That's not to say Rocky completely stumbled his way into prominence. He carries a charisma that can't be taught, and he's got an admirable, if not slightly detrimental, care for detail. Still, his entire image was designed and promoted for him via Tumblr by the now deceased A$AP Yams, and he's had no problem with taking a backseat, or even locking himself in the trunk, for his best songs. On "1 Train", "Fuckin' Problem" and "Hand On the Wheel", which can basically be chalked up as most successful, and, non-coincidentally, best songs, he's a total non-factor. And look, I get that "Peso" happened, but in four years, that's already aged poorly, so that's not the best argument. You'd probably be able to get me with "Goldie," though.
Call me a pessimistic asshole (that's not an invitation, by the way), but after many years of exposure to this hip hop shit, I've figured out a thing or two, and one of those things is that it's impossible to sustain a career while relying too much on others. Good company can help anyone reach success, but trends pass, and eventually you're going to have to get by with your own ability. And since the title indicates that I'll being talking about Harlem's A$AP Rocky, it'd be reasonable for you to assume that I consider this to be a problem for him. And you'd be right.
That's not to say Rocky completely stumbled his way into prominence. He carries a charisma that can't be taught, and he's got an admirable, if not slightly detrimental, care for detail. Still, his entire image was designed and promoted for him via Tumblr by the now deceased A$AP Yams, and he's had no problem with taking a backseat, or even locking himself in the trunk, for his best songs. On "1 Train", "Fuckin' Problem" and "Hand On the Wheel", which can basically be chalked up as most successful, and, non-coincidentally, best songs, he's a total non-factor. And look, I get that "Peso" happened, but in four years, that's already aged poorly, so that's not the best argument. You'd probably be able to get me with "Goldie," though.
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Ok, I think it's time for a post that some of you will actually care about. If there's an album that's been released this year and I haven't already gotten to it, there's a good chance its never going to appear. This one exception I'm going to make is for A$AP Rocky's Long Live A$AP. I can already see people saying "you'll write about A$AP but not *enter favorite artist*?!!!?? Sorry, that's just the way things are going to work around here. Rocky's made too much of a name for himself for me to continuously ignore his work and its time for his critically acclaimed debut to get the full on track-by-track review. Long Live A$AP may have been his first full length project, but Rocky's been circling the blogosphere the last couple of years. His previously mixtape titled LiveLoveA$AP, was just as successful as this, boasting the single "Peso" that gathered way more radio play than it should have, although I'll admit my distaste towards the song may stem from the way he calls himself "a pretty motherfucker" right off the bat. Not a standout bad track, but I saw no reason to look any deeper into the man's catalog. In truth, the real reason I felt obliged to listen to this project this his placement in the A$AP mob. Obviously there's a lot of hit or miss, but the beast coast movement going on is among the most visible in hip hop and also hard for me to ignore. I may have a personal preference towards Pro Era, and even The Underachievers, but there's no denying that the A$AP mob is among the biggest in the whole bunch. Long story short, I felt like a douche for not even giving the guy a chance. You may not even realize it, but the majority of the reason people having falling in love with this guy is his interesting ear for beats. Originally from Harlem, there's no way in hell you could come to that conclusion by simply listening. I thought this whole movement was supposed to revive the grimy east coast sounds, or at least give New York its own feel. Instead, we see an artist that has clearly taken all he can from all parts of the map, making for a constant tempo changing album. I know I'm saying that as if its a bad thing, but you can't really blame him. Sure, I'm obviously partial towards the east, but when's the last time you've heard a young rapper that actually embodies a region? After all, the main goal of this shit was to sell copies, and you need to appeal to all audiences if you want to move some real units. RCA Records were the lucky winners of the A$AP Rocky sweepstakes, making one of their biggest signings in recent memory. Not a long history of hip hop releases, but there's no doubt that this gave him some more mainstream exposure. We may not hear about these record company's all the time but behind closed doors, a lot of that shit is actually determining how well the album charts. Speaking of charts, Long Live A$AP charted all the way at number one on Billboard despite the album being leaked before the release date. If you will, take a quick scroll down that track list and see what pops up in your head. Not the craziest number, but the variation of features is simply mind blowing. If you the thought Tech N9ne's new album featured a weird set of collaboration, well you'd still be correct but this also matches it. The huge posse cut boasts the likes of Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Kendrick Lamar, and Big Krit, while Drake and 2 Chainz appear in the single "Fuckin Problems". The final, most mind blowingly bizarre guest is Skrillex, who takes the cake as the most unexpected collaboration of 2013. Not to be forgotten, there's obviously appearances from his fellow A$AP mob members, but you already knew that. That intro may have been too long, but lets get into the album... 