A$AP Rocky – “Don’t Be Dumb” review

Harlem, New York rapper, songwriter, actor, producer, model & fashion designer A$AP Rocky returning to music after 8 long years. A prominent member of the A$AP Mob, his only mixtape LIVE.LOVE.A$AP is one of the greatest tapes of the previous decade & his debut album LONG.LIVE.A$AP under RCA Records came during my sophomore year of high school to further acclaim. The sophomore effort AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP came the week of my high school graduation was highly praised too, going for an experimental direction with Testing & has finally dropped Don’t Be Dumb after starting a family with Rihanna.

“Order of Protection” begins Flacko Season with a self-produced drumless loop with some hi-hats incorporated at the halfway point talking about being back in his bag whereas the 2nd & final single “Helicopter$” goes for a Memphis vibe instrumentally homaging the Petey Pablo single “Raise Up”. After the “Interrogation” skit, “Stole Ya Flow” blends industrial hip hop & trap speculated to be a jab at Drake when he said in a recent interview that isn’t the case leading into the pop rap/R&B fusion “Stay Here 4 Life” featuring & produced by Brent Faiyaz with co-production from Hit-Boy.

Cardo & Thundercat jump behind the boards for the cloudy trap highlight “Playa” advising not to stare when the diamonds be goin’ on & teaching others how to ball just before the hypnotic “No Trespassing” that Take a Daytrip cooked up suggests he might move out to Texas & shut down anyone who enters his property without permission. “Stop Snitching” featuring Sauce Walka samples “Give This Love a Try” by Leroy Hutson talking about going through it all from the start while “STFU” featuring the Slay Squad gives off an electro vibe to the beat sending a message to those who don’t know when to shut up.

“Punk Rocky” combines post-punk revival, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic pop, indie surf, dream pop & rap rock alongside Ging pleading for him not to be left heartbroken while “Air Force (Black DeMarco)” talks about driving a Ferrari like it’s stolen. Can’t deny Digital Nas or Digital Nazi made one of the album’s craziest instrumentals alongside T-Minus during the jazzy “Whiskey (Release Me)” putting Digital Nazi’s ragebaiting & Twitter trolling aside trying to get high as possible while “Robbery” featuring Doechii references WWE Hall of Famer Mr. T continuing to carry over the jazz elements.

The title track embraces a happier atmosphere singing that he’d do anything to stay in Rihanna’s good graces prior to “Trip Baby” shaking it up with a chipmunk soul sample courtesy of Harry Fraud warning that anyone who fucks around near him will get clicked. “The End” featuring Jessica Pratt & will.i.am flips both “The Rip” by Portishead & “Ebony Glass” by Nancy Priddy drumlessly envisioning the apocalypse while “SWAT Team” talks about the Mob being rich thieves over a horror-inspired trap beat.

“Fish n Steak (What it Is)” by WANG$AP hooks up a prominent flute from Beat Butcha so they can speak of slowing the world down from the 713 to the 718 while “Sundress” starts the deluxe run after “Flackito Jodye” combines his most 2 prominent aliases having Danger Mouse sampling “Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?” by Tame Impala telling his ex she flat out fell in the wrong hands. “Babushka Boi” meshes Memphis rap & drift phonk for a song written about an experience where he had his face cut while “D.M.B. (Dat’$ Mah B!*$H)” talks about his love for drugs & women having both Skepta & Shlohmo helping him achieve a cloudy sound.

Outside the context of it opening the Need for Speed: Unbound soundtrack, “Shittin’ Me” directly asks why some would throw him under the bus when then they have no dirt on him whatsoever while the neo-psychedelically conscious “Same Problems?” remembers a number of artists who’ve passed away. Pharrell & Tyler, The Creator provide “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n)” a lot of cloudy trap energy referencing the late WWE Hall of Famer, former WWE Intercontinental Champion, 3-time WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion & 2-time WCW World Television Champion “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.

“Highjack” featuring Jessica Pratt collides cloud rap, trap, Memphis rap, neo-psychedelia, alternative R&B & neo-soul for a jab at Drake while “Tailor Swif” contains secondary influences of plugg talking about his agility. “Ruby Rosary” featuring J. Cole meshes jazz rap, cloud rap, drumless & illbient thanks to The Alchemist discussing their current artistic positions while DJ Dahi & James Blake sample “Time” by Hans Zimmer on the final bonus track “pray4dagang”tackling introspective subjects.

