Hip hop will forever be known for its constant style of introducing new blood to the world. In recent years, there has been a new wave of artists that break the mold of the hip hop norm. Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky can be described as one of the artists. The 24 year old rapper has gained tons of momentum over the past year, mainly because of his highly acclaimed mixtape “LiveLoveA$AP”, which was released last Halloween. Now he is prepared to deliver his debut album to the world.
From the opening track, “Long Live a$AP”, you begin to hear the high levels of creativity in his music. The song, which features production from Jim Jonsin, is filled with abstract sounds and a bass heavy melody. This follows the entire feel of the album and that’s what makes the album so good. It is more of a sonic achievement than I originally expected. Songs such as “Goldie”, “Ghetto Symphony”, and “Suddenly” are some of the best songs on the album musically. The variety of sounds will grow on listeners over time and establish “LONG.LIVE.A$AP” as a long standing quality release.
The highlight of the entire album is the song “1 Train” which features some of hip hop’s newest rising stars. Featuring high quality verses from Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, YelaWolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Big K.R.I.T, and Kendrick Lamar, the song reminds me of old Wu Tang songs from the 90’s. There is no chorus, just back to back verses, which is something that has been sorely missed in the hip hop genre. Songs like this are the basis of the genre and date back to the early days of hip hop where cyphers were a part of the norm.
As great as certain aspects of the album are, “LONG.LIVE.A$AP” won’t go down as one of the great debuts of our time, simply because it has parts where it sounds lazy compared to other songs. Other songs such as “Hell” and “Fashion Killa” bring the album down a bit, but that is more of a sequencing issue.
With his debut album, A$AP Rocky was able to deliver visual art to his loyal fans and a quality album for new listeners. “LONG.LIVE.A$AP” will also establish Rocky as the leader of the “new school” of hip hop MC’s.
