“Iridescence” is Brockhampton’s New Shining Moment

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Lara Garay

Iridescence is the first album in a new triology.

Leo Kupferberg, Contributing Writer

Falcon Rating: 4.5/5

 

Alternative hip-hop collective Brockhampton rose to prominence in late 2017 with the Saturation trilogy of albums, garnering a diehard fan base, along with reviews that became increasingly positive with each record. Fans and major media publications eagerly awaited their next release, but the path to their fourth album was a bumpy one. Founding member and rapper Ameer Vann was ousted due to allegations of sexual assault in May 2018, with many drafts for a fourth album being scrapped, including Team Effort, Puppy, and The Best Years of Our Lives. Even with a Tonight Show premiere of new song “TONYA” in June and a trio of promising singles in July, many were still worried about how Brockhampton would fare with their fourth album.

Luckily, Iridescence—the first album in a new trilogy titled The Best Years of Our Lives—was well worth the wait. The lyricism is sharper than ever, and the production indicates a new and compelling style for the group, with the six rappers having a chemistry and comfort with each other that sets Iridescence apart from the Saturation trilogy. This connection is evident in the album credits, which show that the majority of the six rappers and three producers collaborated on nearly every song in the album.

The production complements the themes and flows of the rappers very well.

While all the artists in Brockhampton are skilled and compelling in their own way, some stand out on
Iridescence. Leader and co-founder Kevin Abstract continues to be the center of the group through his catchy hooks, along with his opening verse on “WEIGHT” being one of the most emotionally raw and powerful in the group’s history. Bearface, who was formerly relegated to just the closing track on each Saturation album, really steps into the limelight on Iridescence through his hook on album standout “BERLIN,” and solid verse on “VIVID”—two of the best tracks. But this album truly belongs to Joba, who emerges as the true star of Iridescence with his sharp, spitting cadences and double-time flow on the stellar first single “J’OUVERT,” as well as the mid-album cut “DISTRICT”. However, the strongest tracks on the album are ones where there is a sense of the whole group coming together, like “NEW ORLEANS” and the emotional gospel bar-rock of “SAN MARCOS” in which nearly all the members give verses or sing in unison.

Brockhampton’s innovative production has always been one of its biggest selling points.  Hemnani and the producing duo Q3 (Manwa and Kiko Merley) continue to push the group’s sound even further on Iridescence. Gone are the Middle Eastern-influenced synths and string stabs of the Saturation trilogy; instead, Iridescence is of two moods. On the one hand, songs like “BERLIN,” “FABRIC,” and “J’OUVERT” feature industrial squelches and deep bass rumbles. On the other hand, “THUG LIFE” and “SAN MARCOS” bring tenderness to the album with textured guitars and vocals from the London Community Gospel Choir children. The most tender moment of the album comes in “SOMETHING ABOUT HIM,” a twinkling love song from Kevin Abstract featuring pitch-shifted vocals and production from Q3 and Hemnani. These songs truly live up to the album’s name, gleaming and shining with varied colors and textures.

This isn’t to say that Iridescence is a perfect album. Songs like “TAPE” and “HONEY” are lacking in energy, and their production doesn’t show anything especially new for Brockhampton. Also, the album as a whole can seem a little scattered and disjointed between all of the ideas it tries to express.

However, Iridescence contains some of Brockhampton’s finest work, including clear standouts “BERLIN” and “SAN MARCOS”. The performances from all the members showcase their strongest sides, and the production complements the themes and flows of the rappers very well. Even the lower points of the album are still high-quality songs that are worth coming back to. Iridescence earns a strong recommendation from me, and I’m excited to see what Brockhampton has up their sleeve next.

 

This piece also appears in our October 2018 print edition.