Brush Reviews

LiveLoveA$AP, released on October 31, 2011, is the title of A$AP Rocky’s mixtape, which introduced many too a young artist with a super-star charisma, and a persona to match it. Prior to the release of the project, A$AP Rocky was buzzing heavily due to two rather unique songs & videos revolving around the blogospheres. These songs were Peso, and Purple Swag, which featured distinct elements of Screwed & Chopped music, Ambient textures, strong drums and the confidence of a young man with a natural flow and careless lyrics. The tape managed to capitalize on this hype, with Rocky remaining consistent with his sound, but not allowing the tape to become stale and repetitive by the time of its release, proving that the hype is real.

Rocky, even early in his career, already knows how to craft a cohesive project. Hooking up with the producers; Spaceghostpurrp, Clams Casino, Main Attrakionz, and more, he took their lo-fi styles and complimented them with drugged out, braggadocious and misogynistic rhymes paired with a delivery and flow influenced by Bone Thugs n Harmony, blending many oddball styles into one with amazing results. Rocky’s flow, charisma, and hook game are on point, although average lyrics can harm the replay value.

A$AP Rocky is also good at selecting features for his songs, while putting the A$AP Mob on at the same time. A$AP Nast & A$AP Ant deliver strong verses, however the show is really stolen by features from Spaceghostpurrp & Schoolboy Q. Spaceghostpurrp sets off Purple Swag Chapter 2 with a laid back flow, before the beat breaks down and A$AP comes back firing with a vicious flow. Brand New Guy leaves Schoolboy Q with an incredibly arrogant & disrespectful verse, and right when you would think it couldn’t get any better, Schoolboy and A$AP exchange bars, which is undoubtedly the high light of the tape lyrically, with great quotables such as the punny; “Vodka Shots, he smeared off.”

Overall, I would give LiveLoveA$AP an 7.5/10. A$AP shows strong potential in his future, however he has some room for improvement.

-Chris Cornish