A$AP Rocky has been making headlines recently, but not so much for his music.
His relationship with pop superstar Rihanna, his fashion pursuits and a high-profile court case have kept his name in the spotlight.
He’s kept fans waiting 2,793 days for a new album, but the New York-born hip-hop star has finally returned with his fourth record, Don’t Be Dumb.
And the rapper has jam-packed the 17-track offering with explorations of various genres, from punk and trap to indie.
He’s also recruited an impressive feature list including the likes of Tyler, The Creator and Doechii.
And he’s injected the star power of Beetlejuice filmmaker Tim Burton into the project as well.
The director’s portrayed six of A$AP’s alter-egos – personas he’s said to adopt at different points in the album – in his signature eerie gothic cartoon style on the album’s cover.
Psychedelic lead single Punk Rocky’s off-the-wall music video also stars a couple of Burton favourites – actress Winona Ryder, who plays as a friendly neighbour, and esteemed film composer Danny Elfman, who joins for a spell on the drums.
NME’s Kyann-Sian Williams tells BBC Newsbeat the record feels “very grown, very mature and very much what you would expect from A$AP Rocky as the man he is today”.
“Nobody wants to wait eight years, but I feel like it’s really stood the test of time through all the changes. It still feels very current, very modern,” she says.
Clash’s Robin Murray gave the record eight out of 10, hailing it as “pleasingly eclectic” and “frequently ambitious” in its style as A$AP raps over everything from trap beats to jazz piano.
The Guardian’s Shaad D’Souza gave it three out of five stars, describing it as the artist’s strongest album since his 2013 studio debut Long. Live. ASAP.
However, he felt the “sharper moments bump up against lyrics that can sometimes feel purely lazy”.
A$AP fan Lee tells Newsbeat he “wanted something different” from the album but feels it is “a bit safe”.
However, he still believes the wait was worth it overall for its “energetic” and “consistent” style, and says he appreciates its departure from 2018’s Testing, which divided critics with its experimental approach.
A lot has changed for A$AP Rocky in the long gap since his last release, including becoming a father-of-three with his partner Rihanna.
Rumours over whether the stars were dating began swirling as early as 2013, when A$AP supported the Barbadian singer on her Diamonds World Tour.
The rapper confirmed they were in a relationship in 2021, describing her as “the love of my life” in a GQ interview.
He recently revealed his mum encouraged him to pursue things with Rihanna after the pair had been friends for years.
“My mother used to say ‘I know you like this girl that you with right now. I ain’t going to say no names, but I want you with Riri’,” he told the New York Times’ Popcast earlier this week.
A$AP said he would tell her that the singer “don’t even want me like that” but admitted that ultimately “mothers know best”.
The couple welcomed their first son, RZA, in May 2022 and their second son, Riot, was born in August 2023.
Their daughter Rocki, who was born last September, was given her father’s stage name with one letter switched.
Rihanna fans will be disappointed to see that the Umbrella singer does not feature on the record.
Asked whether he will be on stay-at-home dad duties in the future so the singer can release her own new music, A$AP simply told Popcast: “No comment.”
The rapper has also come face-to-face with the law on numerous occasions over the past near decade.
Back in 2019, he spent nearly a month in custody in Sweden after he was involved in a fight on the streets of Stockholm alongside his entourage and two unknown men.
Six weeks after his initial arrest, A$AP was found guilty of assault and given a suspended sentence.
The case attracted international attention at the time when US President Donald Trump intervened, claiming the rapper was being treated unfairly.
A$AP also appeared in court last year – this time in America, on trial for felony assault.
His former friend, Terell Ephron, claimed the rapper had opened fire at him during a heated argument on a Hollywood street in November 2021, grazing his knuckles with one of the shots.
A$AP denied the charges, arguing that the weapon was a prop gun and Terell, also known as A$AP Relli, was only after money.
After a highly publicised court case, A$AP Rocky was found not guilty of two criminal counts which carried a potential 24 year prison sentence.
The rapper also expanded into acting last year, starring opposite Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest and featuring in the dark comedy If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
A$AP has been on a journey the past few years, which appears to have influenced his growth as a musician and the direction he’s taken with the expansive Don’t Be Dumb.
He’s already secured the title of first major hip-hop release of the year and, with the album reportedly securing more than a million Spotify pre-saves, he looks set to soar up the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
By BBC News
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