Album Review: A$AP Rocky - Long.Live.A$AP

A$AP Rocky
Long.Live.A$AP
Rating: Grrrr

New York rapper A$AP Rocky has been riding a huge wave of hype ever since he released his initial mixtape Live.Love.A$AP and snagged a monstrous $3 million deal from RCA records. For whatever reasons, his debut studio album was pushed back several times leading many people to assume RCA wasn't pleased with the results and now have dumped the release into that purgatorial beginning of the year period. I didn't have high hopes for the record either, but it is actually a very solid debut album from a rapper that knows his strengths and weaknesses and, for the most part, leans towards said strengths.

First and foremost, A$AP surrounds himself with top-notch producers that provide him with some of the most interesting and atmospheric backing tracks for his raps. While his mixtape basically highlighted his work with Clams Casino, who is featured on two tracks here, he ventures out to utilize Hit-Boy, Skrillex, Lord Flacko, and T-Minus to provide more diversity while still putting together a cohesive group of tracks. Clams Casino provides what is basically the signature A$AP sound on "LVL" with off-kilter beats and dreamy, shoegazey textures for his low-key flow, which interestingly enough lets go in sections for some pretty rapid-fire lines.



He also lends his deft touch to A$AP's collaboration with Santigold, creating a lush dub-influenced bed on "Hell" for the two to bounce back and forth on.



For the most part, his other collaborations are also highlights of the album. "Fuckin' Problems" with Drake, 2 Chainz, and Kendrick Lamar snaps and crackles with tight interplay between the rappers over crisp beats and buzzing synths.



"1 Train" is 6 minutes of brilliant back and forth between A$AP and Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Action Bronson, Danny Brown, and Big K.R.I.T.



Even his collaboration with Skrillex on "Wild For The Night," which on paper sounds dreadful, is a surprisingly fun and relatively subtle track, with Skrillex' signature bass overload used to punctuate the track rather than override it.



Of course there are always the criticisms that A$AP's raps are not substantive enough, sticking to the usual sex, money, women, weed subjects without adding much in the way of personal revelations, and yes, it is a valid criticism. However, the production of the record and the attitude and swagger on the tracks elevate things beyond these petty gripes. "Long Live A$AP" is all skittering beats and ominous bass drones with A$AP bragging over the dense swirl of sound.



"Goldie" is a head-bouncing jam with a throbbing bassline and pulsating beat.



And perhaps his signature track "PMW (All I Really Need)" is basically his manifesto and mantra, its blunted flow the perfect bed for his interplay with Schoolboy Q.



Despite the long delay in coming and the assumed record label issues with it, Long.Live.A$AP is a very strong debut for A$AP, which capitalizes on the promise of his debut without going to far away from what makes A$AP so distinctive. Few mainstream rappers are so willing to marry their rhymes to more avant-garde/alternative productions that A$AP, despite the criticisms he receives, stands out well ahead of the pack.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.