ARTIST: A$AP Rocky
ALBUM: Long.Live.A$AP
LABEL: A$AP Worldwide/RCA
RELEASE DATE: January 15, 2013
Rise To The Top
Written by Jeremy Weeden
Since the release of 2011’s Live Love A$AP mix tape, Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky has been slowly rising in the world of hip-hop. Although his subject matter mostly revolves around the oft-discussed topics of women, fashion and drugs; his style and flow helped him to standout from the thousands of other rappers rapping about the same thing. The it factor that propelled A$AP Rocky above the fray also helped him to garner a wide following after the release of his first nationwide single, “Peso.” A$AP has since become the leader of a movement for those who agree that one should “Always Strive And Prosper.” A$AP raps like a combination of UGK and Bone Thugs and dresses like he’s from Long Beach circa 1993, but the rapper hails from Harlem, NY. So it goes without saying A$AP is eclectic and has many different influences. Now with his major label debut, Long Live A$AP, the Harlem rapper is ready to expand his A$AP Mob.
Long Live A$AP is an album that clearly shows the influences of A$AP Rocky and he still manages to add his own flavor. Unlike many of his counterparts in today’s rap game, A$AP chose to meet the mainstream in the middle on Long Live A$APrather than rushing completely to the other side to garner more sales. “Fucking Problems”, the album’s second single is an excellent example of this. This song, produced by longtime Drake collaborator, Noah “40” Shebib, has a catchy radio friendly beat but is more hip-hop than pop. The song features 2 Chainz, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar, literally the three hottest rappers currently out, rapping about how much they love to have sex.
On “Wild for the Night” A$AP gets with Skrillex as hip-hop meets Dub step. While the pairing may seem odd at first, the result is a hyped up song featuring A$AP Rocky’s rapid fire flow.
“1 Train” features Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson and Big K.R.I.T. for an old school posse cut with no chorus, just the rappers dropping lyrical bombs over an East Coast-style beat. All those who lament the lack of lyricism in rap will find this track a breath of fresh air with all the rappers seemingly competing for best verse, like Joey Bada$$ lines, “I’m on my convict don’t drop bars, I drop prisons/ Don’t sell rocks seen the spectrum through the prisms/ Somehow bypassed the bias and the isms/ The violence and the killin so given/ They seen my pigment and thought I was the ignorance/ And fortunately I am not that type of niglet.”
Songs like “LVL”, “Phoenix”, and “Suddenly” feature slower beats and a more introspective A$AP Rocky. On “Suddenly” A$AP uses his Bone Thugs flow and raps about his childhood and getting famous, but before one thinks he’s getting too deep he raps “Don’t view me as no conscious cat, this ain’t no conscious rap/Fuck the conscious crap, my mac’ll push your conscience back.”
Long Live A$AP is a good debut from A$AP Rocky. Often times when an album is greatly anticipated, what actually comes out it is disappointing. This fear alone has kept Dr. Dre from releasing Detox for years. However, A$AP Rocky managed to put together a fresh, creative album with a blend of different styles making every song on the album different, while keeping the total product cohesive. Long Live A$AP is sure to keep A$AP Rocky in heavy rotation for months to come.