Don't Be Dumb

the take

You would think I'd be really excited to check out a new A$AP Rocky after eight years of waiting. But I kind of ignored the hype for this release until very recently. A$AP Rocky is back with "Don't Be Dumb", and I still kind of have mixed feelings about it. Most of that stems from Rocky stating that he incorporates different genres on here (and does so with songs like "STFU" and "PUNK ROCKY"). In my mind, I wasn't too surprised at that because he's been known to do this before in albums past. It's just that when you factor in that plus the typical braggadocious rap performances over trap-sounding production that Rocky is known for rapping on, you end up with quite a bit of great material, but as a whole not cohesive. It's a safe bet that that wasn't his goal from the jump, but "Don't Be Dumb" does a bit too much, as it sounds like it's incorporating every idea he has for the last however many years all crammed into this one project. A lot of highs on here, such as "HELICOPTER", "STOP SNITCHING", "WHISKEY (RELEASE ME)" and my personal favorite "NO TRESPASSING", but lows like "STFU" and "AIR FORCE (BLACK DEMARCO)", along with the rest being enjoyable yet not innovative to me. I don't know, man. "Don't Be Dumb" is good, but it's not "worth-the-eight-year-wait" good. Oh yeah, and the extra two deluxe tracks released days after? "FLACKITO JODYE" and "I Smoked Away My Brain (I'm God x Demons Mashup)"? Yeah, let's just ignore how one song was new and trash, while the other is old and also trash, which I never even cared for.