Best Tracks: NO HALO, BOY BYE, IF YOU PRAY RIGHT
FFO: Dominic Fike, Kevin Abstract, Tyler, The Creator
The fact
that BROCKHAMPTON are one of the most important and prolific rap collectives of
the decade despite having only been around since 2015 is pretty impressive.
Their SATURATION trilogy, in
particular, is surely destined to go down in history as some of the finest
hip-hop of this generation.
On their fifth studio album, GINGER, the world’s greatest boyband
take a far more lo-fi, laid-back, and melodic approach to their songwriting and
production. It takes inspiration from many of the most popular artists in the genre right now, but still manages not to feel derivative. From the opening acoustic plucking (and gorgeous accompanying vocal refrain) of 'NO HALO', you'll likely be able to tell if the record is for you or not; it's a stark constract from BH's tendency to kick albums off with an absolute rager (see 'BOOGIE' and 'HEAT'). There's more of a focus here on atmosphere and melody than there ever has been before.
As always, there are a number of songs, moments, and verses across the track listing that stand out more than others. In particular, the run of four featuring 'BOY BYE', 'HEAVEN BELONGS TO YOU' (a great little standalone Slowthai feature), 'ST. PERCY', and 'IF YOU PRAY RIGHT'' is really brilliant. As always, Merlyn Wood steals the show on the few tracks he appears on with his unique delivery and intonation. The same could be said for Joba, the group's incredibly entertaining "wildcard"... though unfortunately his voice is distorted by over-the-top effects half the time. Bearface, however, really steps up to the plate on this album, as the sound of the record generally better suits the singer-songwriter's vocal stylings and creative ideas. Even in rapped verses on 'ST. PERCY' and 'BIG BOY', his voice is utilised so well and to such an extent that it'd be easy to argue the case that Bearface is the standout member of BROCKHAMPTON across the whole of the record.
Personally, my biggest issue with this album is that it simply lacks the pure, boundless energy and excitement of the group's previous material. It's true that GINGER feels much more like a cohesive body of work than any of their earlier projects, but that also means that once the album hits its second half, it starts to feel somewhat one-note, and even a little dull. There was a real charm and edge-of-your-seat feeling about the way that records such as SATURATION would flit from something wild to something more considered, and vice versa. Here, though, the album loses a bit more flavour with each new autotuned melody (a trend I generally can't stand anyway) and purposefully-understated verse.As always, there are a number of songs, moments, and verses across the track listing that stand out more than others. In particular, the run of four featuring 'BOY BYE', 'HEAVEN BELONGS TO YOU' (a great little standalone Slowthai feature), 'ST. PERCY', and 'IF YOU PRAY RIGHT'' is really brilliant. As always, Merlyn Wood steals the show on the few tracks he appears on with his unique delivery and intonation. The same could be said for Joba, the group's incredibly entertaining "wildcard"... though unfortunately his voice is distorted by over-the-top effects half the time. Bearface, however, really steps up to the plate on this album, as the sound of the record generally better suits the singer-songwriter's vocal stylings and creative ideas. Even in rapped verses on 'ST. PERCY' and 'BIG BOY', his voice is utilised so well and to such an extent that it'd be easy to argue the case that Bearface is the standout member of BROCKHAMPTON across the whole of the record.
GINGER is likely to please a whole lot of BROCKHAMPTON's current fans and bring in even more new ones. It's well-made, tonally consistent, enjoyable up to a point, and offers a fairly unique take on the current hip-hop zeitgeist. For my money, though, it's their weakest LP thus far.
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