Despite my initial trepidation in selecting a BROCKHAMPTON song for this assignment, I have chosen “JUNKY” by BROCKHMAPTON to analyze and podcast about this semester, for the very reason I initially strayed away from it.
Both the song and the group protest an array of ideas, making it difficult to characterize “JUNKY” as song which is wholly in protest of one singular concept. While that may be considered inherently problematic for an assignment like this, I think that it will be beneficial for my understanding of both the song and the dynamic of the group. I am eager to immerse myself in the many ways that BROCKHAMPTON is a genre-bending group, and how this concept is applied in “JUNKY”. It is for this reason that I am confidently assured that dedicating eleven weeks to analyze this song will be far from repetitive and fruitless. I am positive that through studying the intricacies of BROCKHAMPTON’s sound and style—each of the thirteen members, specifically the vocalists and the six rappers—I will uncover more depth to the group and to “JUNKY”.
BROCKHAMPTON is constantly protesting injustive just by existing—their journery and coinciding success is not only a testament to the societl constraints placed on them by their race, sexuality, or socioeconomic status, but also to their collective effort to defy those injustices and create the unadulterated art.
My plan for taking on this song is to directly address the fact the ways this song is not an archetypical protest song by emphasizing that the very nature of a protest is to challenge, to go against tradition/norms, and to not abide by external constraints. Likewise, “JUNKY”—in protesting three major concepts—effectively and collectively protests a much bigger and all-encompassing bigger issue. This is a main aspect I plan to learn more about.
More specifically however, I want to focus a lot of my project on Kevin Abstract’s opening verse and how it is both emblematic of the essence of the band and symbolic of the bigger message of “JUNKY”. I also plan to explore the ways the song fits into their discography. Interestingly, there are several moments in their songs which directly address the reoccurring themes which they sing about. In “JUNKY” during Kevin’s verse, he answers the question “why you always rap about being gay?” I plan to explore how this itself is a protest: BROCKHAMPTON is not giving people what they want, they are making music for themselves and for the people in the marginalized communities the band members are also a part of. They peruse their own creativity without influence.
February 6, 2020 at 1:44 pm
Hi Karleigh,
I already wrote about my concern with the song before, so I won’t rehash it here, but I already see you starting to slide into the dangers of such a song when you write that you are looking forward to exploring the intricacies of “each of the thirteen members, specifically the vocalists and the six rappers.” Later you write about focusing on one member’s tracks, and that is a better approach. You can’t focus on 13 members and the 6 vocalists. That will result in a clunky, disjointed narrative. You’ll need to find a unifying singular theme or focus for the podcast and then explore based on that. Be aware that this song is actively working against that goal, and if there is another song that you would consider even for a moment, I would strongly recommend it. I suspect you like many songs and that one of those could work very well for the project. One of the goals for the class is risk-taking and so if stepping away from a first or second choice is a risk for you, I’d ask you to take that risk. I’m not making this suggestion to be difficult, but to provide you with the opportunity to create a project that is the best it can be without unnecessary frustrations. Let me know.
Thanks,
Bill