Although the thrilling Texas-bred super group BROCKHAMPTON had supposedly closed the curtain on their performing days with Coachella earlier this year, they still had their sights set on a final album as a collective coming into this week.
Dropping The Family at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday (Nov. 17), the 17-track album consists solely of songs from frontman Kevin Abstract. Explaining this decision, Abstract penned a heartfelt note to fans on Instagram about why the band felt this was the right direction to go in, stating that the members “began to move our separate ways and focus on individual careers.” In a separate post from BH’s primary hook singer and TF‘s executive producer Bearface, he explained that The Family was meant to fill a “contractual necessity” with their label RCA, but that the entire group embraced Kevin in the process, considering he formed the band.
However, it seems as though these messages were part of a giant ruse. Hours after The Family released, band member Matt Champion and the band’s official Instagram page announced that they would be dropping another surprise album at midnight local time on Nov. 18 titled TM. Executively produced by Champion, TM actually contains songs that include all the members.
Simultaneously with TM, the band shared what could likely be their last music video ever for the fourth song “NEW SHOES.” Along with this, the group announced that they would be putting on one last live performance on Nov. 19 at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. Being streamed on the Amazon Music Twitch channel, this show will serve as the final send-off for the boys.
Before The Family came out, the band of brothers decided to put out two lead singles, the first coming on Nov. 4 in the form of “Big Pu**y” and the second being Nov. 11’s “The Ending,” which serves as the penultimate song on the album.
Including eclectic beat switches, soulful samples, ferocious bars by Kevin Abstract and off-the-wall music videos, “Big Pu**y” and “The Ending” see BH recapture their one-of-a-kind youthful energy.
Earlier this year on April 16 after Coachella, which we now know was not their final performance as a group, the boyband’s vocal leader Kevin took to Twitter to announce that their final album would be released at some point in 2022.
This news came after they had initially said they were taking an “indefinite hiatus” in January, which led fans to believe that 2021’s ROADRUNNER would be their last project ever. But, it’s now evident that BH still had some gas left in their tank.
When speaking with us in an exclusive interview in June, BH’s Meryln Wood explained how COVID-19 led to the quicker expiration of the boyband, and how their mental health issues from the pandemic manifested into difficult studio sessions.
“It totally sped up the break-up of BROCKHAMPTON, because it’s a group that has a lot of darkness in it. We really explore our demons, so when it got really dark and we couldn’t be around each other, it got really dark for each one of us in a very unique and intense way… It’s hard for that dark cloud not to follow each of us into the studio and become like a gigantic dark hurricane. We always knew we were gonna break up, but it was more like the writing was on the wall.”
Merlyn Wood via OGM
Although it has been tough to persevere to the finish line for BROCKHAMPTON, Kevin and Merlyn still have plans for their bright solo careers moving forward, as Abstract has had a solo album in the works since 2021 and Wood continues to drop impressive singles like “GREEN LIGHT” and “ONE OF US.”
As we soak in both The Family and TM, the band and their fans have used this week to reflect on the end of the turbulent BROCKHAMPTON era, filled with immense creativity and wholesomeness.
Check out BROCKHAMPTON’s final albums below!
