Nathaniel Clark – A&E Editor

nuc5002@psu.edu

Photo Credit: Chris Albo / NO TRICKS

On October 27, Brockhampton frontman Kevin Abstract announced that the rap group’s final album would be released on November 17. Finally given the title “The Family,” this record has been shrouded in mystery since its tease at Coachella in April.

Along with the album’s announcement was the reveal of its cover drawn by Chris Albo and that independent record label NO TRICKS would facilitate the release of Brockhampton’s send-off. 

To put it bluntly, the announcement of “The Family” has been a long time coming. For fans, it has been a year of depressing anticipation since the rap group called it quits. In January, Brockhampton canceled its worldwide tour with the announcement that the group would be calling it quits after their previously-scheduled London and Coachella shows. 

As fans watched these performances with teary eyes, they were soon confronted with a visual teaser stating that the final Brockhampton outing was still to come. A few days after Coachella, Kevin Abstract shared a video on the group’s Youtube page of himself showing the members the finished final record. While no song clips were given, it confirmed that the record was complete. 

While many expected that Brockhampton would likely deliver this record in May or June, these rumors were met with absolute silence from all members. From April through October, the only thing to release musically from the fifteen members of Brockhampton was a single from member Merlyn Wood titled “One of Us.”

On October 2, Kevin Abstract finally gave fans an update on the final album, saying the record would be released before the year was over. A few hours later, Abstract decided to troll by announcing the record would be titled “NO CAP” with an altered photo of him with a bald head as the album cover. While most people knew this was a joke, it did get fans excited. 

Along with the October 27 album announcement came two new videos onto the Brockhampton Youtube Channel. One video, titled “I Miss the Band Already,” is a mini-documentary of old Brockhampton, specifically of their 2017 “Saturation” era. Included in this old footage is ex-member Ameer Vann who was kicked out of the group after being accused of emotional and physical abuse by two women. 

The other video is a small skit in which three individuals who stole a backpack come across an iPod with the album. While two of the people are not interested, the other put on the headphones, giving the audience the first taste of the record before the video cuts. 

While still shrouded in mystery, Brockhampton fans will finally see the group’s send-off on November 17 with their final album “The Family.”