BROCKHAMPTON gonna BROCKHAMPTON, even to the very end. Ahead of their “indefinite hiatus,” Kevin Abstract and company have released their much-anticipated “final” album, The Family, and in the same breath announced another, a surprise “parting gift to their supporters” titled TM, out at midnight.
In fairness, TM does predate The Family—Kevin Abstract, Bearface and Romil Hemnani recorded the latter’s 17 tracks (including singles “Big Pussy” and “The Ending”) in the spring of 2022, with boylife and Bearface as executive producers. TM, on the other hand, is “made up of songs that were started by the group during a two-week stint in Ojai, California in 2021, but were never fully completed during those sessions,” per a press release. BROCKHAMPTON’s Matt Champion stepped in as executive producer to complete the album.
Founder and de facto leader Kevin Abstract—the sole member of the boyband to appear on The Family—reflected on BROCKHAMPTON’s formation and dissolution in a statement:
The year is 2009. I’m at my mom’s crib in Corpus on her big ass desktop computer. Gas station food. Hot ass afternoons. Washing cars for money. As most of us did, I shut down once I hit middle school. I was afraid to be vulnerable with my mom. I remember not feeling good enough for my dad. I remember pretending to be somebody new depending on who I was around. I used to wanna be an actor. My 14-year-old self was in pain. I was lost. Trapped. Broke. And so I dreamt. For reasons similar, but unique, everyone in this group dreamt too.
That post on the forum was an olive branch. Everyone took a risk. We found each other and planted our own trees. I had a vision when I posted, but the way it would end up not only changing my life but having an impact on the culture we grew up on? Thank you. I think about all of the good that came from my pain. That pain, those dreams – that was the coal in the furnace of my creativity – and still, as we got big and cool shit started happening, those embers never left. The pain has found a way to adapt for the new life. Maybe that shit’s just the human condition or whatever. This project is the culmination of all that. And all that smoke from that furnace was making us all cough, for all our sakes it was time to air it out, to move into the future. Fresh air.
I understand that some of the fans are upset that no one is on the album but me. Over the past few years, the members of the band began to move our separate ways, and focus on our individual careers and passions. With this project, a few of us were inspired to make something new that would bring closure to the past, and set the table for all of us to finally be able to explore our individual futures. I hope you understand and enjoy the music.
I feel like whoever is reading this – whoever has been with BROCKHAMPTON since the beginning deserves some sort of closure. The album is an attempt at that. Thanks for giving us a chance. For holding me up. Holding me down. For being everything I needed when I was just some nigga from Texas. I still am. Yeah, this show is over, but the furnace is still glowing.
What a blessing this has been.
with all the love, ian
Listen to The Family below, or via your streamer of choice here.
