Don't Be Dumb it's A$AP Rocky's first album in eight years, even though it seems like he's been promoting it forever (the title, for example, he announced in 2022). In the meantime, some isolated singles have been released, such as Riot (Rowdy Pipe'n) of 2023 with Pharrell Williams and Tailor Swif of 2024, in addition to the usual headliner slots in various editions of Rolling Loud and a series of leaks on Discord and teasers of a few seconds on Instagram and X typical of contemporary marketing. Rocky has kept himself busy in many other ways in recent years: as a creative director, partner of Rihanna (with whom he has three children), and emerging actor in films such as If only I could I would kick you (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You) And Highest 2 Lowestthe 2024 film by Spike Lee in which he stars alongside Denzel Washington.
You have to go back almost 15 years to find the moment in which the Harlem rapper was capable of shaping rap. In the early 1910s he was part of what were called leaders of new cool, together with Kendrick Lamar and Drake, both present (with 2 Chainz) in his most famous single, the 2013 hit Fuckin' Problems. At the time the main criticism leveled at Rocky was that he was not as dynamic as his colleagues, often relying on the rather rigid vocal cadence that had characterized the album with which he had performed: Live.Love.A$AP from 2011, a prodigy of cloud rap and Tumblr logic that still remains his most intriguing work. However, it is also worth returning to Long.Live.A$APthe “official” debut album that followed it and which contained precisely Fuckin' Problems: the hazy atmospheres, the EDM incursions, as well as the bars of 1 Trainhave stood the test of time very well. Perhaps the most apt comparison for A$AP Rocky's style is not that of a rhyming animal, like Kendrick, but of a creative visionary like Travis Scott, another more interested in creating a vibe rather than sharp lyrics.
But it is precisely this streak of Rocky that prevents that Don't Be Dumb turns into a simple diversion between one audition and another. The album is overloaded, from the artwork drawn by Tim Burton to the cameos by Damon Albarn and Oscar-winning composer Danny Elfman. Rocky strives to chronicle his evolution: from street brawls in Harlem to the domestic bliss of affluence and celebrity. “My fairy tale with a happy ending… the truth is that I was struck by Cupid,” he says in Stay Here 4 Life in one of the many references to Rihanna. Too often, however, he ends up taking refuge in his old mask of the “pretty motherfucker”, stringing together boastful rhymes about his sexual performances, told with the usual charisma, but deprived of that linguistic liveliness that animated rappers of the past like Cam'ron and Big L. Having said that, it seems that A$AP is having fun, and in the long run this attitude manages to drag the listener along too.
For gossip lovers, however, there is Stole Ya Flowa song where Rocky seems to throw digs at his ex-friend Drake: “You stole my flow, so I stole your flow bitch” (Drake and Rihanna have famously been in a relationship in the past, while some have pointed out that it's problematic that Rocky calls Rihanna bitch). In No Trespassing adds, “I might move to Texas, roll with protection / Pull up to your neighborhood, fire up” (Drake apparently moved to Texas in 2024).
All this may have sparked some chatter on social media, but that's not the most interesting part of Don't Be Dumb. More inspiring is the way Rocky reclaims his role as the father of the modern rap style (detractors will argue that much of that style had already been developed by cult figures like Lil B, Main Attrakionz and the members of Odd Future). “These guys will eventually give me credit for starting all these trends,” he proclaims in Whiskeyjust before Westside Gunn chimes in with his ad-libs: “boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!”.
In Stop SnitchinRocky references his trial and subsequent acquittal on charges of threatening former friend A$AP Relli with a gun. “From youngsters to veterans, don't do interviews / you just appeared on Say Cheeseyou were talking like an interrogation room,” he raps on the track featuring controversial Houston rapper Sauce Walka. Overall, these moments sound like a testament to a multi-platinum artist who, despite everything, feels he hasn't received due recognition for his artistic merits.
Don't Be Dumb might get bogged down in A$AP swag, but it ends up working on tracks like STFUa hardcore track in which Rocky sings with Slay Squad, a band from the Inland Empire that defines itself as ghetto metal. Punk Rockyan emo collaboration with singer Cristoforo Donadi, recalls the liquid hallucinations of the turning point of 2015 LSD. In Air Force (Black Demarco) Rocky indulges in a vocal that recalls the psychedelic shoegaze trip of Lil Yachty in Let's Start Here. None of these pieces – except maybe STFU – however, it has the electric rawness of Purple Swag and of the era of Live.Love.A$AP. But it's still hard to resist a song like that Robberywhere Rocky and Doechii play Bonnie and Clyde over a jazzy arrangement of piano and drums.
Don't Be Dumb ends with The Enda current reflection on an increasingly dark world, which boasts the participation of Will.i.am. “It's hard to sing 'sunshine and good morning' with global warming / News flash, we're at war, global warning,” Rocky raps, before alt-folk singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt adds: “This is how the world ends.” You might criticize Rocky for being the classic braggart who never seems to know when to stop bragging, but at least he knows that, in the hell that is life in America in 2026, there are issues far more important than his beef with Drake.
From Rolling Stone US.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
