Kevin Abstract is mellowing out, singing in a low whisper, and trying to abstain from antics that incite indignant threads in fan forums. Blanket, his third solo album, is a dark, tender rock opus that centers sounds he has dabbled in before — in the psych-rap jams “Tattoo†and “Yellow†from 2016’s American Boyfriend and the indie-trap deep cut “Cash†off Saturation, the 2017 release from his boy band Brockhampton — and he doesn’t want to distract from the music. “For the first time, I feel myself growing older,†Abstract sings in the shimmering, devastating “Voyager.†Maturity means making more focused art and seeking less attention. This will excite Brockhampton fans who were incensed last year when the group announced an indefinite hiatus and a final album called The Family, which turned out to be a captivating one-man postmortem on the collective’s career starring Abstract, before following up the next day with the real swan song, TM. Collective exhaustion and an itch to be done with a record deal inspired the feint last year, the 27-year-old rapper, singer-songwriter, producer, and director explained during a call last week. I wanted to confirm my guesses about which Pacific Northwest rock bands from the ’90s influenced the new songs and to trace the polymath plays that landed him a consulting job on HBO’s Euphoria.
There were guitars in the mix on your first two solo records, but Blanket is a full-fledged rock album. What brought that about?
It happened naturally. For years, I’ve been trying to make something that I genuinely would want to listen back to and stand next to on the road as a solo act. I finally did something that I’m beyond proud of. At times, I just haven’t allowed myself to fully go all the way there, but this … instinctually, it just felt right. I kept saying early on that I wanted to make my punk version of folklore. It’s a little joke we were throwing around, but it became a vision I ended up chasing throughout the whole album-making process. I was writing about exactly where I was and also dreaming of old memories from my childhood, not living in that nostalgia, but just looking back.
What have you been listening to lately?
A lot of current rap, some classical music. A lot of stuff I listened to growing up: Sunny Day Real Estate, Modest Mouse.
I like hearing that you were listening to some of the specific indie rock your new stuff made me think about. There’s a sense of intimacy because Modest Mouse at one point was just three guys trying to fill space in a song.
There’s also something supermodern about that. In a lot of rap, there’s so much space. You hear one line over and over, and it’s hypnotizing and kind of psychedelic. I thought it’d be cool to do that with these sonics and this whispering vocal style. Everyone was like, “Oh, it sounds like Alex G.†I Love Alex G so much. God Save the Animals was on repeat in my crib and in the studio all year. But the thing is, those chords are very similar to Modest Mouse chords, and growing up in high school, every boy I had a crush on was playing Modest Mouse. So it’s just in my soul and in my DNA to naturally like those kinds of chords. I think that’s why I like Alex’s music so much. I’ve been a fan since living in Texas, before we put out any of the Saturation stuff.
The timing of Blanket is very, “All right, there’s gonna be some changes around here.â€
The last Brockhampton album was me straight up rapping every song. On this one, I didn’t really want to do that. But I still view it at its core as a rap album, maybe because I’m a rapper and I love rap music.
Let’s talk about those last two Brockhampton albums. When I saw the back-to-back release dates of The Family and TM and realized everyone would get 24 hours to think the final Brockhampton album had cut the rest of the group out, I knew people would be fried. How did that go for you?
People hated me. But I think it will be appreciated later down the line. I cringe a little bit saying that, but I love the fact that the group allowed me to do that.
What were the conversations about making The Family like?
They were easy because everyone was pretty much over it. Like, “All right, cool. Run it.†I think they felt betrayed by it, but we were just fully off it at that point. No one wanted to do another album, basically. Everything I say on The Family sums up how everyone felt about our decision to do that. It wasn’t just mine. It was me and a few other members.
Did you really make that album to wrap up a deal?
A thousand percent.
Before that, you became a consultant on Euphoria. What does that job entail?
Really just Sam Levinson showing me vibes and having me come to set to be like, “Yo, what do you think of that? Does that look cool?†I’m like, “Yeah, it’s cool.†It was lit. It was sick. You’re killing it. All the actors are great. I’m around all these new Hollywood people. It’s crazy energy to be around. Inspiring. One of my favorite videos I ever directed, the “Sugar†video by Brockhampton, opens with an alien in a sex scene. I sent it to Sam, and he liked it and asked me to be a consultant. I saw a bunch of cool stuff I never experienced before because of that opportunity. Truthfully, all I want to do is make movies, TV shows, and commercials. I try to take advantage of the chance whenever I’m rolling out my own music. World building — making an experience for people — is my favorite. It’s equally as important as the music. The music is just a piece of that for me.
