Renowned for their modern and distinctive hip-hop sound, outspokenness on socio-political issues and profound entrenchment in Internet culture, the multi-cultural and queer-inclusive rap collective Brockhampton is redefining what it means to be a “boy band,” let alone what it means to be male artists in today’s music industry.

Within hip-hop territory, and the music spectrum as a whole, patterns of normative masculinity have reached epidemic proportions. Surely, the music industry is male-dominated, generally privileging males and whatnot, but it is accompanied by several limitations as well in terms of how we typically view and see men – arguably symbolic of the social values of society in which it was founded and embedded. Hip-hop, has for instance, long been known for reproducing stereotypical images of 'femininity' and 'masculinity' with lyrics featuring extreme materialism, misogyny and homophobia. The intricate association of the black man with macho masculinity and hypersexuality has similarly been fed to us for centuries, and in turn been reinforced in the hip-hop genre and in the media.

​In an interview with BBC Radio 1, founding member and openly gay rapper Kevin Abstract claims,

“I have to exist in a homophobic space in order to make change and that homophobic space would be the hip-hop community.”

As such, Brockhampton appears to be a paradox in the ways they challenge the perceived masculine nature of hip-hop and black men in general. Amid the mayhem of misrepresentations and stereotypes, the contrasting effect of Brockhampton pulsates through the veins of modern music and youth culture. Rappers such as Tyler the Creator and Lil Nas X are likewise transcending the contemporary culturescape by confidently coming out within premises that would traditionally deem it taboo, making the struggle for inclusion of LGBTQ representations a little easier.

In Brockhampton's song "JUNKY," Kevin unapologetically expresses,

"Why you always rap about bein’ gay? ’Cause not enough n****s rappin’ be gay/Where I come from n****s get called “f****t” and killed/So I’ma get head from a n**** right here"

Although still managing to exercise that tough "aggressive" sound in rap and hip-hop, this has stylistically been pivoted into channeling emotions which aim to redefine the margins of masculinity and what it means to be a rapper. These powerful lyrics alone demonstrate the hypermasculine tones omnipresent in hip-hop culture in which Brockhampton delves into and tries to change. As a result, these young male artists are distinguished from the rest by shamelessly and boldly defying dominant narratives in culture and society, burgeoning towards an arguably healthier and non-normative authenticity within popular rap music.

By Kristal Dela Cruz