ASAP Rocky Needs To Go Back To Basics

ASAP Rocky’s last album, Testing, reminds me a lot of The Bear. In the recently concluded third season of the genre-defying FX restaurant dramedy, Carmen, the proprietor of the titular beef sandwich stand-turned-Michelin-star-hopeful hot spot, insists on a constantly changing menu of experimental and effortful dishes. It’s a strategy aimed at generating enough buzz and critical acclaim to turn The Bear into one of those generational, culture-shifting eateries that defines the shape, look, and flavor of fine dining for a decade to come. It shouldn’t count as a spoiler to point out that this strategy does not go well.

In the same way, ASAP Rocky really swung for the fences in 2018, doing his best to both subvert and redirect the flow of hip-hop from crowd-pleasing but repetitive Atlanta trap productions to something more psychedelic and vibey, like Grateful Dead for heads who grew up on The Notorious B.I.G. and Three 6 Mafia. As with Carmy’s restaurant ambitions, it seems that Rocky’s reach exceeded his grasp.In an interview with GQ, he admitted to being “emotionally discouraged” by its early lukewarm reception among fans, while expressing belief that his hardcore followers would grow into it. While the album wasn’t a complete disaster (neither was The Bear), it didn’t turn out to be the paradigm-shifting smash success Rocky evidently believed that it would