018, after sexual assault allegations came out about him. Since this incident, the group seems to still be struggling with getting fans to openly like and listen to their music. 

Not long after the album was released, a TikTok showed how to listen to their music on Spotify without financially supporting them. In the comment section, people talked about how they were either not listening to the band for the way that they handled the Vann situation or to say that they love the album and have no problem with BROCKHAMPTON because Vann was removed years ago. 

 Kevin Abstract tweeted on March 3, 2021, “2 brockhampton albums in 2021 – these will be our last.” However, it was pointed out in the comments that they notoriously say it will be their last album before they drop another album. 

However, Abstract told Rolling Stone in 2019 that, “We’ve always known we didn’t want to do this forever as a group. So it’s like, let’s make the best of this opportunity and this moment. See how much of an impact we can leave before we hit that last album.” So it is clear that the band will stop making music together, eventually. 

In listening to the album, it feels well rounded and diverse, with not every song sounding  similar to  albums in the past. In their SATURATION trio, it was easy to listen to multiple songs without realizing where one ended and the other started. 

On their Spotify top 5 popular songs, new songs “BUZZCUT” (feat. Danny Brown), “COUNT ON ME” and “BANKROLL” (feat. A$AP Rocky & A$AP Ferg) have already moved to spots three, four and five. 

My three favorite  songs from the album in order are “COUNT ON ME” where the chorus is “it’ll be okay / no matter what they say about us,” which could be a hint at their understanding of how people feel about them and their music. 

In the song “WINDOWS” (feat. SoGone SoFlexy), my favorite part is verse five, where BROCKHAMPTON member JOBA raps about the current state of the world where issues like capitalism, COVID-19 and police brutality affect us all. 

“Had to take it to the streets /

Capitalistic greed, plague our society, like COVID-19 /

Those dirty hands that feed don’t buy it /

Government officials, don’t give a fuck about the children /

What do you believe? Nothing’s ever what it seems ’til you can’t deny it /

Flashpoints and flashbangs dictate defiance /

History stuck on repeat, in the loop of sirens /

Terrorizin’, always lyin’ /

God damn, tyrants, don’t play with knives kids”

The song “BANKROLL” (feat. A$AP Rocky & A$AP Ferg) was initially teased in September 2018, but  has been reworked and officially released in this most recent album. In the song, they talk about how much money they have and how it affects them. 

“Maybach Jeep, huh, raise the roof /

Know that you envy me, but I am hater-proof /

Talkin’ with Diddy, I made me a milli’ in about a day or two”

Overall, “ROADRUNNER” sounds better than their previous release, “GINGER” and has me more interested than I was in their “SATURATION” trio. It will be interesting to see which songs blow up since the album is so new. Either way, I think “ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE” will be a part of people’s summer soundtracks.