Album Review: Don't Be Dumb

The A$AP Rocky Don't Be Dumb album cover

Rakim Mayers, best known by his rap name A$AP Rocky, had last released an album in 2018, with Testing. Since then, a large number of live events have taken place with Rocky. Ranging from a legal issue in Sweden in 2019, The launch of a whisky brand in 2022, Various fashion collaborations, A relationship with music and fashion icon Rihanna, a second legal scandal in 2022, which lasted for multiple years, and the birth of 3 new children with Rihanna. It is safe to say, he’s kept himself busy for the last few years.

Within that time, he also released several new songs (Twelve of them if you count the songs released for movie and video game soundtracks), which would then lead to fans beginning to speculate a new album would be coming. Obviously, the various life events, plus some leaked tracks surfacing a couple of years prior, the album would deal with some significant pushback. In Mid-December of 2025, Rocky would finally announce the official release date and cover for the album. The forthcoming album was due for January 16th. He would release 2 more songs in the weeks between the album’s release(Punk Rocky & Helicopter), and the album would finally be released on Friday, January 16th.

Now, the expectations for a large number of people(me included) were high considering how

long the wait was. But he set the tone very well in the opening tracks. Starting with the opening

track, Order of Protection was a great way to truly establish his return. Even acknowledging it in

that track “It's been a lil' while since I been in the league. A couple lil' trials, couple of leaks, still

in the field like I'm runnin' in cleats, Last time I checked, we still in the lead”. Despite the hiatus, he still has his confidence and energy. And to follow that up with Helicopter, a very high-energy single.

One of the major skills of Rocky’s is his versatility. His ability to have both the very high energy songs like “Stole Ya Flow”(an alleged Drake diss) and to then follow it up with a song like “Stay Here 4 Life” featuring Brent Faiyaz, which is a much smoother and calmer record. It’s very impressive to have such different sounds on the album, especially sequenced that closely together(Those songs were tracks 4 and 5). Later on in the album, you would have “Punk Rocky”, a song that closely mirrors the sound of alternative rock and even more impressively than having that sound on this album, he sounds smooth over the instrumental.

Something that deserves a major amount of focus and recognition is the features on this album

and where they were placed. I heard the beat on “Stop Snitching” and I would have never have

expected to hear Sauce Walka on that beat. And he was an absolute standout part of the entire

project with that feature on that beat. Then there’s Robbery, a track with a very heavy influence

of the Jazz sound. Rocky’s decision to bring Doechii, one of the biggest rising stars in the rap

game and she also felt like she had to be on that track. They both matched each other

tremendously for that whole track. With a song like The End, who else could've paired will.i.am

with Jessica Pratt?

Only ASAP Rocky could've set that up. Those two also did great with the somber sound of that track. And of course, it’s necessary to talk about the Tyler, The Creator feature on Fish N Steak. Tyler, being from California, was somehow a fantastic fit on the Houston, Texas inspired beat. Rocky and his collective, A$AP Mob always had some influence on the southern hip hop sound so rapping over these beats isn’t surprising. To hear someone like Tyler rap lines like “Ain't the price of the engine, Reason why they can't stand him, 'Cause my self-esteem could make a bucket ride like a Phantom” over that instrumental with additional vocals from singer/producer Jozzy. Truly encapsulating the vibe they wanted to accomplish of a song you can just drive around listening to or “the specific feelings of slow riding through the texas city on a warm evening.” if you ask Tyler himself.

The album’s sound is very experimental. Even more so than his previous album, which says a

lot. But it shows that Rocky, still after all this time, has not lost his ability and his versatility and

his skill to make exceptional music. And to create an album that has such a visual feel, almost

as if you can envision what the music video could look like in your mind while you’re listening. I

personally love the songs: Don’t Be Dumb/Trip Baby, Order of Protection, and Fish N Steak. I

come back to those constantly. Overall, I think the album is very good and a great return back to

music for Rocky. And I can guarantee there is something in this album for every listener who

enjoys different sounds. Now we can only hope it won’t be another 8 year wait between now and Rocky’s next body of work, albeit if it’s as good as this one after that time, I won’t necessarily

complain.