Brockhampton
It’s almost hard to remember, but there used to be a time when Kanye West was less a laughingstock and more of an actual hip-hop hero. The internet forum KanyeToThe was a hub of creativity where many were inspired by Kanye to speak for themselves in the same bold and poetic strokes that West was once known for, back before he moved too close to a nuclear power plant or whatever the hell happened that turned him into hip-hop’s embarrassing neighbor cat lady. One of those devotees, Kevin Abstract, was inspired to found a boy band of sorts, Brockhampton, a musical collective of rappers, filmmakers, graphic artists, and DJs.
Their three part album series Saturation was popular enough to land them a deal with RCA Records, which just released their fourth full-length, their slickest sounding to date, Iridescence. The fact that it just debuted at number one on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, their first chart topper, may be partly due to all the recent press over founding member Ameer Vann leaving the group amidst allegations of sexual misconduct. Whatever the reason for their current ascension, you may want to scarf up tickets right away for their December 1 concert at the former Sports Arena, now known as Valley View Casino Center, which is sure to sell a lot more seats than the only other time they’ve played San Diego, last year at the Observatory.