“The Light is Worth the Wait, I Promise” — BROCKHAMPTON ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE Album Review
The light is finally here my friends. BROCKHAMPTON’s sixth studio album, ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE, was released on April 9th, 2021 to the wild excitement of many fans. After having a relatively short marketing campaign filled with cryptic messages and surprise merch drops, fans were eagerly awaiting the release. RR is slated to be the penultimate album from the boyband, as stated by their frontman, Kevin Abstract. Their first two singles showed promise for the album and I was very excited to sink my teeth in. Links to my reviews of said singles can be found at the bottom of the page. I did my first listen with a group of friends — nothing but us and the music — and it was great. I highly recommend it. So, now onto the question: was the light worth the wait?
The core of ROADRUNNER is this theme of “the light”. Its story revolves around the boys finding what this light is to them and trying to understand what it means. The heart and soul of this story is Joba. At multiple points in the album, Joba recounts his father’s recent suicide and the effects that it had on him. Joba talks briefly about the impact of this tragedy and its effect on the album in an interview with The Guardian. In the interview, he also briefly describes what he sees the light as — “Stepping into hope and holding on for dear life”. The album’s message is that you should hold on. Even when there are clouds, the light can still shine on us — we just have to wait for it sometimes. We have to wait for that break in the clouds to allow us to see our passions and purpose for continuing to live. I appreciate that ROADRUNNER tackles the issues of feeling stagnant and helpless, but never sinking into hopelessness. They advocate for just needing to hang on for those “light” moments. This is even illustrated in the structure of the album itself. It's a constant mix of energetic, octane-fueled tracks with more pensive and introspective ones. It mirrors life in that way.
The production on this album blew me out of the water. Their use of strings is gorgeous, and I love seeing things that push the boundaries of what people believe hip-hop should be. Their use of wailing electric guitars also impressed me and took me by surprise on my first listen. BROCKHAMPTON isn't locked into a genre. They have a little bit of everything from, of course, hip-hop, to pop, to R&B — even a little bit of alt-rock and gospel thrown in at times (yes, you heard that correctly). This mixing of styles is very standout and it is one of the most unique things about the group. The use of saxophone on some tracks, like WINDOWS (feat. SoGone SoFlexy), is super refreshing and really lends to a retro rap feeling — like N.W.A./Wu-Tang clan era stuff. It also amazes me that this song doesn’t overstay its welcome too much. It isn't often that a six-minute song doesn't drag on. Then you have songs like WHEN I BALL, which features piano and strings, giving a more soulful and R&B-inspired groove. For the most part, I found that a majority of the tracks have an excellent mix. One specific issue that stood out to me was on the track CHAIN ON (feat. JPEGMAFIA). There is a short, ascending melody that repeats over and over. I found this to get quite obnoxious honestly, and I think it might have been remedied by just bringing down the volume of it on the verses to give us a break. It's such a bright sound that it tends to cut through the mix and I have trouble focusing on what the vocalist is actually saying because it being interrupted every 3 seconds. Other than that, I mainly only had minor issues — nothing that completely ruined any songs for me.
This album’s vibe is honestly kind of all over the place, but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. This project is supposed to be reflective of life, featuring tremendous highs, like BUZZCUT (feat. Danny Brown) or DON’T SHOOT UP THE PARTY, while also indulging in the bitter lows of tracks like THE LIGHT PT. II and WHAT’S THE OCCASION?. I think this is an excellent album to go on a car ride to — no destination in mind, just drive. The album, itself, is a journey and I believe that it's meant to be experienced as a whole. You’re meant to want to belt out the pop-style choruses and bounce to the heavy-hitting rap. Tracks like DEAR LORD are meant to bring you that moment of solace and peace that a nighttime ride can achieve. When I listen to the whole album, I can feel the darkness surrounding it. I feel that the “world is fucked”, as stated by Joba in the intro to THE LIGHT. Even as I feel that though, I don’t walk away feeling helpless. The world is dark and terrible at times, but we aren’t powerless. We don’t have to give up. Our passions, our friends, our families, and even our pain can push us forward towards that next patch of light.
This album isn't like anything that they have done before — and I’m glad that it isn't. I know some fans were hoping this would bring the band back to their SATURATION era roots, but that is just asking them not to grow as artists. Kevin himself said, in a now-deleted tweet, “please go into it only expecting our newest album and not our previous 5”. I really appreciate how much they want to create new stuff, even if it isn’t exactly what their fans are used to. They want to create a whole new project with new vibes and a new feel.
Overall, I’m really loving the album. I think it’s a fresh direction for BH and I'm glad that they took a bit of a chance on it. One issue that I have is that the front half of the album pales in comparison to the back end. Also, the front end is very feature-heavy, which I don't necessarily think BROCKHAMPTON needs. They already have so many talented people in their group that their music is varied enough. While the features are well done for the most part, I just wished for maybe a couple less or at least spread them out a bit more throughout the album. I think this is mostly a personal thing though and I understand how one would disagree with my sentiment. Even though I have these small gripes, it by no means ruins the album for me.
This album blew me away with just how transparently it talked about very personal topics from the boys all while mixing that tastefully with classic, balls-to-the-wall BH bangers. This album feels like a true culmination of everything they’ve done to this point while still adding more, and I love seeing that growth. The imagery included in the album is beautiful and impactful, but I don’t think that it is heavy-handed in its messaging. There are a few small issues here and there, but no album is perfect. While probably not my favorite album from the boys, just due to personal preference, it is a welcome and worthwhile addition to their discography.
In my opinion, the light was indeed worth the wait. I highly encourage anyone reading this to give it a listen. Just go for a walk, drive, bike ride, or even just lay in your room, and listen.
If you're interested in what I thought of the first two singles of the album you, can find them here:
