A$AP Rocky is a textbook case of a budding musician in the Internet age: His series of music videos on YouTube in 2011, including “Purple Swag” and “Peso,” garnered attention from record labels and led to a $3 million contract with Polo Grounds/RCA Records. After obtaining critical success, fashion deals, musical festival performances and world tours including Drake’s World Paradise Tour, Rocky primed the world for his debut studio album, originally slated for release in July 2012.
But after the album was pushed back three times — to September, then October, then December — fans met the release of LongLiveA$AP with skepticism rather than fervor. “Goldie,” the album’s lead single, dropped in April and kept fans and critics satisfied. Once the dust of this solid track had settled, the manic energy of “F**ckin’ Problems” kept the airwaves busy for a brief spell. But fans grew cynical when the track list was officially released and included guest artists such as Skrillex and Florence Welch. It seemed like Rocky’s debut album would be another commercial hip-hop effort, with cheesy collaborations full of pop artists singing the chorus between lackluster verses.
Defying the skeptics, LongLiveA$AP sounds more like the future of rap than a bubble-gum hip-hop confection. A$AP takes risks while fine-tuning the sound and style critics raved about after his mixtape LIVELOVEA$AP. And unlike most hip-hop studio debut albums, he actually achieves terrific results. “Wild for the Night,” featuring Skrillex, innocently starts with Rocky’s voice slowed in the chopped-and-screwed style he has effectively adapted, but he hits you with a bang 45 seconds into the song with screaming laser sounds. A$AP’s effortless flow fits right in. Over the Clams Casino beat, “Hell,” Santigold’s chorus sounds natural and unforced.
A$AP is pure charisma. The title song “LongLiveA$AP” begins with the audio of a thunderstorm and highlights his signature cloudy, atmospheric rap style, but it also includes some of his sharpest and cockiest quick punches — “Tell ‘em watch your spine, I mean watch your back / Better guide your track, better not look back.” The rapper sounds at ease throughout the whole album, as if he’s been making records for years.
Although some have chastised Rocky for lacking the lyricism and style of New York rap, hip-hop has never and should never be shoehorned into a single mode or style. A$AP is one of the few rappers who has successfully incorporated his influences, including southern rappers UGK and Three 6 Mafia, into his music.
Rocky faced high expectations after the successful efforts other rappers of his generation — take Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.D. city for example. But his debut studio album has actually solidified the future of hip-hop — a future that otherwise hasn’t looked this good in years. After what seems to be a genre dominated by Kanye West and Jay-Z, coupled with a series of disappointing XXL freshman classes who frequently failed both commercially and critically, A$AP Rocky and his peers — including Schoolboy Q, Danny Brown, and Kendrick Lamar — have created a great generation of rap for today’s 20-somethings to appreciate.
A$AP sums it up best in “LVL,” one of the album’s highlights: “Get your popcorn, juice and snacks / It’s a movie, n——-, with a new cast.”
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