“Early on, I wanted to avoid as much as possible and not make it a big thing, but the more you tour and the more you meet kids, they seem very moved by what you say. In a world where you can count the number of Black, gay rappers on one hand, Abstract stepped-purposefully or not-into the shoes of role model when he began making music. I think that's the first time I felt moved by anything I ever wrote.”Ībstract formed what would eventually become BROCKHAMPTON at 13 years old, spawning an rap group and art collective unlike anything preceding it. “And after I played it back, that's when I felt moved by it. Recording it was the first time I've ever felt that vulnerable in a studio, and I always get nervous every time I step up to the mic, so that was a brand new level of sharing,” he says. “I wrote that verse pretty fast and it just felt so necessary. That “Papercut” recording is where it all began, really. But with the forthcoming dissolution of Brockhampton, Kevin Abstract is ready to collect all his iterations and ascend to stardom.
On the other, coming into your own in public means regretting past lyrics as relationships evolve, writing and rewriting them. But that means he’s been learning who he is, growing and evolving on a public stage, for years. “It was just easier for me to put it in music,” he explains. He’s penned his truth in verse since he was a teenager, oftentimes singing it to fans before he spoke it aloud to his loved ones. But that closeted Black teenager in suburban Texas still lives in his writing.Ībstract grew up through his music.
Since the recording of his 2016 coming-of-age solo record American Boyfriend, Abstract has come out, migrated to Los Angeles, and embarked on (several) world tours. Abstract-born Clifford Ian Simpson-is 24 now, best known for being the leader of the self-proclaimed “best boy band since One Direction” Brockhampton, which is at once a rap group, artist collective, multimedia empire, and Kanye West fan forum meetup.
0 kommentar(er)