I heard you met Drake.
I met Drake through Euphoria. I mean, I didn’t really meet him. Right before lockdown, I was at a table read, and there was a lot of food. I had a cheeseburger, and I saw him and I was like, “Bro, thank you for the food.†He said, “Of course, man.†That was great.
How has your creative process evolved since Saturation?
Back then, I was so broke and so desperate for attention. It was like, “How can I get everyone in Los Angeles and in New York and on the internet to look at me? How can I carve out my own lane where I can make albums and remind an audience that they can only come to me to get this specific sound?†I’m very patient with it right now. I’m not desperate for the attention. I’m not in a hurry to get there.
How was writing lyrics without a group to bounce ideas off of?
It was hard. It was lonely. It was challenging. But once I broke through, it was incredible. I need to be pushing myself more. It showed me how I was slacking in the past, relying on others too much.
It’s no cakewalk getting upwards of half a dozen people on the same page for anything, though. Something I admired about Brockhampton was that commitment to navigating friendship, business, and creativity in the same space, because when it goes left, there’s nowhere to go.
I think what I mean is that I was so into the idea of orchestrating and putting it all together that sometimes I would not even show up to put a verse on songs. Like, “We don’t even need my verse. We don’t need my part.†I’m down to just figure out what the video’s going to look like, who has the best part that we could shorten and put into the chorus. Sometimes, I’d write a line and have someone else say it because they might have a better voice than me.
What did you learn after you reached the top of the Billboard 200 chart in 2018 with Iridescence?
It’s tricky, I think, with hip-hop music and with making things that are targeted toward a young audience because that audience is always changing what they’re into. It’s tricky when you have the sensibilities that I have, I guess. The things I grew up on make me want to always be hopping from box to box, and sometimes I’m not always paying attention to the current wave. At times you get left behind, but thankfully, with this connection I have with my audience, with them knowing I mean what I put into my art and their loyalty and dedication and all the work that’s been put in over the years, I am able to sometimes miss a wave — maybe not be on a wave at all that will ever catch on, but still have a foundation that’s there to support me. It’s challenging when you want to be the biggest artist in the world. You want to make waves, but you also want to blend in.
What did you pick up from working with Jack Antonoff on your last album?
He taught me how to pick a single. Anytime I’m working with someone who has made a lot of hits, I’m like, “How do you pick a single?†He said, “Make sure you’re comfortable singing this song for the rest of your career.†He was really leaning on me like, “What are your instincts telling you to do?†I think that Arizona Baby is cool because I don’t know many other projects he’s done that have those sonic landscapes with actual raps on top of them. It is a really weird pocket that that album is in. I’m always telling myself I want to make a pop album, and then I make this introspective artsy album with him. Looking back, I wish I understood my intentions a little more. I was around Taylor for a second with him. That was cool, like meeting the president or something.
You went from stanning Harry Styles to meeting him to linking with his collaborators Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson on “Madonna.â€
Initially, they were supposed to do the whole album, but I was in a really foggy headspace. The music that I was trying to make … I didn’t know if it should feel as clear as those songs. It should be a little bit more like where I’m at right here. Life after Brockhampton … It felt lonely. It felt cold. But I knew I wanted to come out of it to make something that felt hopeful, which ended up being Blanket. What I was trying to do initially with Kid Harpoon and Tyler was just a little cleaner. But I made, I think, some of the most well-written songs I ever have and fully learned how to write a song through working with them. I wouldn’t have been able to write Blanket and be comfortable with standing on it if not for those early sessions.
I’m raising our “unreleased project†ticker to one. You always get smoke for talking about music that gets shelved and takes on this mythical vapor life.
My fans be getting mad at me for that. I made sure I didn’t make any false promises this rollout.
It’s been low-key. You’re a polarizing figure in your own fandom.
Usually I’m loud on Twitter, saying a bunch of nonsense. I love entertainment. I’m always going to love that, but I just really wanted to make it about the music.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.