BROCKHAMPTON-SATURATION III Review
The self-proclaimed boyband/rap collective BROCKHAMPTON has been having a fantastic year. From relatively humble beginnings in 2016 (the ALL-AMERICAN TRASH mixtape and main member Kevin Abstract’s debut album American Boyfriend) the group has put out three studio (a.k.a Romil Hemnani’s bedroom) albums, a short film, two online merchandise launches, and held a nation-wide tour all in the span of eight months. In addition, we can expect a second tour in January, a feature-length documentary, and their next, post-Saturation trilogy project entitled “TEAM EFFORT” coming next year.
While the ordinary person might expect a music group’s quality to plummet duringthe release of 50+ songs in the span of half a year, each installment of the SATURATION trilogy is unique and continually innovative. The sound of the original album, SATURATION I, feels like the Southern cousin of The Odd Future Tapes, dealing with post-college angst and the disillusioned position many young adults feel themselves tossed around in, while SATURATION II, as signified by the Winnebago-style album artwork and closing tracks, revolves much more around the breezy and dynamic influence of Blonde-era Frank Ocean.
The final SATURATION album is a different beast entirely, replacing the aggressive bangers scattered around the first two projects with a more wintery and introspective set of tracks. Openers BOOGIE and ZIPPER are easily the most off-the-walls the album gets, with the group members (standouts on this project being Kevin Abstract, Dom McLennon and Matt Champion) trading bars over beats spawned straight out of an FL Studio circus. JOHHNY, previously known as “WILDIN” from Abstract’s Instagram Live videos, has one of the most memorable hooks on the album, balanced by incredible verses from Joba and Kevin (“I could’ve got a job at McDonald’s, but I like curly fries/That’s a metaphor for my life, and I like taller guys”).
One of the largest notable improvements in the group concerns the pitch-shifted vocals, a trademark element of most BROCKHAMPTON songs. On the first two entries in the trilogy, tracks like JELLO, TOKYO, and 2PAC proved grating and lacking replayability, mainly stemming from the frankly annoying experimental vocals, but on the third entry, especially on JOHNNY, LIQUID, and BLEACH, they’re polished and well-crafted to compliment the group’s bars. Speaking of BLEACH, on top of being one of the best songs the group has put out to date (“They said do you make mistakes or do you make a change?/Or do you draw the line for when it’s better days?/You taste the wind for when it’s cold and not to kill our flame/I wonder who’s to blame”), it serves as a jump from the energetic starting tracks to the longer and quieter moments of the album, notable standouts being the carefree HOTTIE and straight earworm RENTAL. SISTER/NATION serves as the “Nights” of SATURATION III, bridging braggadocios energy from Merlyn and Kevin to a multi-faceted closer towards introspection. The final SATURATION album begins to end similarly to the second, with shimmering vocals from singer BEARFACE, thenswitching up to a loungey cypher featuring political comments from all the group’s main rappers, Kevin, Ameer, Dom, and Matt, that channels the airy essence of Kanye’s “Last Call”.
Kevin Abstract and company have possibly created the greatest single-year rap trilogy in history (not that there’s much competition for the spot), paving a road for self-made artists of all creeds. The music and BROCKHAMPTON itself stands for inclusivity and creative output and expertly channels modern youth culture while simultaneously innovating in the alt-rap genre. We can only pray they keep outdoing themselves.
(9/10)
