In 2018, Ameer Vann departed from Brockhampton because of multiple sexual assault allegations. The group wasn’t the same after his departure, so after the band’s previous album, “Roadrunner,” it wasn’t clear if the band would produce another album. But in early 2022, they announced their final album, “The Family.” 11/17/22. 

“The Family” is a complicated and diverse ending to Brockhampton, addressing the band’s fallout and the controversy within the group. This album is mostly led by one of the lead vocalists, Kevin Abstract, with a lot of the other members nowhere to be found. Abstract delivers some great vocals and lines on songs such as “37th,” “Good Time” and “The Ending.”  But there are a lot of mediocre songs and just some bad ones such as, “Gold Teeth” and “All that.” A lot of this album feels unfinished and feels more like a Kevin Abstract album than Brockhampton as a whole. 

One of the tracks that shows an unfinished and poorly produced album is “Gold Teeth.” The beat on this track feels janky and out of place, with the vocals falling behind and seeming out of place on this track. When Abstract sings on this track, it feels like he is trying to keep up with the intense, bombastic beat. Coming to the end of this track, it ends abruptly and moves into the next song, “Big Pussy.” Although the transition between these two songs is really smooth and kind of sneaky, this also makes it feel like they just split one song into two different parts.

When the band broke up, it left fans with a lot of questions, and although this album answers a lot of them, it fails to provide closure. One of the songs that addresses the situation is “Good Time,” including the line, “The show is over, it ended overseas,” which could be referring to the events that led them to producing “Iridescence” in London. This track also talks about how fame took over their lives, and how whenever they would have an emotional and personal moment they had to bring the cameras out. This paints a picture of the band’s relationship and tells fans the good times are over and now they need to move on from this toxic relationship. But with the message that the band is over, this track would fit better towards the end of the album.

Another one of the tracks that stood out from the album is “Basement.” This song feels like some of Brockhampton’s older work from their Saturation trilogy. This track invites the feeling of dread and adrenaline — it feels like being chased by something and just trying to make it home safe. These feelings are invoked by the hard bass and fast pace of this track. The beat, lyrics and overall flow are good, but it ends out of nowhere and transitions to “Southside.” It has the same problem that “Gold Teeth” has — it feels like it was just one song that was split into two different parts to meet some sort of track quota.

The final track that is worth mentioning is “The Ending.” This track is the dramatic “Ending” before the final song. This song is about Abstract reminiscing about the good times before the band’s major blowup. This song has a triumphant and soul-type beat to it. It feels like Abstract just having a good time with this song, not caring what people think and just trying to let his thoughts out. But, like a lot of this album, it’s just short and sweet.  

Given the multiple problems that the group had to face when producing this album, “The Family” is a decent album. This is probably one of the worst projects Brockhampton has produced, but in and of itself, it is not a bad album. In the end “The Family” is a complex mix of beats and sounds that wraps up Brockhamptons story.

“The Family:” ★★★☆☆

Highlights: “37th,”, “Good Time,”, “The Ending,”, “Basement”

Worst tracks: “Gold Teeth,”, “All That,”, “(Back From The) Road”