As the release date for A$AP Rocky’s fourth studio album Don’t Be Dumb slowly approaches, more details have emerged. Six years ago, the Harlem, New York, rapper released his album Testing, which featured the certified double-platinum single “Praise Da Lord (Da Shine).” Rocky initially teased a 2022 release date for his new album, when he revealed during a performance on Amazon Music Live that a full-length project was in the works. He announced the album title in December and said the project was complete.
However, he has stepped up his efforts in 2024. While fans patiently await Don’t Be Dumb, here’s everything we know about the project so far.
cover art
Although A$AP Rocky has yet to release a picture of the artwork, he revealed his thoughts to Billboard. In an interview with the media on Thursday (August 22), Rocky revealed that he played the album for director Tim Burton in an attempt to get the director to help with the artwork. However, due to time constraints, the two were unable to cooperate. He explained Tim Burton’s reaction after trying out Don’t Be Silly.
“I sat down and played the album for Tim Burton and he loved it so much,” A$AP Rocky told Billboard. “He shook his head and was like, ‘Wow! I didn’t know you made that kind of music!’ “
The album is currently being promoted with the words “Don’t Be Dumb” in black text on a white background, but that may change before the album is released.
A$AP Rocky, don’t be stupid.
singles
So far, the rapper has released the Jessica Pratt-assisted record “Highjack.” On August 2, he sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to share more insights on the song.
“I feel like the real thing is coming back, man, it’s like, this thing can be taken away,” A$AP Rocky says at the 1:39 mark of the interview. Not only that, but we brought a whole new aesthetic to everything, especially the grim stuff of German Expressionism and the whole ghetto futurism thing. This is what it sounds like and so on. its sound.
In the aforementioned interview with Billboard, Rocky also talked about the two songs on the project, “Shroom Cloud” and “Grim.”
During the discussion, he described “Shroom Cloud” as an experimental track that addresses social issues.
“In times like these, only two kinds of people can fight and survive,” Loki told the publication. “I don’t want to sound like I’m glorifying the war, but I think artists and drug addicts, they got through it. I mean, what were the hippies doing? They were having a blast at Woodstock. , fuck, one had a great time having these hippie babies and they later had us.
As the conversation continued, he said he was currently resonating with “Grim” and explained the meaning behind the song’s title.
“The situation is very serious at this moment,” he said. “It’s an acronym,” he explains, “that combines German Expressionism with Ghetto Futurism.”
collaborator
Although A$AP was unable to get Tim Burton involved in the album’s creative process, he was able to work with Tim’s go-to songwriter Danny Elfman. “Rocky” also featured guest appearances on “Don’t Be Dumb” by The Alchemist, Tyler, The Creator, Pharrell Williams, Mike Dean, Hitkidd, Madlib and Metro Boomin.
On July 26, Hot 97’s DJ Kast One appeared on Ebro in the Morning and revealed more musicians who may guest on Don’t Be Dumb.
“I heard a song playing. I heard Slick Rick [on it],” he said. “That’s really cool. I also heard that A$AP Rocky did talk about a lot of the major topics that are going on right now. Let’s just say the list goes on and on.
release date
Although “Don’t Be Dumb” was originally scheduled to be released on August 30is now Pushed to autumn. The reason for the delay is unclear so far.
