A$AP Rocky falls short of exceptions with his debut, but at the same time lives up to them. Because, let’s face it: most of the people had expected Rocky to be unable to reach the dizzy heights of his widely praised mixtape. The money bag might have weighed too much (Remember? There was an advance payment of 3 million Dollars!), the hype might have been deceiving, the rapper dressed in Alexander Wang might just be over-fed. All that combined with a release that kept being rescheduled, until it coincided with the widespread New Year’s misery. The demand, however, was the same all along: A$AP Rocky was to become the new Kayne with his debut, the new 50 Cent; while, of course, keeping his very own trademark sound and developing upon it. And Rocky fulfilled the demand as if his pockets weren’t full of dead presidents, as if he’s after every single Dollar to buy a bottle of sprite around the next corner. If we are going to keep talking about the genre cloud-rap, then it is only because A$AP Rocky is flying over every single beat. No matter whether he’s the chasing moody bastard of Skrillex-EDM through a fun fair, whether he uses his perfumed voice to breathe a drumless beat (»Suddenly«) between its legs or whether he battles one of your favorite rappers in an old-school-battle – Rocky always comes across as superior. His beats are just as convincing as his diversified flow. Think of the mixtape’s beats, add some more mastering, a bit more glitter and a little Niggas-in-Paris-attitude – then you know exactly what the record sounds like. Of course, it sounds a bit like Swishahouse and Three 6 Mafia, not only audible through some chopped hooks. However, the album’s life still comes straight from Harlem. The kind of Harlem that once shaped the Dipset-boys. Rocky has created a lifestyle between gutters and catwalks, in which the choice of a gun is just as important as the choice of an evening dress. We won’t have many chances of being entertained any better this year.
Long.Live.A$AP
