Even before Beyonce dropped her self-titled album without warning in 2013, there wasn’t one set agreed upon way to roll out an album. But post that monumental moment, plenty of artists have tried to replicate her approach (pulling a Beyonce, they say, but oftentimes without the accompanying music video for each song part) with varying degrees of success. And other artists have tried to go in the opposite direction, partaking in old school, slower roll outs despite being in the midst of the streaming era and all the itinerant demands from DSPs and YouTube algorithyms.
It’s in this space we find J.Cole and his short ramp up to release
The Off-Season. Though the bridge from the retail date’s announcement to the project’s arrival was short, fans were already aware of the album title and his impending plans as recently as four months ago when he posted on Instagram about the
Fall Off Era. The hard confirmation was sudden, but there was hardly a surprise there.
On the flip side, we have Drake. His Certified Lover Boy album has long been in the works and, since the new year, in the wind. He’s released multiple records and has talked about the tone of the project. But a presumed time frame for the album’s release came and went and now, it seems, we’re waiting indefinitely. (Wink.)
With apologies to Aubrey Graham and K.Dot, consider A$AP Rocky’s next album to be the most fascinating rap roll out of the year.
In between, we have Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott. The former hasn’t said much of anything but that hasn’t stopped the speculation that an album is near/nigh. The latter, of course, is running much closer to what Drake is doing (songs, press, ubiquity), however, after announcing the November return of AstroWorld festival, it’s safe to assume the clock is finally ticking on the release of his Utopia project.
Somewhere off to the side, or below the surface, or above the fray, maybe, lives A$AP Rocky.
When Governors Ball announced their September lineup this past week, the Harlem native was listed as the Saturday headliner. This was after Rolling Loud announced its return this coming July with Rocky as the Friday night headliner. Twitter was chatty about the news.
It obviously begs the question: new music/a new project has to be coming some time in between the two festivals, right?
With apologies to Aubrey Graham and K.Dot, consider A$AP Rocky’s next album to be the most fascinating rap roll out of the year.
Just look at what Rocky’s been up to since his last album, 2016’s Testing.
That’s the thing about Rocky. He can be ebullient with his artistry and also deflecting. Often at the same time.
That’s a whole lot of information. And yet, I feel like we still know so little. About him or his next release.
Rocky is smart. He’s private in the way he contains himself, from the way he avoids divulging the fashion labels he wears, to playing coy over who he’s dating. He also understands the thirst for content well and the beats of an interview and what folks are looking for from him, even if he gives little more than headline fodder.
Then there’s been the scarcity of new music. Yeah, he’s done some features here and there, but largely “Sundress” and “Babushka Boi” are what solo works of his we have to examine.
Though “Babushaka” was his last proper release, “Sundress” and perhaps his “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay” cover reveal a tidbit of where he’s going next: stretching his vocal abilities to deliver something that’s a mashup of singing and rap.
He’s hardly predictable.
Whereas his debut, Long.Live.A$AP, was an extension or a final resolution to the sound that ignited his part, the follow-up, At.Long.Last.A$AP, pushed more sonic boundaries, particularly a mainstream hip-hop artist. And 2018’s Testing, though deemed lukewarm on arrival, has aged well.
That’s the thing about Rocky. He can be ebullient with his artistry and also deflecting. Often at the same time.
Case in point: He’s actively used his Twitter account, while wiping his Instagram clean in January with hardly the murmurs from press when most artists do the same.
A$AP Rocky isn’t really who we think he is. His charisma, high cheek bones and style profile as a superstar. But artistically, he’s more of a recluse, brooding, and finds more interest in poking and prodding new directions.
“People always talk about branding,” Geno Sims told me years ago about Rocky, when he co-managed him and I wrote a story about the “Purple Swag” rapper for
Billboard. “People worry about standing next to a Coke bottle and call it branding. They should let the artist develop who they are and then brand them. Let the artist cultivate and grow to have their own identity and then you brand them.”
A memory I think about often is during the Summer Jam spots that run on Hot 97 to promote the yearly super concert. A voiceover lists several artists and after each a brief sound up of their most recent hits plays for a beat or two. It was fairly predictable for most artists, but when Rocky’s name came up, A$AP Ferg’s “Work” queued instead. It was indicative of Rocky’s position: popular without a pop record that could be attached to him.
That’s where he resides, right in front of us and nowhere to be seen at the same time.
Until we get an album.
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