In Revue-At. Long. Last. A$AP (A$AP Rocky)

Who the hell does A$AP Rocky think he is? That's the half-serious question I have when I finish At. Long. Last. A$AP, Rocky's clouded, wigged-out, overlong (by about 10 minutes) third album. Dude put an unknown British folk singer on nearly a third of his LP. He repurposes the schmaltzy Platters holiday tune "Please Come for Christmas" for aquatic stomper "Excuse Me." "Wavybone" has him resurrecting the dearly departed Pimp C to count pyramidal stacks of paper. M.I.A. comes through just to spitefully chant "tell your new b**** to suck a d***," on lean sipper "Fine Whine." And his organ-driven second single "Everyday" samples Rod Stewart. ROD STEWART. As in the dude behind "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" Listening to At. Long. Last. A$AP. I'm reminded of H.G. Wells' when he lambasted James Joyce's ponderous book Finnegan's Work: "who the hell is this Joyce who demands so many waking hours of the few thousands I have still to live for a proper appreciation of his quirks and fancies and flashes of rendering?"

The answer to my question is he's "A-f***king SAP." Lord Pretty Flacko's the most unflappably confident rapper since '06 T.I. At his most uncool, he's cool because he thinks he is. Kanye West, Schoolboy Q, Lil Wayne, Future and Mos Def all bring their A-game to At. Long. Last. A$AP and you walk away thinking Rocky won the bout. He has a way of phrasing that makes a possibly mundane brag seem amazing. Like on "Canal St." when he spits "your favorite rappers corpses couldn't measure my importance." How great is that? He could've said he's better than your favorite living rapper. Not enough. He's better than any rapper living or dead. And you believe him when he says so in his spacious cadence. 

It's nightmarish when he applies the style to the Danger Mouse produced "Pharsyde." The recollection: "Found his body parts in awkward places like apartments, basements, Garbage vacant, lots, garages, spaces, Harlem's far too spacious," is something no one should have to see, but it's more horrifying because of how Rocky steadily pinballs to the conclusion. Violent people aren't to blame for such carnage, the entire city's guilty. So too are crooked pastors and peddlers of religion, whom Rocky ferociously indicts on fervent opener "Holy Ghost." To hear him tell it, the ushers are skimming from collection baskets and "they tryna' dine us with some damn wine and crackers." If the line is autobiographical it's absolutely deflating.

The production of At. Long. Last. A$AP only reinforces Rocky's nightmarish/hellacious words. "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2" stomps so heavily that bones in your feet get broken. When Rocky and ScHoolboy Q play their long-running game of one-upmanship on "Electric Body," you fear it's going to end in dual beheadings. The opening Friday the 13th woodblock clanging cultivates such an air of menace that it doesn't even matter the song is tailor-made for stripper clubs with its XXX hook "shake that ass girl, make that coochie wet." It's too terrifying to twerk to. Ditto for "M'$" which is undoubtedly bass heavy, but crams in enough screams, synth heaves and engine revs to make Death Grips envious. Lil Wayne, turning in his best performance in four years ("6 Foot 7 Foot"), sounds like Galactus coming to swallow Earth whole when he raps over the track. 

Even when the beats have room to breathe the rapping sounds authoritative. Take the golden soul of Kanye West produced "Jukebox Joints," the track never gets above an inside voice, but A$AP and 'Kanye manage some impressive s***-talking. The former brags about changing rap and the latter claims to be "a black man with confidence of a white male." I especially love the Kanye line because it's continuing the 2015 trend of him indulging in sly racial commentary. Meanwhile "Everyday" has none of "Juke Joints" import and might be the most compelling effort on At. Long. Last. A$AP. The track's warm organ is hypnotic piping out of a car window on a summer night and the aforementioned Stewart sample is oddly rousing, his raspy voice just works for a banger. When you're constructing beats that can bang and sample Rod Stewart, without seeming crammed, you're in rarefied air.

And A$AP Rocky unquestionably is in rarefied air. He's one of several hip hop artists: Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne and Rick Ross, capable of selling 100,000-plus copies of an album in the first week. Rappers don't do that anymore. Granted rappers don't sign deals worth $3 million anymore and A$AP did that too. He'll keep making that kind of money as long as he keeps putting out work as strong as At. Long. Last. A$AP. 

