REVIEW: "BUZZCUT" Season With BROCKHAMPTON

In case you missed it: I wrote a brief post about artists I’m hoping to hear from in 2021. BROCKHAMPTON was on that list, and my hope is here. Did I manifest this? I guess so.

This past week, BROCKHAMPTON released a new single and music video called BUZZCUT. The song has a guest appearance with Danny Brown, a Detroit rapper known for his infectious laugh, unique voice and off-the-wall lyrics. It felt so good to hear the group again, and BUZZCUT seems to be a sneak peek of what’s in store for this new Brockhampton era.

The song is pretty much only the boy band's frontman Kevin Abstract rapping about life since the release of GINGER. He discusses the reality around the success of BROCKHAMPTON's single, SUGAR, saying that the platinum record won’t matter in the face of the law. This is a touch of Kevin’s common themes about being a Black man in the United States.

He also might have hinted toward the boy band’s split with former member and Kevin’s childhood friend, Ameer Vann, amid sexual and emotional abuse allegations. Kevin misses his friend and cites the breakup as a reason the band took a brief hiatus to mourn the loss of a dear friend. ICYMI: Listen to DEARLY DEPARTED for more details.

Kevin expresses regret about signing to a major label after the success of the Saturation Trilogy. BROCKHAMPTON is signed to RCA for a $15 million deal requiring the boys to release 6 albums in the span of 3 years. These feelings are a follow-up to a deleted voice memo posted on Kevin’s website stating that writing songs for an album is not as joyous when you’re obligated to do it to fulfill a contract.

Danny Brown follows Kevin’s verse with hard-hitting bars about Internet culture using pop culture words like “incels” and “normies.” He also throws in a few braggadocious double entendres like “A veteran with the medicine pen,” meaning Danny is a veteran in the rap game (this is true) and his rhymes are like medicine to the rap game, but also he smokes a lot of weed (out of a THC pen).

The song ends with Joba, Kevin, and Merlyn Wood on a slowed and psychedelic outro contemplating who God is.

Overall, the song is a complete 180 flip from the themes and sound of GINGER. The group is back to being the rowdy and experimental group that saturated the music industry during summer 2017. I think Danny Brown was the perfect feature for the group, as he can match the BROCKHAMPTON's in-your-face and noisy music style. I’m excited to hear more from the group, especially Matt Champion, Bearface and Dom McClennon since we didn’t get to hear from them in this song. Watch the video for BUZZCUT below and comment your thoughts!