It's been a hell of a year, and that fact was not lost on Alt-Hip Hop group BROCKHAMPTON, whose lengthy roster of artists were not only subjected to the travails of social distancing and life off the road, but also the task of releasing their sixth studio album.
Audacy's New Arrivals host Bryce Segall was joined by nine of the 13-member squad -- Matt Champion, Joba, Dom McLennon, Jabari Manwa, Romil Hemnani, Merlyn Wood, Ciarán McDonald (bearface), Kiko Merley, and Kevin Abstract -- to dive into BROCKHAMPTON's journey in creating 2021's Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine.
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"There was a lot of trial and error," says Matt Champion, "a lot of experimenting, a lot of trying to find the right sound. I feel like we tend to really like things, and then the next month we don't like it at all -- and some people like it -- so we just gotta keep making stuff and keep figuring it out."
"We had an entire album, like, mixed, and like, we were sitting on it. And I loved it," Ramil says. "I think it's a good album but also there's a difference between an album being good or a song being good, and a song just feeling right and intuitively feeling like you have to release it. And I think this collection of songs," he adds, "for some reason they spoke to us in a way that we want the world to hear these. Maybe they'll find a home, we'll figure it out. We got a lot of songs."
One of their prouder moments during this time was not only clearing a sample of Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M." for their track "Chain On" but also getting some knowledge personally from RZA while they were recording at iconic producer Rick Rubin's Shangri-la Studios in Los Angeles. "He gave us a bunch of gems and he listened to the album," Ramil says.
"It was cool to just get his 'nod' in person," he adds. "That's like the originator; he's one of the people who laid the foundation for what we do. It meant the world to get that from him... He just stressed the bond of brotherhood and how important that was and still is to Wu-Tang and how we shouldn't lose sight of that."
Listen to the full interview with BROCKHAMPTON above, and be sure to pick up or stream their new record Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine, out everywhere now.
Audacy's New Arrivals with Bryce Segall is your destination for what's next in the Alternative landscape. Pairing new music from the artists who define today's sound against tomorrow's voices, on a given night listeners can expect not only first plays and premieres from future favorites, but also exclusive interviews with the most prestigious of the genre's talents. Early guests include Kevin Parker of Tame Impala, Damon Albarn, 100 Gecs, Fleet Foxes, Romy of The xx, James Blake, and more.
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