A$AP Rocky finally released his long-anticipated album, Don’t Be Dumb, on January 15th, 2026. This album includes 15 different tracks and is the first album A$AP Rocky has dropped since May 25, 2018, making this album extremely special for his fans.
Don’t Be Dumb experimented with various genres of music. It was very experimental and included tracks that blended trap, psychedelia, punk rock, and R&B. This decision of his set Don’t Be Dumb apart from his other albums. Before the official release of the album, A$AP Rocky teased fans with 2 singles. “Punk Rocky” blended indie and psychedelic rock, which held a vibe that was very similar to many of the previous songs he released way back. “Helicopter”, on the other hand, experimented with a blend of Trap and East Coast Hip-hop. Compared to many of his other songs, this one was more of an experimental sound for him.
Throughout the next few tracks, many tracks didn’t resemble A$AP Rocky’s past songs and leaned more towards being experimental tracks. One track that stood out to me was “Stay Here 4 Life”, which featured Brent Faiyez. Unlike many other tracks in this album, this one held A$AP Rocky’s original sound, which made it stand out. Personally, I really enjoyed the tracks that felt more aligned with his earlier music rather than the experimental ones.
Overall, Don’t Be Dumb didn’t completely live up to the expectations, especially considering the 8 year wait. The many experimental tracks swayed this album away from the past A$AP Rocky that many of the fans grew to love. That said, there were still a couple of songs that held strong to the authentic A$AP Rocky and were very enjoyable. For fans who prefer older Rocky songs, such as “I Smoked Away My Brain”, “Fashion Killa”, and “I Come Apart”, I’d recommend listening to “Punk Rocky”, “Stay Here 4 Life”, “Don’t Be Dumb”, and “The End”.
Rating: 7/10
Leave a Reply