What did you realise about the band
when you were faced with the idea that maybe it wouldn't continue?
What a great question. I thought it was going to be something else.
I thought we were gonna have to end the interview.
I thought the group was over.
If the internet gave birth to a band, it'd be this one.
Brockhampton, a hip-hop boy group with 14 members.
They met on a Kanye West fan forum in 2012,
when this guy asked the question, "Anyone want to make band?"
Luckily for Kevin Abstract, they did.
They all moved in together in Texas
and this year with an EP and three albums behind them,
they've earned themselves a 15-million-dollar record deal.
My name is Jaden Smith.
Brockhampton just signed with RCA.
This is the world's best,
favourite, hardest-working...
all-American boyband.
This is Brockhampton in Australia.
I'm on a boat right now!
We're in Sydney, Australia. It's my first time in Sydney.
It's one of those things where like, you know,
you go back to, like, your 12-year-old self
and tell your 12-year-old self
that in X amount of years,
you'll be in the middle of Australia
like, performing sold-out shows, like, I wouldn't believe you.
This is, like, my first time really being out in the world.
It's pretty f*cking surreal.
I'm sorry. I don't know if I can cuss.
We're on a boat!
Hey! We're on a boat!
I remember, like, making music
in The Woodlands, Texas, and San Marcos, Texas,
in South Central Los Angeles
with these cats right here.
We were so hungry but we didn't...
Like, a sensible person would pass by the house and think
"These kids are out of their minds. They never...
"They're just going to be broke their whole lives."
You know what I'm saying? 'Cause of the state we was livin' in.
But good times came.
For us, it's like, there's 12, 13, 14 of us
involved in the creative process.
It's like popcorn. Like everybody just like bounces off each other.
Nice sh*t, man. You're talented, we talented.
Just the right group of people, man.
Everybody's like good-hearted. We care about each other.
We care about the world and we care about our friends and family
and I think that like got us here, you know.
So I guess it is fate.
Fate may have brought them together
but it's work ethic that's kept them going.
They're a content-making machine.
They've got their own music videos, documentaries,
short films and of course music.
Why do you guys approach things so passionately, ferociously?
Because we can. And if you're not gonna do something with hunger,
then why do it?
There's always so much creative input from everybody.
It's very easy to look at something creative
and get different perspectives on it.
Tell the world I ain't scared of nothing,
Tell the world I ain't scared of jumping.
What were you scared of before that you are no longer?
I used to be scared of being vulnerable, being honest,
being up front and transparent.
When I write stuff,
I don't really pay attention to what it means in the moment.
It's all rooted in feeling.
But that being said, there is an intention there
and maybe like a few months later,
I start to realise why I wrote what I wrote
and I figure the purpose out for it later on.
One thing Kevin raps about
is something we've never really heard in mainstream hip hop.
Sometimes you just, like, you have to think about what's missing
in the genre you're a part of
and try to bring something new to the table that can can help people.
What do you think is missing?
It depends what angle you're looking at it from.
'Cause if you're listenin' to the radio
you probably won't find any gay rappers.
If you're online, it's not that... it's not that crazy.
Just to make a change
and to do what we feel is necessary in the hip hop community.
I got a motherfucker high score.
One member missing from the band is Ameer Vann
after allegations of sexual misconduct emerged against him.
He denied the claims but admitted past wrongdoing.
The band was shocked and said they were lied to by Ameer.
The asked him to leave the group.
I don't agree with anything Ameer has admitted to.
Having to deal with, like, family problems in front of the world
is very difficult
And I'm sorry if, like...
if this isn't enough.
I thought the group was over
and then I'm like, you know... we represent a lot.
We mean a lot. Let's keep going.
After everything and what happened, I feel like...
It showed me that change is always going to happen.
You have to learn to adapt and attack it.
I learned a lot about, um, intention.
Like, you can't forget the fact that, like...
you are human and everybody around you is a human being
so you have to treat them that way.
Because the moment that you don't
is the moment that things will start to catch up to you.
Like, there's good times and bad times
and just figure it out when the bad times come.
How do you make sure that you talk to each other and keep things locked
so that this has longevity?
Out of this whole timeline,
people have, like, only begun to know who we are
and care for, like, this much of it.
And I remember all of this time still just as clearly as I remember this.
I'm responsible for everyone here and everyone here is responsible for me.
So long as we work together.
You have to put your pride aside
and look at a picture that's bigger than you, many times.
And the picture is...
It's something one man can...
could spend his whole lifetime on.