Review Summary: For all the hype, it's...really good
Is cloud rap a thing?
It's a term that's plagued hype-fueled blog articles, thinkpieces, youtube comments and TheNeedleDrop videos for a few years now, and though both loved and hated, its existence is more relevant now than ever, and it can be traced back to one individual: A$AP Rocky. Though Rocky was not the first person to experiment with psychedelic, chopped & screwed beats with heavy bass, he was the one to cohesively conceptualize, brand and popularize the sound and movement. It's one whose sound and visual style is rooted in modern internet culture, in tumblr and various blogs, and instagram. And critics and fans alike can agree on one thing; it's fresh. It's aesthetically pleasing, it's layered, it's new, it's modern, it's influenced by all the things deemed "cool" by this generation: ambient electronic music, sex, booze, marijuana culture, flashy clothes etc. It's now attributed to introspective (but popular) rappers like Mac Miller, jokesters like Yung Lean and dark oddities like Bones. A$AP is still the leader of the movement, though, but on this album he does the smart thing and branches out.
Live.Love.A$AP took the blogosphere by storm when it dropped in late 2011. Every song was drenched in hazy beats, glittery synths, slow rhythms, glitchy samples, catchy hooks and loads of references to marijuana and codeine consumption. It also achieved a rare feat of getting an artist (in this case Rocky) HUGE without any radio play or label assistance. Despite mainstream rap still being fueled by EDM and pop influence and radio not giving this stuff the time of day, A$AP still managed to sell out large venues regularly in 2012 and you couldn't go to a mall without some suburban kid playing "Peso" and "Purple Swag" from his phone.
Obviously the major labels soon realized this, and Rocky signed to RCA in 2012, dropping his major length debut, Long.Live.A$AP, shortly after. The A$AP crew still sat at the production boards and oversaw the album, but Rocky's increased exposure, along with outside label and production influence cause him to abandon his beloved style for a more accessible pop approach, most of the songs being upbeat radio friendly bangers and the cloud rap influence took a backseat to bass drops and poppy choruses. Despite some of his early fanbase feeling betrayed, the move paid off: The critics loved it, it debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and A$AP Rocky embarked on a highly successful summer co-headline tour with Wiz Khalifa. Despite being a product of the internet, an underground sensation with weird tendencies and a flamboyant fashion sense, Rocky soon found himself at the top of pop culture and his influence soon spread to everything from pop radio to PacSun clothing lines. When his 2nd LP was announced, everyone wondered what he would do next. He was huge now; should he experiment and have a "***-it" attitude towards radio success such as Kendrick Lamar has this year? Or to play it safe, and hope the radio hits keep his success afloat?
Well, here's the good news: There's no EDM drops to be found here, no 2 Chainz features, no obvious radio singles to be found. Actually, most of the album isn't radio friendly at all. Many of the songs here contain bizarre interludes and are entirely void of hooks, or if there is one, like on "LSD" its a creepy ode to hallucinogens and a million times weirder than anything on Live.Love.ASAP.
That being said, it's also still an A$AP Rocky album and most of the record sounds how you'd expect. The slow drug ballads ("LSD", "Jukebox Joints") the bangers "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2", "Max B", the star studded posse cut "Wavybone" is this album's "1 Train", substituting Joey Bada$$, Big K.R.I.T. & Danny Brown for Juicy J and UGK). But there's a lot to love here, and not everything is expected: "LSD", one of the best songs, has an extremely bizarre slowed instrumental and vocal melody which lasts the whole song which is an ode to sex on LSD sung by, you guessed it, Rocky! Yup, he actually sings here. The whole song. He also spits fire all over "Excuse Me" and "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2", both finding him as confident as ever and as cocky as he's ever been. He also gets introspective at times, such as on "JD" where he talks about loyalty being dead among his peers and his trust for others now being nonexistent, and on "Jukebox Joints" where he acknowledges the criticisms of his multiple ventures into fashion and acting, the effect of his influence on culture, and the stress of being as big as he is right now. It's an interesting and successful approach that he should have done more with on this record.
That's really the only problem with this record. There's diversity in the songs, sure, but even Rocky's new formula gets a tad same-y, the songs starting to blend together a bit. While cuts like "Pharsyde" and "Better Things" sound fine in the context of the album, they don't exactly have much replay value. And everytime Rocky seems to step out of the box he just doesn't do enough with his new ideas to warrant any praise. Still though, I shouldn't be complaining. This record's full of awesome tracks. "Everyday", the Miguel featuring, Rod Stewart sample-led single is fantastic, the hook fitting perfectly into the production and Rocky's flow. "Max B" goes off and Rocky spits some of his best bars to date all over the song and its egyptian-led trap beat. "Back Home" is a cool passing-the-torch moment featuring Mos Def spitting alongside Rocky acting as his "senior" and the beat finding some weird space between the Jackson 5 and a Danny Brown track. Speaking of Rocky's seniors featuring all over this album, a common theme is Rocky out-rapping his idols all over the record, be it Lil Wayne on "M'$" or Kanye West on "Jukebox Joints" (which features an extremely Kanye influenced beat), these legends follow a similar pattern throughout the tracklist: their verses are decent, but Rocky's are much, much better. It doesn't even sound like they're not trying, it's the sound of a young man at his peak outperforming a former master at their craft. Fact is, lyrically Rocky has never been as good as on this album, and his flow has improved greatly as well. The production is immaculate as well: cohesive, gorgeous, and compliments Rocky's flow greatly.
This is a pretty great album, no doubt about it. The only downer is, in an age of Kendrick Lamar and Death Grips hitting a creative peak and thinking outside of the box and putting that experimentality at the forefront and succeeding, it's a shame that Rocky didn't go for more. Instead of completely reinventing himself he stayed inside his style and just added new little touches within his formula. And that's fine, and it works very well. Just don't believe any fans who might claim this "album of the decade" or anything ridiculous. It's not a masterpiece, and it doesn't need to be. Rocky is confidently at a point where he can consistently release quality music that's expected of him, and he'll do fine. And the fact that he's only two albums in at the age of 26 and already has such wide reaching command and influence over pop culture, already has his own style inspiring thousands of copycats and a devoted fanbase in the millions guarantees no matter what he does next, it'll be successful and we'll still be watching his every move.