In Revue- 'Cherry Bomb' (Tyler, the Creator)

What are we looking for from Tyler, the Creator circa 2015? We're five years removed from hearing "what the devil plays before he goes to sleep." Four from being introduced to the "f***ing walking paradox" who surrounds torch-bearing love tracks with stomach-churning rape jokes. All the protests and think-pieces have been dead for at least two years now. So now what? What then? With all of the artifice and hype swept away, what reason do we have to still pay attention to Tyler? Is he the kind of artist we don't want to grow up because his "immaturity" was what made him so fascinating to begin with? What the hell does artistic maturation mean for Tyler?

That central question is what makes listening to Tyler's fourth LP Cherry Bomb so frustrating; he doesn't have a meaningful answer. At times, flecks of musical evolution in Cherry Bomb are infinitesimal. "Pilot"'s got an incredible thrum to it, the kind you could fit on a percussive Dizzee Rascal track and then it’s swallowed by static before the chorus even starts. "Buffalo"'s lovely little chintz synths can't stand up to the unstable drum burbling, which makes you think the mic was inside the kit. There's a Clams Casino feel in the way Cherry Bomb is blown out, it sounds like it was mixed in a tin bucket of mop water then resuscitated with the exposed wires from a nearby light switch. You may need to consult Genius to find great lines like "Boy I got them epic shots like jaywalking in Missouri." The whole of closer "OKAGA, CA," with its cooing vocals and lithe strings, concerns escaping all of life's bullshit by flying to the moon with a loved one, but you'd never know that from the vocal effects applied to T.C.'s voice. I get the Yeezus aesthetic at work, but Yeezus was quotable from the words "Yeezus season approaching" in the opener "On Sight." Not so with Cherry Bomb; Tyler's trying to make a noise album while being lyrical, which isn't a workable dichotomy.

Not that everything Tyler says on Cherry Bomb is something people would want to hear. He still bounces the word "f****ot* around, which is far more frustrating now because he admits "I'm going harder than coming out the closet to conservative Christian fathers." That's a funny lyric undercut by his laziness to find a different word to finish verses. The more negative among us could take a line like "laying on my trampoline, gazing at the stars, "in the aforementioned "Okaga, CA," as the sort of inward-looking platitude appearing in a C-grade Kid Cudi effort. For people who eat maple syrup on a regular basis, hearing something so positive and sweet from Tyler is satisfying.

There are great moments on Cherry Bomb that don't need any caveats. If the instrumental from the title track didn't pop up in the 2015 horror insta-classic It Follows, then I must've been plugging my ears and closing my eyes. The opening notes sound like the devil waking up from a deep slumber. The dissonance works to Tyler's favor here because his rapping is so malevolent and fractured you'd believe he's trapped in this kind of hellscape. Elsewhere "The Brown Stains of Darkeese Latifah Part 6-12" (Remix) is flat-out marvelous and should be played to future generations of music lovers interested in 2010s music. It blends PC Music helium sighs; DJ Mustard plinks, clanging Pharrell percussion and an Arca-esque sense of build. I kept hitting repeat when I first listened to the album and logged 10 listens of the song on day 1 of the LP's surprise release. Tyler talking smack while nomming on Eggos is a detail that can't get old.  

And then there's "Smuckers," Cherry Bomb's unshakeable center of gravity that features both Kanye West and Lil Wayne. Compared to "The Brown Stains..." the "We Major" Jr. song is miles better. All three rappers are in near-peak form, so picking a winner is difficult but Kanye's "Richer than white people with black kids, scarier than black people with ideas," is too good to ignore. The track’s brilliance is clear long before the horns stop blurting and Tyler fires a final missive.

I wish could say that for all of Cherry Bomb because I do find Tyler compelling as a musician. He’s willing to entertain ideas most would run scared from. He’ll f*** around and put hokey skits where they shouldn’t be. He’ll have keyboards fight for Sunlight with dark synthesizer clouds.  The dude’s has enough respect and talent to bring Kanye and Wayne together and not be shown up. He believes in himself, but Cherry Bomb proves he still isn’t sure who he is as an artist.

What's New(s)?

No it won't feature Blanka, Chun-Li, or Zangief, but Young Money/Cash Money's latest tour will feature two of its biggest acts battling each other for label supremacy. Following last month's stellar comeback "Believe Me", Drake and Lil Wayne are linking back up for a 31 date summer tour that kicks off on August 8 in Buffalo, NY.

