By Mauro Mazzariello
Staff Writer
Town of Newburgh
Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a drill. A$AP Rocky has finally released an album! It only took eight years, multiple fakeouts, three children with Rihanna and the potential of Rocky going to jail to get here. A$AP Rocky’s previous album, “Testing,” was released in 2018, meaning that Rocky fans have been tortured for far too long.
So was the nearly decade-long wait worth it? Put on your zaniest pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer Puffers (I have the banana yellow pair myself), fasten your hair rollers and get ready for a rocky ride through “Don’t Be Dumb.” Boo me all you want in the comments, it’s a lay-up of a joke.
The anticipation and build-up to this album has been almost as important as its actual rollout. For years, the album was a musical Sasquatch, its mere existence doubted by all (second only to Frank Ocean’s next album, which we’ll never see). Rocky was a busy man, and “Don’t Be Dumb” didn’t seem to be his first priority. He seemed to be more focused on his highly publicized relationship with Rihanna (her next album is even more mythical than his), including the birth of their three children, RZA, Riot and Rocki Irish Mayers. Rocky was also busy starring in movies such as “Highest 2 Lowest,” facing two counts of assault with a semiautomatic weapon in a widely publicized trial (not guilty) and becoming the creative director for Puma F1 and Ray-Ban (and I can barely juggle 16 credits and a job). But throughout it all, the elusive album has remained the focal point of conversation for Rocky fans.
What better way to start off the new year than with a new A$AP Rocky album? This was my exact sentiment when I saw the Jan. 16 release date over winter break. The release of the “PUNK ROCKY” music video — the nearly five minutes of which Winona Ryder is better in than all of “Stranger Things” Season 5 — added more fuel to the fire as Rocky seemingly took his music and visual style in a new direction. Nostalgia is in vogue, and Rocky mainlines an early 2000s, low-rendered PlayStation video game aesthetic that feels fresh and exciting. From the cover art of the single “Punk Rocky,” which plays upon PlayStation 2 video game covers of old, to the video for “HELICOPTER,” Rocky implements a visually confusing yet compelling style that feels comfortably funky for those whose earliest experiences revolved around these games. I had an XBOX 360, but the nostalgia is cross-compatible (even if Halo wasn’t).
Despite my still being terrified to watch Tim Burton’s “Coraline” at the ripe age of 22, Burton’s
nightmare-fueled rag doll artistry that adorns the album’s cover adds another experimental layer that I couldn’t help but enjoy. The soul of this album is in its experimentation, and it is in this voyage into the new that Rocky’s artistic flair is at its most prominent. “STFU” brings violence to listeners’ eardrums with an aggressive rage beat, while “ROBBERY” provides a smooth jazz beat and a flawless Doechii feature that would fit in well with any scene from “Ocean’s Eleven.”
The album features a diverse range of singers, from will.i.am to Brent Faiyaz to Tyler, the Creator, whose presence I greatly appreciated. The genre-bending sound is an interesting step in a new direction for Rocky, but one that is not fully realized throughout the album. Some songs feel like safe bets, conforming to the traditional rap genre, while others break free from the mold with better results. The album exhibits moments of brilliance and innovation while the visual campaign amplifies its style, but the album is still dragged down by some weaker songs.
A few months ago, I read Sly Stone’s autobiography, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again).” There was a passage in which Stone discusses how his experimental 1971 album “There’s a Riot Goin’ On” was generally panned at the time, only garnering wider success for its experimental leaps years down the line. I have a feeling that something similar will happen with A$AP Rocky’s “Don’t Be Dumb.” This is clearly a passion project for Rocky, as his success in other areas doesn’t confine him to making music in order to live. My older brother, a true fan and the main reason I listened to A$AP Rocky in the first place, put it best when we evaluated this release, and I defer to his judgement to end this review. A$AP Rocky’s fun and experimental style has not hit its full stride yet, but the album holds promise for what is to come, and its release after such a long hiatus, even with its faults and shortcomings, has been met with widespread approval from his fans.
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