The boys are back yet again, with seemingly another season of aesthetics, vibes, and underlying themes for their fans to eat up and pass around. The self-proclaimed hardest working boyband in America, BROCKHAMPTON, has released four new singles on their Youtube channel in the last four weeks. The four tracks (so far), as with most of these pre-album drops, came without any warning, and at odd times of the night.
However, with collaborations from long-time friends, such as Ryan Beatty, and newcomers to the universe of our favorite boyband, like Christian Alexander, Brockhampton seems to be back in full creative swing!
Below we run through the various artworks for each song as well as the meanings behind the lyricism heard on each track, specifically from the band’s leader, Kevin Abstract, and fellow member, Matt Champion, who we feel snapped especially.
N.S.T
The first track, “N.S.T” (standing for N*ggas Stay Tellin) starts off with the titular tag, originally from the beginning of an unreleased 10-minute freestyle by New York rappers Jay-Z and Big-L before being led into the intro which is helmed, surprisingly, by Jabari Manwa, a member of Brockhampton’s sub-group, Q3 and a main producer for the band.
The band is in a state of paranoia and wariness on this track, speaking on subjects of skepticism and underlying motives are explored as the boys wonder if those around them are true and genuine to who they are when it comes to the band’s fame and success, or if they are simply using them to prop themselves up.
The artwork for the track is listed below, and the picture used depicts Arnav Gupta, a man who set himself on fire in May 29, 2019, near the White House. He later died of his injuries.
things can’t stay the same
The second track, which released on the same day, is named “things can’t stay the same”. This release only features Kevin Abstract and Matt Champion from the band and the two make sure to solidify themselves as lyrical powerhouses of their own. Speaking on themes of nostalgia and reminiscence, the two become contemplative of their life back in Texas, where Brockhampton started.
The previous artwork for the track was a painting, created by Jenna Gribbon. However, she stated that the band did not ask for her permission to use the artwork. After being called on it, the boyband took down the artwork and video altogether, replacing it with a new picture, portraying the HD SMPTE color bars usually seen in television test patterns, and re-uploading it.
However what you see below still holds true to the current artwork, courtesy of the band’s art director, HK.
twisted
Part of the second wave of BROCKHAMPTON’s quarantine dual releases, “twisted” starts out the gate with another powerful verse from Kevin, bridged into a shared chorus between him and band vocalist, Bearface. As if we couldn’t be blessed enough, yet another Jabari feature appears, the producer editing and warping his vocals to sound almost sapient and insightful as he flows through the second verse, before handing it off to newcomer Christian Alexander to slay that last leg of the track.
Throughout the song, it seems as though the band is conveying their melancholy through their production and lyrics, as well as their loathing for how their words are twisted and their meanings are manipulated, leaving them to come off as untrustworthy.
The cassette-like artwork of HK listed below is accompanied by a picture of a sky with the sun setting with what is presumed to be blurry power cables of an electricity pylon. The source of this photo is currently unknown.
M.O.B
The final track so far and the latest track of the TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES quarantine tracklist, “M.O.B” holds a similar title design to N.S.T, and also is an acronym, standing for “Money Over B*tches”. The track holds the second-largest amount features of all four releases, with band members Kevin Abstract, Dom Mclennon, Matt Champion, and Bearface collaborating.
The track explores themes of unity and loyalty, from Kevin claiming “These my dawgs for life”, to Dom confidently stating “Holdin my dogs down to the right and I got my baby to the left”, the boys are riding for each other through thick and thin it seems with this track, and as Champion so eloquently puts it, hopefully with the coming of a new album, Brockhampton is going to “Fuck around, leave your jaw down”
The track’s artwork follows HK’s usual cassette-like design, as seen below. The picture accompanying the art portrays the hands of a person holding a stack of cash. However, as it is with “twisted”, the source of this image is unknown.
Let us know in your comments what you favorite song from them is. To stay to date with Brockhampton and their new releases you can follow them on Instagram as well as Twitter. If you want to stay up to date with news and content coming from Nefarious Supply you can find us on Instagram, and Twitter. We also recently opened the Nefarious Supply shop so if you want to support you can show some love here!