Brockhampton, the cult-beloved LA-based rap collective that always preferred to refer to itself is a “boy band,” is about to take an “indefinite hiatus.” On Instagram, the group announces that their forthcoming shows — at London’s O2 Academy Brixton and at the Coachella festival — will be their “final performances as a group.” They’ve cancelled all their other upcoming live shows. It’s a dramatic ending for a group that enjoyed an equally dramatic rise.

The group started in 2010, as a group of Texas high-school kids made friends with likeminded teenagers from different parts of the world. By 2017, when the group released their debut album Saturation, Brockhampton had become a large and unruly collective of rappers, singers, producers, and artists, all surrounding the visionary group leader Kevin Abstract.

Brockhampton’s three albums in the Saturation trilogy all came out in 2017. The group teased a breakup after the trilogy was complete, but instead they signed a lucrative RCA deal and released three more albums over the next three years. They also parted ways with founding member Ameer Vann over the sexual misconduct allegations against him. 2018’s Iridescence, the group’s first major-label album, debuted at #1. In 2020, Brockhampton’s single “Sugar” became a viral hit, cracking the Billboard Hot 100. Brockhampton’s last album — perhaps their final one — was 2021’s Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine, which featured collaborations with A$AP Rocky, Danny Brown, and JPEGMAFIA.

Here’s Brockhampton’s announcement:

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