WHO LET THE DOPE BOYS OUT?
The American boyband Brockhampton has been teasing a new album since January 2. Later in February, hints about ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE began to pop up, but there was no release date in sight...until now.
The first major noise they made was when founding member and filmmaker Kevin Abstract and producer Romil Hemnani released their company Video Store, around the same time BH started talking about their album. It is a really sick website with a merch shop, music videos, and spotlights on three artists “to add more color and positive energy 2 the world.” You should really check it out.
Kevin Abstract has produced a number of short films over the years alongside BH and often independently. They started dropping short videos on Youtube on March 10, the first one called “MEET THE ROADRUNNERS.” The two others are Rick Rubin and RZA talking about the album which got fans even more hype.
And finally, on March 25th at 9 pm, BH broke the silence with the first single of their new project, “BUZZCUT” feat. Danny Brown. They premiered a crazy music video which was directed by Dan Streit and shot by Ashlan.
You really just have to watch the video with an open mind, but Kevin Abstract is a visionary and has a certain charm in his creative directions.
BH changes up their style a bit on “Buzzcut,” and it goes hard. Danny Brown sounds dope in the second verse and producer Jabari Manwa is now a vocalist on ROADRUNNER, also sounding great in the second chorus.
Listening to the single and watching the music video are two completely different experiences and I suggest you do both.
On Friday, March 26, BH dropped the merch for the project and tickets to the album premiere on April 9. The band is doing a live show from Shangri-La Studios in Malibu. You can get a link to the live stream here.
And if “Buzzcut” and the music video weren’t insane enough, on April 1st BH dropped “COUNT ON ME” with features from A$AP Rocky, SoGoneSoFlexy, and vocals from Ryan Beatty and Shawn Mendes.
“Count On Me” is pretty mainstream sounding compared to some of their tracks on previous albums, but doesn’t fall short of any BH hype. Like “Sugar” that blew up last summer, BH combines rap and pop with hints of the edgy, indie personality that every band member has.
The band has previously talked about a feature with Mendes and A$AP’s vibe flows right into this song. Supposedly, he’s going to appear on the album again. In 2018 when promoting the I’ll be there tour, BH released a snippet of “Bankroll” featuring A$AP, and Kevin Abstract was hinting that they are reworking the song for the new album.
Creative director Henock "HK" Sileshi said “Count On Me” with Flexy’s verse is his favorite song on the new project. With such different vibes on “Count On Me” and the first single “Buzzcut,” fans really don’t know what’s in store for ROADRUNNER.
Luckily, we will find out this Friday. Stream and jam out to “BUZZCUT” and “COUNT ON ME” all week.
