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A$AP Rocky - Testing (ASAP Worldwide/Polo Grounds/RCA, 2018)

I've always liked A$AP Rocky for his experimental-ish tendencies. Namely his tracks with Clams Casino, shit like "Electric Body", "Wild for the Night" with Skrillex (hey it's a good track), etc. On Testing A$AP set out to push the boundaries even further, or at least being more brazen in his attempt at making an experimental hip hop record, as opposed to a hip hop record with some experimentation. Hence the title. There's a whole whack of interesting collaborators on here - FKA Twigs, Dev Hynes, Moby via a "Porcelain" sample, Frank Ocean, Clams Casino, Dean Blunt...as well as some less-eyebrow raising names like Kid Cudi, Kodak Black, French Montana, Juicy J...so what's the verdict? Well it sounds as unsettled and restless as A$AP likely was while putting this together - it's less an album and more a collection of experiments. I can't even confidently say it's a better album than LONG.LIVE.A$AP. or AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP. But I respect the man for putting it on here and a few of the cuts are undeniable - "A$AP Forever", featuring the aforementioned Moby sample, appears here in a remixed form with T.I. and Kid Cudi and it may be even better than the single version. "Changes", "Buck Shots" and "Praise the Lord (Da Shine)" are as accessible as anything A$AP has put out. "Black Tux, White Collar" is another favorite mainly because it features another ghostly Clams beat. The opener "Distorted Records" and "Calldrops" are some of the more overt experimentations, to varying degrees of success, although nothing touches the stunningly bizarre, need-to-give-it-a-few-more-listens weirdness of "Purity", the album's closer featuring (and co-written by) Frank Ocean. If ntohing else there's a lot to chew on here and I think I'll probably like this even more with a few plays.

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