After a long, protracted, confusing breakup process, the LA-based rap collective Brockhampton finally played their farewell show in 2022. Now, the different ex-members of Brockhampton are doing their own things. Former crew leader Kevin Abstract released his alt-rock solo album Blanket last year, and now RCA seems to be strapping a rocket to Matt Champion, the cute and sleepy-eyed white rapper of the group.
Over the past few months, Matt Champion has released the solo singles “Slug” and the Dijon collab “Aphid” — tracks that move away from the Brockhampton sound and into an insular but rap-fluent form of bedroom-pop. Today, Champion announces that his solo album Mika’s Laundry is coming out later this month, and he also shares “Slow Motion,” a new track with a massive K-pop star.
Last year, Jennie, a member of the gigantic South Korean girl group Blackpink, starred in the Weeknd’s HBO show The Idol and released the solo single “You & Me.” Jennie recently parted ways with YG Entertainment, the massive Korean entertainment conglomerate that put Blackpink together, and she seems to be venturing off on her own now. On Instagram, Jennie says that she and Matt Champion started working on “Slow Motion” three years ago.
Sadly, “Slow Motion” is not a Juvenile cover. Instead, it’s a starry-eyed love song. It starts off as a soft, Billie Eilish-style piano ballad, but then a jungle breakbeat kicks in so suddenly that I thought I had music playing in a different open tab. Not a bad song! Listen below.
Mika’s Laundry is out 3/22 on RCA.