The Street Fighter themed tour comes in support of Tha Carter V, which still doesn't have a release date, but is being touted as Wayne's final LP. Tickets for "Drake vs. Lil Wayne" go on sale June 21 and maybe by then we'll have more info on Tha Carter V. Given the relative silence though, any news is unlikely at this point.

Check out the tour dates below, along with recent tracks from both Drake and Wayne.

Tour Dates: 
8/8 Darien Center, NY- Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
8/9 Noblesville, Indiana- Klipsch Music Center
8/10 Tinley Park, IL- First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
8/12 Saratoga Springs, NY- Saratoga Performing Arts Center
8/13 Hartford, CT- Xfinity Theatre
8/15 Cincinnati, OH- Riverbend Music Center
8/16 Clarkston, MI- DTE Energy Music Theatre
8/17 Burgettstown, PA- First Niagara Pavilion
8/19 Forest Hills, NY- Forest Hills Tennis Stadium
8/21 Camden, NJ- Susquehanna Bank Center
8/25 Mansfield, MA- Xfinity Center
8/26 Holmdel, NJ- PNC Bank Arts Center
8/27 Virginia Beach, VA- Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
8/29 Bristow, VA- Jiffy Lube Live
8/30 Charlotte, NC- PNC Music Pavilion
8/31 Atlanta, GA- Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood
9/3 West Palm Beach, FL- Cruzan Amphitheatre
9/4 Tampa, FL- MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre
9/6 Austin, TX- Austin360 Amphitheater
9/7 Dallas, TX- Gexa Energy Pavilion
9/10 Morrison, CO- Red Rocks Ampitheatre
9/11 West Valley City, UT- USANA Amphitheatre
9/13 Ridgefield, WA- Sleep Country Amphitheatre
9/14 Auburn, WA- White River Amphitheatre
9/16 Mountain View, CA- Shoreline Amphitheatre
9/17 Wheatland, CA- Sleep Train Amphitheatre
9/19 Irvine, CA- Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
9/20 Chula Vista, CA- Sleep Train Amphitheatre
9/22 Los Angeles, CA- Hollywood Bowl
9/25 Phoenix, AZ- Ak-Chin Pavilion 
9/27 Woodlands, TX- The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Lil Boosie releases new single "She Want Some"

 
Since wrapping up his five year prison stint in March, Baton Rouge rapper Lil Boosie's stayed busy with recording. He's dropped his own reflective tracks with frequent partner Webbie and stomped all over other people's tracks like 2 Chainz's lurching "Could Woulda Shoulda".

Amidst all of that recording, Boosie's planning to issue his comeback album Touchdown 2 Cause Hell some time this summer. As a first taste he's delivered "She Want Some", a gloriously chintzy piece of strip club rap bound to have you dancing by the time the chorus hits. If half of Touchdown 2 Cause Hell is as infectious as "She Want Some" is, Boosie's post prison adjustment will go just fine.





Death Grips, Gonjasufi appear on new tracks from The Bug

Experimental dubstep artist The Bug (aka Kevin Martin) hasn't had a studio LP since 2008's London Zoo, but that will soon change with the August 26 release of Angels and Devils. 

Divided into two distinct halves, Angels and Devils will feature a psychedelic, "dubbed out" first half ("Angels") and a screeching second half under the banner of "Devils". On either side of the record there will be appearances from: Liz Harris of Grouper, Jesu's Justin Broadrick, Hype Williams' Inga Copland, hip hop mystic Gonjasufi, and perpetual agitators Death Grips. 

The Bug's collabos with the latter two are both available now through Soundcloud and are well worth a listen. Gonjasufi effort "Save Me" rests on a subtle, atmospheric production bed; while "F*** A B****" with Death Grips explodes out of a burbling futuristic cannon. In other words, The Bug's already established how disparate the two halves of Angels and Devils will be long before it drops.

Tracklist:
1. "Void" ft. Liz Harris
2. "Fall" ft. Copeland
3. "Ascension"
4. "Mi Lost" ft. Miss Red
5. "Pandi"
6. "Save Me" ft. Gonjasufi
7. "The One" ft. Flowdan
8. "Function" ft. Manga
9. "F*** A B****" ft. Death Grips
10. "Fat Mac" ft. Flowdan 
11. "F*** You" ft. Warrior Queen
12. "Dirty" ft. Flowdan

Check back tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.

