{"id":242795,"date":"2026-01-17T09:04:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/242795\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T09:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T09:04:06","slug":"aap-rockys-dont-be-dumb-review-a-pretty-boys-reckoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/242795\/","title":{"rendered":"A$AP Rocky’s Don\u2019t Be Dumb Review: A Pretty Boy’s Reckoning"},"content":{"rendered":"

A$AP Rocky<\/a> has been relying on his own instincts to propel his career forward since\u00a02018\u2019s TESTING<\/a>, Rocky\u2019s first album to drop after his best friend and creative advisor, A$AP Yams, passed away. Perhaps as a result, that album failed to reach the same artistically-impressive heights as his previous projects. On his latest album, the highly-anticipated Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/a>, we\u2019ve arrived at a point where Rocky\u2019s gut-led decisions are more chaotic, and as a result, more heartfelt.<\/p>\n

Rocky prides himself on being undefinable;\u00a0Don\u2019t Be Dumb is subsequently rambling and sprawling. Clocking in at an even hour, the album brims with an energy we\u2019ve come to know and love. The confident \u201cNo Trespassing,\u201d with its whispery bass and reverberating backdrop, is a personalized course in Pretty Flacko 101. Even songs that sound like they were simultaneously overestimated and underthought (the album opener \u201cOrder of Protection\u201d) manage to feel attention-grabbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay Here 4 Life\u201d and \u201cPlaya\u201d \u2014 Rocky\u2019s odes to his partner Rihanna \u2014 are among the most honest songs the rapper has ever offered. Both songs feature last-minute beat switches, which feel distracting initially, but ultimately boost the varied atmosphere of the album. \u201cAir Force (Black DeMarco)\u201d bounces between a frenzied hyper-rap soundscape to a dream-pop aural tapestry, further illustrating Rocky\u2019s desire to never be pinned down.<\/p>\n

Related Video<\/p>\n

Besides, strict definitions might not always be kind. A$AP Rocky has been a polarizing figure in hip-hop since the moment he uttered the phrase \u201cPurple Swag.\u201d<\/a> As a Harlem MC, he exploded in popularity thanks to a bubbling underground song of the same name, which significantly lifted its elements, verbiage, and overall style from Houston\u2019s regional output. From that moment, Rocky\u2019s authenticity has been viewed with a slight side-eye. With Don\u2019t Be Dumb, A$AP Rocky is repenting for his sticky-fingered ways and attempting to underscore his status as an established rapper who deserves respect.<\/p>\n

Instead of sampling and pilfering from Houston hip-hop, Rocky is directly collaborating with artists from the city, including the charismatic, gravelly-voiced local legend Sauce Walka (\u201cStop Snitching\u201d), and the true-to-form DJ Screw successor DJ Slim K (\u201cFish N Steak [What It Is]\u201d). By tapping in with contemporary bastions of Houston culture, Rocky is harking back to his early days, and engaging with the city in a genuine way this time around.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Be Dumb is Rocky\u2019s opportunity to further absolve himself of past transgressions. On the dense and disorderly \u201cSTFU,\u201d Rocky raps, \u201cIs there heaven for a pig?\/ Might spray paint that on my van,\u201d expressing more of a stance on police brutality than he has in the past. In 2015, Rocky made questionable comments<\/a> to Time Out, saying that nobody could bully him into being a political activist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would I feel compelled to rap about Ferguson?\u201d he said, referencing the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown. \u201cI\u2019m not about to say that I was down there throwing rocks at motherfuckers, getting pepper-sprayed. I\u2019d be lying. Is it because I\u2019m Black? What the fuck, am I Al Sharpton now? I\u2019m A$AP Rocky. I did not sign up to be no political activist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanna talk about my motherfuckin\u2019 lean, my best friend dying, girls, my jiggy fashion, and my inspirations in drugs,\u201d he continued. \u201cI live in fucking Soho and Beverly Hills. I can\u2019t relate. I go back to Harlem, it\u2019s not the same. It\u2019s a sad story. I gotta tell you the truth. I\u2019m in the studio, I\u2019m in fashion houses, I\u2019m in these bitches\u2019 drawers. I\u2019m not doing anything outside of that. That\u2019s my life. These people need to leave me the fuck alone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A$AP Rocky has been relying on his own instincts to propel his career forward since\u00a02018\u2019s TESTING, Rocky\u2019s first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":{"0":"post-242795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}