Review: A$AP Rocky "Don't Be Dumb"
- zaydgavino
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
It's been roughly eight years since Harlem native A$AP Rocky released his experimental project Testing to mixed acclaim. The album, counting as Rocky's third solo project at the time, deviated from hip-hop norms, creating a dark atmosphere with lo-fi production. Despite the stacked cast of features, ranging from Frank Ocean, FKA Twigs, and a cell phone verse from Kodak Black, critical consensus found the project to be unpolished and incoherent. In the face of this criticism, fans of Rocky still supported the project, with Rocky providing a mass amount of hype around his shows and sets, incorporating test dummies, warning labels, and photo shoots with car crashes. As a result, masses were excitedly awaiting a follow up album. Now, eight years, three kids, and many trials later, A$AP Rocky has answered with Don't Be Dumb. Retrospectively, people can look back at Testing and recognize the blueprint for what has arrived, an album with flairs of Flacko flow and enjoyable production resulting in a comeback that has fans (like myself) grateful for the project.
Rocky opens up Don't Be Dumb with "ORDER OF PROTECTION", a track proudly declaring his reemergence into the game with a steady, confident cadence and flair, stating, "It's been a lil' while since I been in the league / A couple lil' trials, couple of leaks / Still in the field like I'm runnin' in cleats / Last time I checked, we still in the lead". This confidence and lyrical charisma continues throughout most of the first half of the album, which consists of Flacko (a nickname for A$AP Rocky) rapping about various experiences throughout the eight-year gap between both projects.
In "STAY HERE 4 LIFE" Rocky lyrically gushes about his relationship with superstar Rhianna, emphasizing a love seemingly so pure and euphoric he wishes to stay in their present moment. Lyrically, the most attention grabbing song is "STOLE YA FLOW", which is without a doubt a shot fired towards Toronto-based rapper Drake (the two once close friends have now become bitter on account of Drake's past relationship with Rhianna). The track contains not-so-subtle lines towards the rapper such as, "N****s gettin' BBLs, lucky we don't body shame". While Rocky may not be cited as the most gravitating rapper when it comes to lyrics, one line that stands out on this album for me, personally, comes in the final track of disc one titled "THE END", with the A$AP member going into detail with much of what is seemingly wrong with society in today's age.
"It's hard to sing 'Sunshine, good morning' with global warming / Newsflash, we at war, a global warning / I don't know if public schools servin' real food to the students / Shit taste like institution"
While Testing consisted of exploration of broody sounds mixed with panning effects, the efforts of these production choices fall flat at times. It feels incoherent and in the overall structure of the album, often proving discombobulating. The growth from this endeavor, though, is seen here in Don't Be Dumb. While not as experimental, the project still takes risks in its production and effectively hits on most if not all notes. Transitioning away from a hip-hop heavy first half, Rocky subtly flexes his production on tracks like "PLAYA", with an outro that sounds like a janky Frank Ocean cut. Following that, "NO TRESSPASSING" switches up Rocky's sound featuring the Harlem MC rapping over a west coast style beat. All of this culminates towards "STFU", a pivotal track within the album, consisting of a metal-esque instrumental with vocal features from SlaySquad. This trend of rock-geared production continues with "PUNK ROCKY", a song released as a single before the album's release, reminiscent of previous fan favorite track "Sundress."
"Right about now, I'd do anything just to see your face / Every day, every day / 'Cause right now, I'd do anything just to stay in your graces / Like anything, every day"
We cannot talk about an A$AP Rocky album without mentioning his affinity towards cloud rap. This is delivered first in the track "BLACK AIR FORCE (BLACK DEMARCO)", where Rocky resides in his Kanye bag, drawing a similarity towards "On Sight". The track consists of Rocky rapping over an industrial hip-hop beat before pulling the rug out from underneath listeners and switching abruptly to a lush and dreamy chorus that embellishes a lovey atmosphere. The album then carves out a niche of R&B and jazz with the tracks "WHISKEY (RELEASE ME)" and "ROBBERY", with the latter being a standout track in the album. Doechii and A$AP Rocky trade bars over a jazz instrumental reminiscent of the 1920s and 30s, depicting a particularly steamy flirtatious encounter through the visual of a robbery. The title track "DON'T BE DUMB/TRIP BABY" sees Rocky's production come full circle, with the first half of the song being a personal favorite of the album. Here Rocky finally lets the full atmosphere of production play out as "DON'T BE DUMB" explores dreamy landscapes of love. Rocky's voice perfectly contributes to the tonality of Clams Casino's instrumental. The collaboration between the two marks another amazing record that hits on every mark, and the placement of this track within the record seems to be the ultimate culmination of production. The second half of the song, while not as expansive, features a bubbly beat that samples Clairo's "Sinking". Finally, the last track on disc one is "THE END". The double feature of Jessica Pratt and will.i.am nestles comfortably within the haunting sample of Nancy Priddy's "Ebony Glass".
This album had a wait time of roughly eight years. During that hiatus period, A$AP Rocky was arrested in Sweden, started dating Rhianna (he now has three kids with the Barbados artist), and fought two felony counts of assault against former member and friend A$AP Relli. In that almost-decade time period, fans of the creative genius asked each and every time they could when a new project would drop. We finally have it and the question on everyone's mind is, "Was this worth the wait?". I personally do not believe that the merit of an album resides within the wait time between each project. Society now expects that an album that takes a long time to be released means that it is a generational project and one that must instantly become a classic. I'm here to say that this cannot be the case moving forward. Otherwise, pressure for the artist and for the project leads to the downfall of expectations. This is not to say that Don't Be Dumb is a bad record; far from it. Don't Be Dumb is a successful return for the self-proclaimed "Pretty Mother Fucker," filled with amazing production and a stacked feature list that all employs their talents (even if Westside Gunn really only has ad-libs to add). While Rocky's bars and flow may not be to the par and standard of artists like Kendrick Lamar, Earl Sweatshirt, or J Cole, the process Flacko takes is absolutely entertaining. This album really gets even better with each listen, and despite multiple claims of the album being "mid," I believe that it really takes Rocky's efforts on Testing and evolves them into a more cohesive piece. My recommendation? Listen to this album on a drive. Get high and turn it on. Lean into it. Absorb every piece of it. A$AP Rocky really is back, and hopefully he is here to stay.
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