It’s about time A$AP Rocky released his new album. Ever since the song “Multiply” hit the web in the fall, several fans have been anticipated on the return of Pretty Flacko. Two years have passed since Rocky dropped his debut project Long.Live.A$AP, and a lot of things happened in between time. Nothing was more detrimental to the Harlem rapper than the death of A$AP Yams. The loss had affected A$AP Mob, with the Hip Hop community sending their blessings to the collective’s original co-founder. It also made an impact on this album as well. At.Long.Last.A$AP is a project that shows growth within A$AP Rocky. Although the Harlem rapper rose to stardom from being inspired by southern Hip Hop, his sophomore project is a diverse project with surprising sounds.
At.Long.Last.A$AP doesn’t start out as explosive as Rocky’s last album, but his lyrics hit you more this time around. The intro titled”Holy Ghost” creates an image of the injustices within the church in order to mirror A$AP’s climb to fame. Once that intro is finished, you plunge into an elusive world illustrates the creative perspective and human development of A$AP Rocky.
An important observation from listening to At.Long.Last.A$AP is the fact that the instrumentals has switched up a bit. Rocky became big off of implementing southern culture into New York Hip Hop, but this new album shows that he is diverse with his talents while still being able to maintaining that cloud sound. Songs like “Back Home” and “Max B” showcases a combination of rhymes and production that reminds us of old school Hip Hop. However, songs like “Electric Body”, “Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2”, “M’$” shows the being the very few bangers on the album. And then, there’s a huge number of tracks that combines both elements like Canal St., the extremely clouded single “L$D”, and the literally “Trill” cut Wavybone, a song that features three artists that help influence Rocky’s sound, Texas-duo UGK and Juicy J, the former founder of Three 6 Mafia. Let’s not also forget that there’s a Kanye beat AND feature on At.Long.Last.A$AP as well.
Speaking of features, that’s also an area where Rocky went in a diverse route. Not only did he acquire features from modern rap stars like Kanye West, Future, Mos Def, and Lil Wayne, but he also went to the same outlet that made him big to look for artists: the Internet. That’s how you have a unique hook from LA-based rapper Bones. However, when it comes to the London singer Joe Fox being on a plethora of tracks on the album, Rocky just so happened to catch him on the street. Fox adds a mysterious element to A.L.L.A, using his vocals to serve as a constant narration throughout the project.
Instead of providing a bunch of hard rhymes and southern beats to create At.Long.Last.A$AP, A$AP Rocky takes advantage of several cultures to tell his story. He also does this with a pretty good lyrical flow as well, although most of the album is about money, fashion, drugs and women. There may be some songs that will fade out of listeners minds just due to the druggy sound and subject matter, At.Long.Last.A$AP is a project that shows A$AP Rocky’s progression from ASAP Mob’s uprising during the Trill-Wave era of Hip Hop. Yams would be proud.
Lyricism: 8/10
Production: 9/10
Cohesiveness: 8/10
Replay Value: 7/10
Overall: 8/10
Standout Tracks: “Electric Body”, “Back Home”, “Canal St.”,”M’$”, “Jukebox Joints”