1. Long Live A$AP And we're off with the first track from Long Live A$AP. I can't remember this being very popular but it does include the "I thought I'd die in prison" line which has managed to pop up all over hip hop blogs. I'm not an expert on his music, but this is still darker than anything I expected, at least in the intro. The instrumental isn't anything you'd find on a mainstream album, but this one resembles most of the beats you'd hear on his debut mixtape. The atmospheric feel may have been a selling point for that project, so I'm not all that surprised that it popped up so early on the album. Don't get the impression that its bad, though. You may just not understand what the hell's going on. Its been stated countless times how mediocre of a lyricist Rocky is, and this track shows that sometimes the general audience is just correct. He's not spitting anything that would lead you to see him as a groundbreaking artist, but you can tell that he depends on his instrumentals. The hook is performed in a very nice manner, making for one of the strangest, but best album intros I've heard in a while. 2. Goldie Here's a song that actually sounds playable by a mainstream artist. It's kind of a generic haters anthem, but a hilarious one at the same time, saying that people are talking so much shit about him until he gets lockjaw. A lot of the lines on here are corny as hell but we've already discussed his need for improved lyricism. Honestly, the song's just not that serious and you should expect this coming from this character he's trying to portray. He manages to do this while keeping that dark, cavernous, and sleek vibe to his music. The beat comes off kind of stupid at first but quickly becomes contagious, although I still hate the way its used on that damn Reebok commercial. Seriously A$AP, that the best poem you could make? I know it sounds mean, but lord I could have written something a little better than that. Not unlike the beat, the hook comes off as annoying, but is a lot easier to swallow when the rest of the song is so good. 3. PMW (All I Need) (Feat. Schoolboy Q) A$AP unfortunately follows up that last track with a pretty shitty one. The acronym of course stands for "pussy, money, weed", but what the hell did you expect? While I'm not feeling it at all, it still showcases his ability to make a charismatic stunt song, with some nice synths and a Schoolboy Q feature. The song flies into a tailspin fairly quickly, though, becoming nothing more than an unfocused sack of shit. The T-Minus beat isn't very good, but regardless, it gives Rocky the surface to lay his bars, the first one not being bad. The hook features yet another distorted vocal appearance, which is essentially that same thing as the last track. Problem is the there's nothing here's to take away the focus on how horrible sounding it is. Schoolboy is brutally honest, telling a story as to how he paid a girl for sex, which at least helps alleviate the generic pain presented by Rocky. In the long run, though, I actually end up feeling bad for him. If you're a famous rapper and still need to pay to get some ass, sorry homey but you're just kind of ugly. 4. LVL Without taking a detailed look at the tracklisting, I initially thought this was the track produced by Skrillex, but I happened to be wrong. This is probably the most inaccessible track on the album, as I'm well aware of how much you motherfuckers hate glitchy noise-hop. Its cool for someone like A$AP to do it, but God forbid Death Grips try to make a living off it. Anyways, this experimental beat actually sounds pretty damn good, courtesy of Clams Casino. The atmospheric beat in the intro serves as a small precursor to this song, but its really not touching the instrumental on this one. Even after that rave, this song depressed the living shit out of my. After being given such a great gift of a beat, A$AP sounds horrible on here, as he poorly raps about the exact same topic as the last track. Face it man, lyrics do matter a little bit. 5. Hell (Feat. Santigold) Clams Casino is right back with the production, but can't find it within himself to cook up anything even close to as good as "LVL". A$AP is back to his usual tactics, talking about nothing anymore interesting than you're average trap beat bum. Style is cool and all, and A$AP certainly has it, but you're out of your fucking mind if you think I'm going to mistake it with actual music talent. The Santigold hook is as bad as anything you'll here on the whole album, making me want to simply throw my IPod straight across the room, leaving it for whoever pleases. This shit better pick up soon, or there's no way I'm lasting the entire album. 6. Pain (Feat. Overdoz) Apparently the A$AP mob has a completely different definition of the word pain from everyone else on the planet. Whenever he does decide to talk about his struggles with fame, which comes mighty briefly, you'll realize this is just everyday life shit that everyone has to deal with. Aside from that, we're right back to his normal shit talking, and fly-bitch-getting rhymes. I going to sound like a huge hater, but A$AP is easily the worst on this track. Not that his weed carriers bring anything special to the table, but its refreshing to here some decently fresh subject matter, even if it is the same idea. This next track couldn't come fast enough. 7. Fuckin' Problems (Feat. Drake, 2 Chainz, & Kendrick Lamar) I'm actually quite surprised as to how big of a hit this was and the amount of radio play it got with the name, "Fuckin' Problems". So props to A$AP for that. I actually enjoyed this song a lot. This is the part of the album where the guests really start to take over, but A$AP probably regrets not making a better verse, as he's completely out shined by everyone else. I'm a Wu Stan, but not even an Ol' Dirty Bastard reference is going to get you props from me. Out of the guest, it's actually Kendrick Lamar that comes off as the weakest link. Not that his lyrics are terrible or anything like that, he just feels so damn out of place on a party track like this. No offense Kendrick, but you could have stayed away from this one. That's right, you can even quote me on this one, Drake has the better verse than Kendrick Lamar. 