BROCKHAMPTON - SATURATION III

The ending of a trilogy has to be perfected, a strong closure to a collection of highly regarded music. Something to look back on that you don’t seemingly regret it not living up to its own legacy. “SATURATION III” is not only a strong cessation, but it’s also the most impressive and substantial album of the Saturation series.

No doubt, this is the group's best album yet. A lot of the magic from it for me is that it ended the series perfectly, on the highest note that the collection ever saw. From 1 to 3, each of the albums improved more and more off each other, from greatness to greatest. It takes everything great from the first 2 projects and extends off of it. The definition for saturation is “an attribute of color being put to its maximum extent/intensity”, and that’s what this is. It’s an extremely colorful, vibrant, and lively project, with few but present mellow moments to keep everything interesting. The album isn’t exactly the most cohesive thing ever, it’s actually quite versatile, but all of the songs come together greatly, in the way that they do seemingly meld together as throughout the album it progresses through many stages. It starts off more bold and ambitious and the more you get through it gets slower and slower, some may say less saturated.

Energetic and melodic, this album has it all. Switching up from hip house, experimental hip hop, west coast hip hop to even pop rap and alt R&B, this album contains some of my favorite genres and the group doesn’t seem to disappoint. You can’t really pinpoint the major factors of what makes this album so great as it diverts itself from it’s main genre multiple times within itself, but there’s a lot that I can say. The songs compliment each other greatly. I think the slow transition between the genres makes you feel you’ve listened to one thing because of how smooth everything transitions. It feels like a cohesive album but when comparing the energetic and lovable “BOOGIE” to the slow, sweet, melodious “BLEACH”, you’d think they’re on completely different albums, but when listening to the album from start to finish, it feels like one album, because nothing feels purposefully out of place, everything fits together like a puzzle. A lot of what this album has varies, from its production to performances, to even the lyricism. You can either listen to this album as if it was 3 mini albums, or 1 pro-longed amazing experience, which I really love as it provides lots of disparity in your listening, from when and where you listen, what mood you’re in, and the way you listen to it.

Rather than the ups and downs of this album being flaws, it’s the mood of the album. It’s simultaneously bright and melodic, and has a mix of wittily and heartfelt lyricism. The versatility this album has really speaks to me in a way. It’s a slow descent into the feeling of melancholy. Starting from a high point, an apex of a mountain, but you’re slowly going down that mountain, struggling to keep your ground, finding it hard to get back to that tip of the mountain of where it just felt great to be alive, but you’re going down and down, and never finding that top ever again. The way this album speaks to me personally really adds to my overall enjoyment. It’s something that I can come back to and almost relate to. Not in the subject matter per say, but in the moods that it portrays. Relatability in an album isn’t something that I specifically look for, but it’s something I do note when it does occur, and this is one of those moments.

Without a doubt, this is BROCKHAMPTON's best musical statement yet. It’s replayability, versatility, and overall greatness of ending their strongest era’s of their discography yet makes it such an easy pick to say it’s their best. Even though it’s part of a trilogy, it’s arguably the standout album in their catalog, their magnum opus. From the road they’re going on, it’s not nearly close to the greatness of their breakout 3, but, they are holding their quality, and I really can’t hold them to such a high regard when “SATURATION III” is challenging to beat. With a legacy of greatness, improving throughout their career, Saturation 3 was the way to go out, and I’m not going to complain, cause it can only go down from there, right? I do have high hopes for their careers, they’ve shown time and time again that they have massive talent and they’re able to create something great, not like they’re making anything bad, but they’re not living up to the potential they initially had. With all of that being said, I do think this will forever be their best.

But I hope the boys prove me wrong. We'll just have to wait and see!

Favorite Tracks: BOOGIE, ZIPPER, JOHNNY, BLEACH, HOTTIE, SISTER/NATION, RENTAL, TEAM
Least Favorite Tracks: None

93/100