There’s just one thing: the fact that Wayne has the best verse on Rocky’s album is kind of sad. Weezy’s high-pitched vocal delivery combined with his rapid fire lyrical assault easily make this the best track on the album. It’s autotune the way it’s meant to be used: as an instrument rather than a musical handicap. “Kill you and your dog then go put on a shirt that say PETA for life”, Wayne raps as he slays the beat, using a slight autotune which gives him a unique identity on the track. Showing up late at track 11, is “M’$”, a banger that hits your eardrums hard and features Lil Wayne delivering the best verse he’s done in years. The best track is also the album’s biggest surprise. The song that follows it, “Electric Body.” has strong verses from both Rocky and featured artist, Schoolboy Q, helping make this track an even better collaboration by the two than their previous effort, “PMW (All I Really Need)”, off of $AP. “Always been a stand up guy, I’d rather stand out,” He raps on LPFJ2, and boy, does this track stand out. He goes in and completely massacres the beat like a man on a mission. Once those synths start, you can’t stop him. “Lord Pretty Flocko Jodye 2”, the lead single, is also a fantastic song and a strong contender for one of the best songs on the album. The best of the bunch is “Fine Whine,” which has features from Joe Fox, a British musician Rocky picked up off the street, M.I.A., and Future, who delivers a surprisingly refreshing verse. Unfortunately, the strong opening is quickly undermined by the next few tracks ebb and flow between good and forgettable. (there is an even better version of the song on BONES’ rap collective, TEAMSesh’s soundcloud, featuring an entire verse from BONES which was scrapped at the lastminute. “Canal St.,” the next track, is another great song that stands tall in Rocky’s arsenal, with a great hook from California cloud rapper, BONES. The production is top-notch and Rocky’s flow marches with the drums and high hats. The opener, “Holy Ghost,” serves as a great introduction. Some may find that a turn-off, and even those that do appreciate long track-listings may find the album to be off-paced and kind of boring when Rocky’s not rapping. The album clocks in at 66-minutes over 18 songs. They’re interesting trajectories, but are, for the most part, a bit snooze-worthy. In this album however, the pitched-down effects are lacking and instead find Rocky crooning about hazy topics like having sex on LSD and dreams. It’s an ethereal sound- a bit eerie and dark, like a voice in your dreams spitting rap lyrics.
He is known to be very surreal with his selection of production, incorporating a lot of reverb, flanger, and delays with his signature pitched-down vocals. He can fit the mold of almost any beat thrown at him. Unlike his debut, $AP, there wasn’t an enormous amount of promotion for this album – so does his new release stand up on all fours, or does Rocky suffer from the infamous “sophomore slump?” This was Brooklyn native A$AP Rocky in a recent interview with GQ magazine about the concept of his sophomore album, At.$AP, which dropped Monday night, a week ahead of its release date. And I hope I get to do it for a very long time.” I’m named after Rakim, and I’m finally facing what it means: I was born to do this s**t. Like slang for ‘Allah.’ It’s the return of the god MC.
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