A relatively new addition to the community of collectives in hip-hop, Barely Legal represents the grassroots approach to the idea of collaborative creativity: truly do it all yourselves.
Rightfully inclining toward title “Barely Legal Collective,” the Florida-based group’s members aren’t just the rappers and singers you see in their music videos, but even the one’s behind the camera as well. They’re leaving me with hints Brockhampton’s inclusively celebratory approach, wherein everyone from designers and directors to rappers and producers embrace the group’s communal persona – but that’s not to say their identity is purely comparative. Barely Legal’s newest video for “CHACHASLIDE” is emphatic proof of this; they’ve consistently taken a sample platter approach towards genre, but always maintain the same level of energy and excitement each and every time.
A hypothetical election between Barely Legal’s Chowder Band$ and featured artist Jay Browne as opposing – and cartoonishly viscious – candidates acts not only the story for the music video, but the social media marketing that preceded it. This is the point where acting as a collective stands out especially well, as there’s a shared ethos of exactly how the song would sound, how the music video would look, and how both of those would be revealed to their growing audience.
In what’s easily their most refined work since “Dat Way,” Barely Legal Collective embody the idea of expecting the unexpected from a stylistic standpoint – and I have no idea what to expect in the future from these guys. Your guess is as good as mine.
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