PHOTOGRAPH BY LeAnn Mueller | 57
Hot Boy Band
Brockhampton
ROCKHAMPTON BEGAN when 14 or so young rappers, producers and artists met on
a Kanye West fan forum, moved in together, and made three albums in a year. They
arrived somewhere between the anarchic rap collectivism of an early-2010s Odd
Future and a revitalized take on, well, the Backstreet Boys, matching outfits and
all — with the teenage fans to prove it. Raucous festival sets and a reported $15 million RCA deal
soon followed. Brockhampton’s music is more heart-on-sleeve than your typical turn-up fare,
and they have become only more sensitive. Their last album, 2018’s Iridescence, was a techni-
color, exceedingly personal affair that debuted at Number One (and happened to be their best).
Now, they’re working in their home on the next album, one they describe as “summery,” but
“rooted in sadness.” “It’s honest,” de facto leader Kevin Abstract says of their music. “It’s based
in love and trauma and everything that makes us who we are.” CHARLES HOLMES
B