It's not unfair to say that much of what makes A$AP Rocky's music enjoyable is the aesthetic. There are people that for whatever reason still link him to a Houston sound, and while that's not the case, there's definitely a palpable style to his music. The Houston, Memphis and whatever else influences are there, yes, but it is Rocky's charisma that made it worth feeling excited over. Anybody can pitch down vocals over fake Mike Jones leftovers, and that sounds cool until it doesn't. What was fun about Rocky shone through on bright like "Peso" and "Goldie". There wasn't really a formula to follow. The energy was just there.
At.Long.Last.A$AP noticeably lacks any of these moments. Rocky is not a bad rapper, but he hasn't shown much technical improvement at all. So it's really not a good thing that one of his two main qualities - charisma - is blatantly absent and the other - aesthetic - is muddled up garbage. The production on this album is the remnants of a half-eaten scoop of ice cream after being left in the sun. Shit is bland and wholly uninteresting. And when it does hit, Rocky coasts lazily. The LPFJ2 beat sounds like the soundtrack to hell raising. Rocky doesn't seem to get the memo. L$D is wtf?
Why is this album so long? And why is Mos Def on it? After four listens, you can trick yourself into thinking this album is kiiiiind of alright if it's on strictly in the background and you're not really paying attention to it. It's hard for me to believe Yams approved of this. Future's part is fire though.
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