Texas rap collective Brockhampton have released a video for ‘Don’t Shoot Up the Party’, the eleventh track on the group’s most recent LP Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine.
Previously, I offered a rather flip assessment of ‘Don’t Shoot Up the Party’ by basically not talking about it at all, but in the passing weeks during the random occurrences of hearing it played by friends or in bars, I’ve started to come around to the song.
I’m actually starting to come around to Brockhampton in general. I was notably not a fan of the nebulous collective, but I’ve always chalked that up to there being a problem with me not necessarily with the band or its music. As it turns out, I think the real reason is pretty simple: I just never really listened to most of their music.
Ignorance is bliss, but a major part of my job is to not be ignorant of an artist’s music, and the deeper I dove into the world of Brockhampton, the more I started to understand why the group has such a feverish following. I would still contend that I, personally, wouldn’t be the one to put on one of their songs if the aux got passed my way, but a certain respect and appreciation has started to manifest itself in me.
The video for ‘Don’t Shoot Up the Party’ finds Brockhampton leader Kevin Abstract taking the viewer through a bizarre meeting of the minds with the other members of the group. Lo-fi, cult-like, and occasionally fatalistic, the video fits perfectly within the groups established aesthetic.
Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine is supposed to be the first of two Brockhampton releases this year, and based on comments made by Abstract, there’s a chance that these could be the final releases from hip hop’s premier boy band. If that’s true, Brockhampton can go out on a high note: Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine is, to my ears, the most consistently entertaining album from the collective.
Check out the video for ‘Don’t Shoot Up the Party’ down below.
