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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Tyler, The Creator – “Don’t Tap the Glass” review

New surprise LP & the 8th overall from California emcee, singer/songwriter, producer, actor, visual artist, designer & comedian Tyler, The Creator. Emerging as the de facto leader of Odd Future, his evolution both artistically & personally since the collective’s disbandment last decade has truly been amongst the most fascinating ones I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime going from the bratty edginess of Bastard & Goblin to the undeniable maturity & versatility shown on Flower Boy & Igor. Call Me If You Get Lost happened to be his best lyrically & Chromakopia was a mature refinement of Cherry Bomb, releasing Don’t Tap the Glass in the middle of his ongoing tour.

“Big Poe” featuring Pharrell instrumentally throws it back to something The Neptunes would’ve made in the early 2000s with both of them introducing us to this new alter-ego possibly homaging the late Big Moe of the Screwed Up Click whereas “Sugar on My Tongue” takes on a more sexual tone with the lyrics experimenting with hip house. “Sucka Free” lyrically carries over the confidence of his “hey now” freestyle last Christmas except for a g-funk beat backing him until “Mommanem” drumlessly compares his haters to children.

One of the craziest instrumentals Tyler has ever made lands on “Stop Playing with Me” fusing Miami bass & electro calling for detractors to hop off his dick while “Ring Ring Ring” gets on a synth-funk/neo-soul vibe singing for his lover to pick up the phone & hoping they’re well. The title track boastfully laughs at the idea of him losing touch with the regular folks when he’s never been regular his whole career & “Tweakin’” brings back the synths to find himself trippin’ making the first 2-parter since Call Me If You Get Lost.

“Don’t You Worry Baby” lets DAISY take over the vocal performances singing about having the time & giving it to him before he falls asleep showing a Miami bass influence again while “I’ll Take Care of You” comes off as more of an interlude heavily sampling both Killa C & Princess’ verses during the Crime Mob’s biggest hit “Knuck If You Buck” for 3 & a half minutes. Including the Cherry Bomb title track’s drums. “Tell Me What It Is” ties up the half hour experience with a closer reminiscent of IGOR feeling skeptical of opening up his soul for love since he doesn’t know exactly how to.

Tyler, The Creator commemorates the 8-year anniversary of Flower Boy by straying away from the conceptual themes throughout a bulk of earlier material & whipping up a candidate for Album of the Summer with only a couple months left. It’s more centered around the pop rap & dance styles than anything he’s done previously pulling further inspiration from synth-funk, Miami bass, electro, neo-soul, dance-pop, hardcore hip hop, hip house, Atlanta bass & contemporary R&B doing what Drake thinks he did on Honestly, Nevermind but far superior.

Score: 4.5/5

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Tyler, The Creator – “Chromakopia” review

Ladera Heights emcee, singer/songwriter, producer, actor, visual artist, designer & comedian Tyler, The Creator releasing his 7th full-length studio LP on a Monday to start off the Halloween 2024 week. Blowing up about 15 years ago as the de facto leader of Odd Future, his evolution both artistically & personally since the collective’s disbandment in 2015 has truly been amongst the most fascinating ones I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime going from the bratty edginess of Bastard & Goblin to the undeniable maturity & versatility shown on Flower Boy & Igor. T’s last album Call Me If You Get Lost happened to be his best lyrically and a year & a half after The Estate Sale EP, we’re now entering Chromakopia.

“St. Chroma” produced with Inflo introduces us to the titular character representing where Tyler’s at personally & artistically pulling from experimental hip hop, west coast hip hop, industrial hip hop, neo-soul & neo-psychedelia whereas “Rah Tah Tah” throws it back to the Cherry Bomb era instrumentally talking about how she ain’t ever meet anyone like him. “Noid” mixes experimental hip hop, psychedelic rock, west coast hip hop, zamrock, rap rock, neo-soul, hardcore hip hop, psychedelic soul & neo-psychedelia tackling themes of paranoia prior to “Darling, I” sampling “Vivrant Thing” by Q-Tip to talk about him continuing to fall in love.

As for “Hey Jane”, we have T over this calming beat imagining what it would be like if his romantic partner Jane got pregnant even though neither of them were anticipating the pregnancy just before the colorful “I Killed You” breaks free from external pressures, toxic relationships, or outdated versions of himself. “Judge Judy” breaks down the story of a fleeting relationship with a woman named Judy bringing a nostalgic summer atmosphere to the table just before “Sticky” featuring Glorilla, Lil Wayne & Sexyy Red flips “Get Buck” by Young Buck explaining how shit’s getting out here.

“Take Your Mask Off” hooks up these prominent synthesizers & pianos hoping listeners find themselves while “Tomorrow” goes for a minimal sound altogether addressing his fear of aging. “Thought I Was Dead” featuring ScHoolboy Q & additional mixing from Romil Hemnani fuses hardcore hip hop, west coast hip hop, experimental hip hop, industrial hip hop, aquacrunk, fanfare & grime for a boisterous manifesto of his mentality later addressing people criticizing him for what he said about Columbia Records labelmate Ian during his SpringHill interview although the mixed reception of Goodbye Horses proved his point.

The pianos that start “Like Him” ahead of the psychedelic influences kicking in during the other half are stunning feeling like he’s chasing a ghost & wanting to know if he looks like his father while “Balloon” featuring Doechii samples “I Wanna Rock (Boo Boo)” by 2 Live Crew leader Uncle Luke so they can air this bitch out since both of them are at the top of the room. “I Hope You Find Your Way Home” finishes Tyler’s 4th consecutive classic by talking about vulnerability, self-awareness & personal growth over more synths & pianos while the deluxe run’s sole bonus track “Mother” recalls stories of his mom.

Breaking his traditional 2-year cycle of releasing music, Chromakopia to me is pretty much a mature refinement of Cherry Bomb. The experimentation within his production ventures beyond west coast hip hop in favor of neo-soul, hardcore hip hop, synth-funk, neo-psychedelia, progressive soul, rap rock, zamrock, industrial hip hop, aquacrunk, fanfare & grime so he can battle with the shades of maturity as the once colorful glee of ambition & youth withers away with his maturity. His mother Bonita Smith’s advice throughout keeps Tyler’s “light” alive, guiding him through the greatest hurdles in adulthood.

Score: 4.5/5

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