"Believe Me" ft. Drake- Lil Wayne

Depending on who you talk to, Lil Wayne saw his high-water mark come and go at one of at least five points in his 15-year career. There's Tha Carter II camp that argues the '05-effort placed Wayne at his "unequivocal high point." Others take Wayne's claim of "I'm the best rapper alive" on the DJ Drama-mixtape Dedication 2 as gospel. A fervent congregation (that I personally attend) continues to worship at the pill-popping, Harry and the Henderson's watching altar of Da Drought 3. Outfits like Rolling Stone posit that when Wayne was "phoning home" on the commercial smash Tha Carter III he had conquered the rap landscape and it was time for him to head back to Mars. Finally there's a loyal fan base for the decade-ending No Ceilings, which several of my friends hold membership in. Having no idea about Wayne "flying with the fishes," they were firmly convinced the beat-jacking tape was Weezy F. Baby at his most dazzlingly brilliant.

If you notice, none of those supposed pinnacles have occurred in this decade. While the 10's haven't been commercially disappointing for Wayne, they've been critically dismal. As Tha Carter IV broke iTunes download records, writer's like the Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot wrote the LP was held back by "repetitive subject matter." I Am Not A Human Being II was even more divisive; debuting at number 2 on the Billboard charts and receiving the worst Metacritic marks for a Weezy album since the abysmal Rebirth.

Though the eerily minimalist Boi-1da/Vinylz production "Believe Me" doesn't hit any of those previous high points, it's far from the valleys of Rebirth and engenders conversation about Wayne being "back." Mr. Carter and Drake tend to sound terrific together and "Believe Me" isn't any different. Tiptoeing over a beat ostensibly culled from The Conjuring's music box, Drizzy proclaims he's doing "One Direction numbers" and promises to put you "down quick" if you dare step to his big brother. Emboldened by his protégé’s support, Wayne's free to walk away with enough Dead Presidents to "leave a coffin vacant." Free-associating has long been his calling card, but he keeps it surprisingly restrained here. When he speaks of a "cold day in hell" the nightmare continues long after the track’s electronic twinkles die off. "Gone," he announces at the end. If Tha Carter V really is his final release, songs like "Believe Me" will make fans of any-era Wayne miss him all the more.

What's New(s)?

Springsteen announces new album

On January 14, Bruce Springsteen will be following up his working-man ode Wrecking Ball with High Hopes, a collection of "some of our best unreleased material from the past decade" as the Boss himself pens in the album's liner notes. The album features multiple collaborations with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, including a studio reworking of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "American Skin" (41 Shots). And in a sly-nod to "State Trooper"s Suicide influence, Springsteen will be tackling the no-wave duo's "Dream Baby Dream".

Also included on the release will be several unreleased Clarence Clemons features, along with of cover of The Saints track "Just Like The Fire Would". Check out the tracklist below, along with the title track.

Tracklist:

1. "High Hopes" ft. Tom Morello
2. "Harry's Place" ft. Tom Morello
3. "American Skin" (41 Shots)  ft. Tom Morello
4. "Just Like Fire Would" ft. Tom Morello
5. "Down in the Hole"
6. "Heaven's Wall" ft. Tom Morello
7. "Frankie Fell in Love" ft. Tom Morello
8. "This Is Your Sword" ft. Tom Morello
9. "Hunter of Invisible Game" ft. Tom Morello
10. "The Ghost of Tom Joad" ft. Tom Morello
11. "The Wall"
12. "Dream Baby Dream" ft. Tom Morello

Busta Rhymes drops "Thank You" video

Busta Rhymes springy, funk-rap workout "Thank You" features a pretty impressive guest list: Q-Tip, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne; and now that improbable crew has made an appearance in a new video. Shot multi-screened, the four MCs strut their stuff in and out of verses, and share screen time with A$AP Worldwide members Ferg and Nast. It's all fairly lowkey (save for a mountaintop appearance by Busta), but seeing these four in the same video is more than enough.


Busta Rhymes is currently readying sequel Extinct Level Event 2 for a 2014 release via Cash Money, but no release date has been announced yet.

Check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s), and visit @AllFreshSounds on Twitter for additional news updates.