Jan. 28, 2026 | Isaac Garcia | Sports Editor
After a nearly eight-year wait, which saw him go through highs and lows, including a dramatic arrest in Sweden, starting a family with Rihanna and being found not guilty on felony assault charges that accused him of assaulting his childhood friend and business partner A$AP Relli with a firearm, A$AP Rocky has finally released his new album, “Don’t Be Dumb.”
The lead singles for the project, “PUNK ROCKY” and “HELICOPTER,” couldn’t sound more different from each other. “PUNK ROCKY” is a more laid-back and smooth song which, as the title suggests, has heavy punk rock influences. Meanwhile, “HELICOPTER” has an aggressive, almost industrial type of sound.
The feature list is stacked with big names, including Tyler, The Creator, Brent Faiyaz and Gorillaz. However, in my opinion, it’s the slightly lesser-known Sauce Walka who has the most interesting feature on the album on the song “STOP SNITCHING,” where he floats over an ominous instrumental. I was also pleasantly surprised by will.i.am’s contributions on the song “THE END,” where he does an incredible job of capturing the dark, apocalyptic vibe of the production, giving a verse that sets Rocky up perfectly for the remainder of the track. Doechii trades verses with Rocky on what was probably the most out-of-left-field sounding song on the entire album, titled “ROBBERY”. While the beat is slightly off-putting for me, I think it works relatively well, and Doechii and Rocky match each other’s energy. Doechii really feels like the perfect fit for the strange beat thanks to her ability to pull off unique flows.
My personal favorite performances from Rocky himself come on the songs “PLAYA”, “NO TRESSPASSING” and the title track, “DON’T BE DUMB/TRIP BABY.” The Thundercat and Cardo Got Wings production on “PLAYA” reminds me of some of the beats that the hip-hop and rock group N.E.R.D. made popular in the 2000s. It has such a smooth bounce to it, and Rocky approaches it with a catchy melody, while rapping about the fulfillment of settling down and building a life with one person. “NO TRESSPASSING” has an intro that sounds like a smoke-filled room with Rocky looking back on his early career. The song then shifts into an energetic West Coast beat with an attention-grabbing synth. Once again, Rocky showcases his ability to attack a beat at an elite level, which makes the song hard not to love. “DON’T BE DUMB/TRIP BABY” samples Clairo’s song “Sinking” and probably has the best lyrical performance on the entire album, with Rocky focusing on themes of love and personal growth. The first half of the production is spacey before switching to a more uptempo beat, sticking to similar themes.
Overall, it’s a really enjoyable project with a few minor flaws. There are a few things I’d have liked to see explored a bit more, such as the intro on “NO TRESSPASSING,” and I wish we’d seen the kind of lyrical performance Rocky had on “DON’T BE DUMB/TRIP BABY” more prominently throughout the album. As mentioned, Rocky had a lot to discuss, and it feels like he didn’t dive as deep as he could have. The production, as amazing as it is, still doesn’t hit the highs that it did on his past projects, although that may just be a testament to how great that production was more than anything else.
With that being said, I’m just glad it finally came out.
RATING: 7.5/10.
Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu
