The bare-bones beauty of Brockhampton’s music videos 

Landon Roberts, Contributing Writer

“Tell me what you’re waiting for,” echoed throughout my earbuds one night during my freshman year of college as I shuffled through my Spotify Discover playlist. This repetitive, melancholic chorus from Brockhampton’s single “Face” matched all the isolation and anxiety I faced that year. 

This single discovery of Brockhampton, the hip-hop music collective from Southern Texas, led me to the group’s music videos, which offered a sense of solace and friendship during a time when it was much needed.

Brockhampton’s central members — Kevin Abstract, Matt Champion, Dom McLennon, Merlyn Wood, Bearface and Joba — met in an online music forum, where they formed a bond over Kanye West that birthed the now 14-member self-proclaimed boyband, filled with rappers, producers and graphic designers. 

The group’s deep-seated friendship is prominent through lyrical chemistry that informs listeners of their traumatic pasts that brought them together. But where the band truly forms is in their whimsical, off the wall music videos. The bare-bones style leads to an authentic home movie feel that echoes the feeling of picking up a camera to film your friends as they try their hardest to make you laugh. All this resulted in a year’s span of 13 videos that made me feel one with the group as they danced around in any costume they could scrounge.

Their first three studio albums, dubbed the “Saturation Trilogy” birthed this guerilla-tactic style that can only be described as pure euphoria. The encapsulation of this feeling is best seen in their video for “Star” off of Saturation I.

The song itself is filled with references to action movies ranging from “John Wick” to “Secret Agent Cody Banks.” The video had the members dawn the now-iconic blue body paint as they recklessly drove a golf cart through a south LA street where the members’ house was. 

This quiet cul-de-sac hosted many of Brockhampton’s early videos, and it holds many iconic images from their videography. Whether it’s Merlyn dancing frantically in the video for “Heat” or the band members riding bikes dressed as cops in the video for “Swamp,” it produces nostalgia. Their joyous nature makes viewers, including myself, reminisce about childhood playdates fueled by imagination.

This is where the genius of the Brockhampton music videos resides. It doesn’t matter if the lyrics correspond with the video. The music only acts as a soundtrack for the members’ imaginations as they entertain each other with wild ideas.

This is why I think viewers like me connect with their early videos so much. I didn’t have a group like this during my freshman year, but I was able to experience it through a connection to their videos. I felt like I was the one holding the camera, filming my friends, having the time of our lives.

However, as the band has grown, so have their videos. The videos that accompanied their fourth album, “Iridescence,” was no longer located in the familiar cul de sac. Instead, the album and the videos focused on the fans like me, who found a community through the band’s music. 

The videos for “San Marcos” and “New Orleans” includes all the members of the group we learned to love, but right along with them are the die-hard fans who are able to live within the group’s imagination.

It’s hard not to feel the love in the video for “San Marcos.” Every member delivers their verses as usual, but as the chorus kicks in, the camera glides effortlessly to us, the fans. We are no longer holding the camera, we are belting and repeating, “I want more out of life than this.” While this verse can seem depressing, the smiling faces in the crowd show us they have found more in this life, and so can you. The final shot of a group hug between everyone in the video cements this feeling.

While the video run for “Iridescence” was reflective and self-serious due to having signed with RCA records, Brockhampton’s newest video releases for their album “Ginger,” which released Aug. 23, has returned to the core group’s imagination. 

The fun joyous nature has been restored, and they continue to recognize their fans. The video for “If You Pray Right,” the first single off “Ginger,” is filled with the oddball visuals and frantic camera movements the group is known for, but the end of the video shows appreciation for their fans in a subtle way. 

The final shot presents the main members lined up, but an empty space remains. That empty space between the members can be read as a spot for us, the fans. 

While I may no longer be that lonely freshman who found solace in goofy music videos, the memories of joy associated with Brockhampton’s videos still remain with me and with many others.