Testing nearly a decade later still contains some of my favorite A$AP Rocky tracks “Praise the Lord (Da Shine)” & “Gunz n Butter”, but Don’t Be Dumb marks a celebratory comeback I’d have to put above it’s 2018 predecessor. The predominantly experimental trap production occasionally sprinkles hints of cloud rap, Memphis rap, neo-psychedelia, drumless, industrial hip hop, pop rap, R&B, post-punk revival, psychedelic pop, indie surf, dream pop, rap rock & chipmunk soul throughout the hour portraying the man he’s become whilst dissecting 6 different alter egos of his.

Score: 4/5

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A$AP Ferg – “Flip Phone Shorty: Strictly for Da Streetz” review

Another brand new studio LP from Manhattan, New York emcee & songwriter A$AP Ferg. One of the most prominent members of the A$AP Mob, his 2013 solo debut Trap Lord & the debut mixtape Ferg Foreverboth cemented that further although the sophomore effort A.$.A.P. (Always $trive And Prosper) received mixed responses for its more commercial heavy-sound. Still Striving & Floor Seats both marked a return to form for Ferg although Floor Seats II got divided feedback during the 2020 COVID lockdowns & Darold refined what A.$.A.P. (Always $trive And Prosper) was going for. Celebrating the Black Friday weekend however, Flip Phone Shorty: Strictly for Da Streetz has arrived in the midst of a few singles.

“Ball” drops braggadocio over a generic trap instrumental, which ironically sets the tone for the entire album until the 3rd & easily most salvageable single “Big Dawg” produced by Lex Luger talks about his hustle game being too real. “Dem Boyz” blends trap & dirty south continuing bring more charisma to the boastful lyrics but after the “Cee-Lo Voicemail” interlude, “P.O.L.O” will go down as one of the worst A$AP Ferg singles of all-time mainly because of the goofy beat.

Lil B joins Ferg for “Fisher Price”, ending the 1st half with synthesizers & hi-hats talking about all of their bitches being on go & “Uptown Baby” could be the weakest Lex Luger track here mostly because of the pointless French Montana verse. “Focus on Me” featuring Denzel Curry joins forces to make their blocks look like parades whenever they pop out while the lead single “Ferg Strong” proved to be better than “P.O.L.O.” & worse than “Big Dawg”.

“Young O.G.” featuring Denzel Curry reunites the pair 1 last time over the final Lex Luger beat of Flip Phone Shorty: Strictly for Da Streetz, looking to finish what A$AP Rocky & SpaceGhostPurpp both started after they squashed their beef this spring falling out started while “Shoot Up the Club” featuring Big Boss Vette finds the 2 getting raunchier topically. “Flip Phone Anthem” featuring エイウィッチ & Gucci Mane lastly finishes up with a tribute to the flip phone days 2 decades earlier.

Darold seemed like a step in the right direction for A$AP Ferg, but my biggest question coming away from Flip Phone Shorty: Strictly for Da Streetz is: What the Hell happened? Ferg himself & a vast majority of the guests aren’t much of an issue to me besides only a couple of them. A lot of my criticisms however are directed towards the production being more trap-oriented than Darold because aside from all 4 of Lex Luger’s contributions, it feels uneventful & maybe a little cutrate. If we actually get Don’t Be Dumb in January, it already has everything going for it to be a stronger listen.

Score: 2/5

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A$AP Ferg – “Darold” review

Manhattan, New York emcee & songwriter A$AP Ferg finally releasing his 3rd studio LP. One of the most prominent members of the A$AP Mob, his 2013 solo debut Trap Lord & the debut mixtape Ferg Foreverboth cemented that further although the sophomore effort A.$.A.P. (Always $trive And Prosper) received mixed responses for its more commercial heavy-sound. Still Striving & Floor Seats both marked a return to form for Ferg although Floor Seats II got divided feedback during the 2020 COVID lockdowns, Darold based on the singles had me hoping it would be another step in the right direction artistically.

“Light Work” featuring Bloody Osiris & DD Osama starts off by dabbling with the New York drill sound telling everyone to go get their lights whereas “Thought I Was Dead” produced by Lex Luger & Mike WiLL-Made It works in some horns & hi-hats to talk about his return to music after so long. “Alive :(“ has a passionate tone altogether admitting he’s been trying to his find his passion for this rap shit lately prior to the lead single “Allure” featuring Future taking it live from Atlanta.

Denzel Curry joins Ferg on the energetic “Demons” to talk about being on the corner, making the hood go brazy just before “Messy” take the trap out talking about everything being disorderly & keeping it that way. “French Tips” has a bit of a boom bap vibe instrumentally keeping it hot, but then “Dead Homies” brings a soulful flare to the table remembering all of his friends who unfortunately can’t be here with us today.

“Casting Spells” hooks up a classy beat from Mario Winans, Lil Rod & disgraced Bad Boy Entertainment founder awaiting trial next spring Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy keeping the hate away from him wanting to live & take care of his family while “Pool” strips the drums completely hoping that one never changes on him. “Chosen” maintains a drumless edge pushing towards the final moments of Darold showing a bit of introspection, which the bombastic title track expands on boasting that he’s been outside.

