Being Noah Tesfaye #47: The Brockhampton Story

It’s a cool summer June afternoon in 2017. I’m in Morningside Park, amongst friends, and we’re on our lunch break from class. In typical fashion, I bust out my UE Roll and ask for music suggestions. I get summer favorite suggestions like “Redbone” and others. But I got one suggestion, one song, from a small independent group originally from Houston and now in LA. Their name? Brockhampton. The song? “Milk.”

After that first day my friend introduced me to “The Best Boyband since One Direction,” it’s been a journey to see the group grow. From listening to Saturation just days after its release, to enjoying Saturation II at school. What made them unique, what made them truly special, was their commitment to just being themselves, expressing their hardships so genuinely. There was no “toning down” of content, nothing except for unapologetic honesty.

The first Saturation brought the world a style of music for the nerds, the outcasts, the forum browsers, a collective of rappers, singers, producers, and videographers, all living out their dream together. They made all their own videos, produced all of their music inside their house in South Central LA. They made an app filled with exclusive content, merchandise that was affordable and cool, and most of all, they kept that same energy for nearly a whole year.