Brockhampton: The All-American Boyband

Brockhampton as a Counterpublic

When hearing the term “boyband,” it is likely that very specific images come to mind: frosted tips, synchronized dancing, songs about heterosexual love, matching leather jackets and white t-shirts, or young female fans holding up homemade signs at concerts. Maybe the image is of *NSYNC, One Direction, Backstreet Boys, the Jonas Brothers, or BTS come to mind. The term “boyband” occupies a very particular place within our minds. When people hear the word “boyband,” most of the images that come to mind feature groups of polished, heteronormative, white men singing pop songs. Boybands, like many other kinds of celebrities in the United States, have become the standard of perfection. The way they dress, look, speak, and act simultaneously normalize these attributes while also idealizing them. The boyband persona becomes the expectation for what young men are supposed to aspire to and what young women should be attracted to. In other words, because boybands have historically been portrayed as white, heteronormative, and conservative this has become the norm. 

Enter Brockhampton, a rap collective who call themselves an “All-American Boyband” or “the best boyband since One Direction.” The group includes over 12 members who identify as White, Black, African, Hispanic, Pakistani, straight, gay, and queer. Brockhampton’s self-identification with such labels as an “All-American Boyband” is critical to understanding the collective as a counterpublic. By embracing such labels when they clearly do not fit the mold of  traditional boybands, we see Brockhampton marking themselves against a cultural standard that embraces white heteronormativity. In this sense, Brockhampton is marking themselves off from a wider, dominant public.

Not only do they represent a stark contrast to the uniform white-heteronormativity embodied by traditional boybands, but they also break the corporate mold. Some of the group’s members met through school while others became connected through a Kanye West appreciation forum. Through the forum, the artists formed a collective called AliveSinceForever–which at one time had over 40 members. Eventually, this group became smaller and formed Brockhampton (Jenkins, 2018). The band took a DIY approach to music, cover art, and videos, only signing with a major record company in 2018 (Stutz, 2018).  

Brockhampton’s content also largely deviates from the music and visuals that are deemed appropriate for boybands. Boybands typically produce songs about love and breakups (e.g., Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it that Way,” *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” etc.) or friendship (e.g., One Direction’s “History”). Their songs rarely, if ever, delve into serious topics; Brockhampton embraces these serious topics. The band has written songs about police brutality, homophobia, racism, misogyny, religion, suicide, and mental health issues. Their videos also differ greatly from those of traditional boybands. Instead of synchronized dancing and close-ups, Brockhampton’s videos consist of absurdist concepts and bizarre aesthetics that flip gender norms and take inspiration from filmmaker Andrea Arnold (Brockhampton's Kevin Abstract Explains His Iconic Videos, 2019). 

Brockhampton’s self-identification with the label “boyband” has been embraced by the band’s fans. Brockhampton’s fans routinely refer to the group as a “boyband” or “the best boyband since One Direction.” While there is certainly a memetic dimension to the group’s fans’ use of the term “boyband,” there is also a recognition that the term holds greater cultural significance. Group member Merlyn Wood explicitly embraces this cultural significance, at one point tweeting that Brockhampton is a “beautiful GAY boy band.” This sentiment, that Brockhampton challenges many of the typical conceptions associated with the term boyband, is implicit when fans use the term boyband. They are embracing Brockhampton’s challenge of widely accepted notions of what a boyband is and what a boyband is not.  

In a Vice article about the band, fans waiting to enter a Brockhampton concert were asked questions about their appreciation for the band. At one point, a fan was asked “Why do you think Brockhampton has so many loyal fans?” They responded, “Boy bands are something everyone can relate to, you’re bound to identify with at least one person in the group” (Lord, 2018). This response illustrates not only fans’ willingness to embrace Brockhampton’s self-identification with the label “boyband” but also how the band is trying to redefine the label, especially in terms of the members’ backgrounds. Another fan also welcomed Brockhampton’s challenge to the ideals embodied in traditional boybands. When asked “Who is your favorite [member]?” A fan named Tope told reporters, “Matt Champion – his raps are the best. But it’s not like with a conventional boy band where it’s like, 'oh here’s Harry, the cheeky one,’ or Zane ‘the bad one.’ They’re a unit, you don’t see them as individuals, they represent a collective idea” (Lord, 2018). This response illustrates how fans have accepted and celebrated how Brockhampton has challenged the traditional boyband mold through their democratic and egalitarian approach to music (BROCKHAMPTON On ‘GINGER’, 2019). 

If Brockhampton is a counterpublic, they must not simply be critiquing what is considered a boyband, but the “life world” and cultural narratives that underlie the dominant understanding of boybands. Based on the group’s explanation of their decision to identify as a boyband, it is apparent that they (and by extension their fans) are consciously challenging cultural narratives. The group’s de facto leader, Kevin Abstract, says:

If we were to be all over MTV in the early 2000s and on every magazine, tabloid, press, billboard, and all that... Then we would change the standard. Then we would be considered perfect—these kids from a bunch of different nationalities and backgrounds that go by boyband. Then there would be a ton of kids out there that identify with us and be like, 'I'm like that. I'm okay with being like that.’ (Skelton, 2017, para. 8-9) 

Abstract is indicating that through challenging dominant representations of boybands, the group is also challenging which identities in the U.S. are considered “perfect.” They are attempting to recreate a “life world” where young people from historically marginalized backgrounds (e.g., those who identify as gay, queer, Black, Hispanic, etc.) feel okay with themselves and are not pressured to assimilate with standards of perfection (e.g., straight, White, etc.).

Abstract’s statement addresses another element of counterpublics that Warner discusses. Warner writes, “Like all publics, a counterpublic comes into being through an address to indefinite strangers… But counterpublic discourse also addresses those strangers as being not just anybody” (2002, p. 86). Abstract is not addressing the “strangers” who listen to Brockhampton’s music or those who watch his videos as just anyone; he addresses them as people who are struggling with their subordinate status and as kids who are grappling with the reality that who they are is not considered standard and by extension acceptable. 

Brockhampton, especially during the beginning of their career, were also forced to use “alternative modes of communication.” This can be seen most centrally with their music videos which are marked by absurd concepts and eccentric aesthetics. For example, their music video JUNKY features MERLYN wearing a bright yellow dress in a tub filled with Froot Loops, Kevin Abstract’s skin painted orange, and Joba with smaller versions of himself playing the “devil” and “angel” on his shoulders. We also see a group of men and women in white dresses covered in blood throughout the video. Music videos like this one are best understood through the lens of spectacle. In “Bringing Wreck: Theorizing Race, Rap, Gender and the Public Sphere,” Gwendolyn Pough (2004) writes, “The spectacle becomes the key; one has to be seen before one can be heard. Spectacle and cultural representation (when more direct political access is not available) are the first steps in creating a disruption, the first steps in bringing wreck” (p. 21). According to Pough, spectacle is a way for subordinated groups, who are often invisible to mass society or governing institutions, to gain attention. 

Brockhampton’s use of absurd music video concepts and bizarre aesthetics is an act of spectacle. The band strategically uses untraditional, unexpected, and even shocking visuals to attract attention and disrupt mainstream modes of communication. For many audiences, especially in 2017 when JUNKY was released, seeing men and women in white dresses covered with blood would be attention grabbing, as would seeing a rapper performing in a bathtub full of Froot Loops. These are both examples of Brockhampton intentionally making visual and thematic decisions that deviate from mainstream music videos and are designed to attract attention. Where Brockhampton might have remained invisible due to their position as a counterpublic, through spectacle in their videos and music they were able to be “seen.” Once “seen,” they had the opportunity for their social and political arguments to be “heard.”