A rich auditory experience, Ferg’s first full-length in nearly a decade echoes his enduring impact on hip hop combining seasoned artists & rising stars offering something for everybody. This goal is achieved by the production drawing inspiration from boom bap, trap, neo-soul, contemporary R&B, pop rap, hardcore hip hop & the New York Drill scene refining the personal themes of A.$.A.P. (Always $trive And Prosper).

Score: 3.5/5

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A$AP Ferg – “Floor Seats” review

A$AP Ferg is a 30 year old rapper from New York City that came up as a member of the A$AP Mob. He made his debut in 2013 with Trap Lord, which was a a fantastic display of himself to the mainstream. This was followed up the next year with the Ferg Forever mixtape & that was succeeded by the excessively commercial A.$.A.P. (Always Strive And Prosper) in 2016. Then came Still Striving in 2017 which returned to his Trap Lord roots, but was overloaded with features. 2 years later, we’re finally getting new music from Ferg with his debut EP over here.

It all starts with the title track, where Ferg charismatically brags over a trap beat with some prominent party horns. The next song “Jet Lag” talks about how fly he is over a grimy trap beat while the track “Wam” talks about killing his competition over an alluring beat. The song “Wigs” with Asian da Brat sees the 2 getting raunchy over a hyphy beat while the track “Butt Naked” with Rico Nasty is a tongue-in-cheek sex anthem with a synth-heavy instrumental.

The song “Pups” with A$AP Rocky sees the 2 talking about their friendship over a fantastic B.T. Express sample while the track “Hummer Limo” flaunts over an intoxicating Timbaland beat. The penultimate track “Ride” is a mediocre R&B crooner & the closer “Dreams, Fairytales, Fantasies” with Brent Faiyaz continues to get raunchy over a spacey Salaam Remi beat.

For the 2 year wait, this was just ok. I get that he‘s fusing elements from both of his albums, but obviously the cuts that’re in vein of A.$.A.P. (Always Strive And Prosper) don’t do anything for me at all.

Score: 3/5

A$AP Rocky – “TESTING” review

While he’s been dropping a project every 2 years since 2011, A$AP Mob member A$AP Rocky had a noticeably quiet 2017. However, he’s been trolling the public eye with his 3rd full-length album up until this point with some awful “dummy” singles & alas here we are.

The album starts off with “Distorted Records”, where Rocky brags about his place in the current hip hop landscape over a glitchy yet bass heavy instrumental. The “A$AP Forever” remix sees Rocky paying homage to the Mob while KiD CuDi’s verse talks about overcoming his depression over some symphonic strings with thunderous drums while the next song “Tony Tone” is a humble brag over a psychedelic guitar that FNZ hooked up while the track “Fukk Sleep” with FKA twigs sees the 2 talking about going from being poor to being successful over a murky electronic beat while the track “Praise the Lord (Da Shine)” with Skepta vividly talks about criminal activity over a bouncy woodwind beat.

The song “Calldrop” does have a beautiful acoustic guitar, I just wish it was structured better. Also, I found the Kodak Black feature to be pretty redundant. The song “Buck Shots” gets confrontational over a synth-heavy trap beat & while I do like the Playboi Carti’s verse as much as Rocky’s, the Smooky MarGielaa verse doesn’t really do much for me. while the track “Gunz N Butta” talks about wealth over a cloudy trap beat with a prominent chopped & screwed sample of “Ridin’ Clean” by Juicy J throughout. The song “Brotha Man” with Frank Ocean sees the 2 talking about fighting for something over a beautiful instrumental with prominent keyboards & occasional strings while the song “OG Beeper” reflects on his drug dealing past over a dinky yet bouncy beat.

The song “Kid$ Turned Out Fine” tells the world just that over an laidback electric guitar & hi-hats while the track “Hun43rd” talks about hustling over a cloudy synthesizers. The song “Changes” talks about an ex over an acoustic guitar that gets more layered as it progresses. There’s also a point where it switches up into something more atmospheric for about a minute & it’s not too bad either. The penultimate track “Black Tux, White Collar” talks about shining through it all over a cloudy trap beat from none other than Clams Casino & then the album finishes off with “Purity”, where he & Frank Ocean talk about finding a peace of mind over an acoustic guitar.

Like most people, I was pretty worried about this album based on a vast majority of the singles Rocky dropped leading up to this but at the end of the day, I think he came through. It’s definitely more experimental than his past efforts & yet, it’s just as equally fun as his last 2 albums

Score: 3.5/5