#84

#84. BROCKHAMPTON - SWEET (#11, 2017)

10th of 2017

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I don't know if anyone would willingly admit it, but the discovery that Geese were significantly boosted by people who were paid to pretend they were organically fans of the band creates a potentially interesting dilemma. How willingly would anyone accept they've been duped into one fandom over another. It feels especially dicey in the world of artists whose identity is in some way built around the way they present an alternative to the boring mainstream. You'll feel more attached and make it part of your personality, probably. The lesson is probably to only take recommendations from people you know, people you couldn't for a moment believe were paid to say it, but then maybe it's not a big deal after all. Inorganic or not, it's still an opportunity to be part of something, and build a sense of community around it. I don't want to have a go at any Geese fans. At the end of the day, they're a band where I feel all the more confident that people do go to bat for what they're hearing because they're too abrasive to just pretend to be into it. I also sometimes wonder if I fell for the same trap years ago with BROCKHAMPTON.

This isn't much to go off of, it's just something I think about often that feels increasingly strange to me. I think that what pushed me to listen to BROCKHAMPTON back in 2017 was actually comments on triple j's Facebook. It's not usually a place you expect to see hype for a new artist, but I just saw so many words of commendation about the group like it was a no-brainer. I can't prove this was all someone's paid-for scheme, but the shoe really fits in this case.

The whole history of BROCKHAMPTON is pretty rooted in that kind of internet notoriety anyway. Kevin Abstract started the group by posting on KanyeToThe, asking if anyone wants to start a band. It's a huge piece of internet history that's still available to see. It's one of those showbiz type operations that you start to associate with all the potential kinds of massive depravity in the way of plugs. The way you look at all the top YouTubers and see the shamelessness in it, because at the end of the day, it works. With just how large BROCKHAMPTON really was, including many members who didn't actually rap, it all feels like part of the strategy as well. However it happened, it's a long gambit. That Kevin Abstract post was made in 2011. BROCKHAMPTON blew up very suddenly in 2017 to deliver one of the craziest Hottest 100 performances in recent history. Sure, there's room to do better, but to see them come out of nowhere and land this high with a song that was neither a gimmick, nor a crossover hit, it doesn't seem to make much sense at all. I do lament contributing to keeping them out of the top 10 because I voted for the song that blocked them, but that's as much as you can do that when I'm also still ranking that song above this one.

"SWEET" does happen to be the song that triple j were playing the most. They weren't short of options, because by the end of 2017, BROCKHAMPTON released a whole trilogy of "SATURATION" albums. They are largely characterised by a pattern of all-caps song titles that started with four letters and went up to five on the last track (which was generally a Bearface song), increasing the letter count and then looping back around by the end of the 3rd one. As far as talking about the music, it's an interesting strategy because nothing feels like it stands out much and it's hard to remember which song is which as there's rarely any clear connection. "GOLD" & "SUMMER" actually do have the title work in their hook, but otherwise you're squinting to say things like 'yeah, "FIGHT" does sound like you could stage an AMV fight sequence over it', or 'It must be called "SWEET" because they mention liquorice'.

The thing I find most interesting about BROCKHAMPTON's eventual crossover success is that it comes about in a counterproductive way. I think for a lot of people, the appeal of the band was how genuinely out there they sounded. If your introduction is through the song "HEAT", you'll hear something intense on all accounts. The first words Joba gets on the record are him screaming 'f**k you!', which you're just not gonna get from more carefully focus tested releases (this will also become relevant again later on the list). That's the kind of thing a lot of people do want to hear, something that sounds like it was made to engage but not be a hit. BROCKHAMPTON had it in spades, a mix of different voices and ideas, with memorable and distinct beats that kept finding new things to do. It was often the thing I kept going back to the most, songs like "QUEER" and "ZIPPER" were just so interesting.

So is "SWEET" some kind of concession? I'm not really sure. It feels like one of their most unassuming songs because it's just a posse cut in its purest form. You get to see everyone's flavour and what they bring to the group. Matt spilling his emotions, Dom pertaining to flow like he's the architect, Merlyn being a complete wild card, Ameer doing his one trick and Joba putting on all his voices. Kevin doesn't actually get a verse here but you know he's always good for a good hook. My favourite moment has to be the start of Merlyn's verse, where he's already starting with an iconic line 'DON'T CALL ME STUPID' and then manages to switch up his flow in real time to the point that it feels like he's passed off the mic. The way Kevin joins up with him in the music video sells the illusion even more. It's one of so many of their songs that individually feels like they're using up everything they've got, and yet they just kept doing that over and over again. You come to BROCKHAMPTON for the boundless possibilities, more than anything.