2 Chainz does a good job on the hook, as his appearance is always a fun time. Honestly, people need to stop taking Tity Boi so damn seriously. Obviously he's not trying to make any musical masterpieces, but he's funny as shit and I've learned to accept him for what he is. If you've seen the video, which I'll admit to enjoying, you've got to admire the way A$AP tries to make his lyrics seems at least a little more radio friendly, or at least have the ability to be played without there being any problems. Granted all of his substitutions sound terrible and uncreative, all I'm saying is that the guy is trying. I really wish I could say that more about this album. 8. Wild For The Night (Feat. Skrillex & Birdy Nam Nam) As it is the social norm, I feel completely obliged to personally hate Skrillex and everything he stands for. That's sarcasm, I promise it's not the worst thing in the world if you like him and nobody will judge you that harshly. For what it's worth, though, I really don't like Skrillex at all. Electronic dubstep horse shit isn't really my cup of tea, as indicated by my use of the words "horse shit". This song could have been a hell of a lot worse, but I certainly don't enjoy it. I can see it being put the use in the right environment, such as any club in the U.S., but you can really say that about every type of Dubstep. As probably expected, A$AP sounds really forced over this beat, but I get that he was trying to cross over to every type of demographic. Unfortunately for him, I don't fall anywhere near whatever that demographic may be. 9. 1 Train (Feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, & Big K.R.I.T.) We've finally reached the star studded posse cut that I've been waiting for the entire album. Admirably, A$AP Rocky stated that he wanted to have one track with straight rapping and no bullshit. If that's a subliminal diss towards his own music, (word of advice, don't use the word "bullshit" when talking about your own work) I don't know but this shit actually lives up to it's billing. This is pretty indisputably the best track on Long Live A$AP, which is a decent feat. Hit-Boy thankfully comes through big, making the perfect beat for this nineties type of track. For such as talented group of artist, they all blend together surprisingly well, aside from Yelawolf, who sounds horribly misplaced. Kendrick recovers nicely from the last track, with fellow young rapper Joey Bada$$, who also does his thing. Danny Brown and Action Bronson, two of my favorite current rappers deliver the best verses aside from Krizzle. Matter fact, K.R.I.T. makes this entire album his bitch in this one verse. Great track 10. Fashion Killa On any normal occasion, I'd be fine with an artist wanting to include a female friendly track, but with A$AP's constant braging of being a "pretty motherfucker", I'm just not in the mood to hear any more of his shit. The Hector Delgado produced instrumental is very repetitive, but it's not terrible. Like I already said, our hosts subject matter never really leaves the topic of women and his immaculate fashion sense. I'm not calling this trash but there's no way in hell I would ever listen to this shit. You can take that analysis however you want. 11. Phoenix The Danger Mouse beat sounds much better than the Skrillex one, but I still wouldn't say that I particularly enjoyed it. My main gripe is how much it differs from the overall theme Rocky presents. Not mind blowing, but he talks about growing up poor as hell and how he's celebrating his fame. Yeah, it one of those type of songs. The beat is way too downbeat, which would be fine if it was focusing more on the poverty part, but the Phoenix title is supposed to show how he rose from the ashes. This bored the shit out of me. 12. Suddenly For what it's worth, A$AP end the album on a relatively strong note. The beat is pretty interesting, but he chooses to not acknowledge it's existence. A$AP pretty much does his own thing, letting the beat do its own as well, while not rhyming off beat. This may come off as blasphemous, but it kind of reminds me of some shit MF DOOM would pull. See, when I said that he's picked up sounds from all across the globe, that included DOOMVILLE, or where he lives. I'm not even sure he does live somewhere. DOOM and A$AP could be walking the world together, sharing stories of their rap careers. Not a total diss towards A$AP but I'm really glad that we've finally reached the last track on the album. Rating:3/5
Another listen and I still can't find out what is that appealing about Long Live A$AP, it's significantly worse than the mixtape. Granted i don't dislike the album, it still seems overrated. As a whole, I'm getting a pretty big "meh" feeling. When the album clicks on "Goldie" and "1 Train", man does this shit bang. I do see potential, though. If you're making that quality of songs, there's bound to be something good released in the future. On the same note, I just don't know how much longer A$AP Rocky's career is going to last. The high points on the album mostly come from his ear for production or guest appearances. I'd like to believe that lyrics aren't everything when it comes to rap, but at the end of the day, you're going to have to have a little variation before everyone realizes how redundant you become. Swag and being a pretty motherfucker will get you to the level Rocky's at, but he's going to have to learn how to make more entertaining songs if he wants to expand his career. I don't want to get to bent over about these lyrics, though, all I'm really asking for is to be consistently entertained. That's where we run into our biggest problems on this album. While there's obviously entertaining moments, I'm focusing on the word "consistency". There's just too much filler and terrible songs for me to consider this any more than a decent project. If you haven't already picked up a copy, I promise there's no reason to start now. All the essential shit, you've already heard on the radio. |