Eight years of work, eight years of experimenting, and eight years of fans awkwardly waiting— if there’s any artist in the hip-hop scene that embodies this lifestyle, it’s none other than New York rapper A$AP Rocky, born Rakim Myers.
Rocky’s been living the high life as of recent— a multi-millionaire fashion mogul fathering three kids. Ever since 2018’s “Testing”, his last album, Rocky’s shown notoriety for refusing to drop music. However, his eight-year hiatus has finally come to an end with his fourth studio album, “Don’t be Dumb”.
At first listen, it’s pretty evident already that Rocky’s trying to mix things up a bit on “Dumb”, jumping from one musical genre to another. More mainstream sounds from trap-and-rage rap are present on “HELICOPTER” and “STOP SNITCHING”, while more traditional genres like rock and grunge inspire “PUNK ROCKY” and “WHISKEY”.
“Dumb’s” thoughtful, genre-bending moments don’t come without some funny ones, either. “FISH N STEAK” with longtime collaborator and friend Tyler, The Creator, showcases his utterly bizarre raps: “I ain’t got no gas for you, but my passengers are relaxed/‘Cause I got max space like NASA does”. “ROBBERY” also depicts female rapper Doechii at a lounge/bar rapping over jazzy piano keys, sounding extremely drunk while doing so.
Additionally, Rocky doesn’t shy away from the things he wants to get off his chest on the album. Diss tracks like “STOLE YA FLOW” and “NO TRESPASSING” target rap stars Drake and Travis Scott respectively. He methodically berates the two for “stealing his flow” and corrupting the rap game by chasing musical trends. Even so, Rocky’s menacing verses sound somewhat bland, as it’s been years since his fights with the two rappers— the disses, I think, come off as sort of desperate and outdated.
While “Dumb” displays Rocky’s creativity, it’s just been way too long for him to see any relevance in the music scene. It’s a respectable project, but was it really worth the wait? Not really. We’ll just have to see if Rocky can live up to the hype of his works.