On December 2, 2022, A$AP Rocky, also known as Rakim Mayers, released a song called “Shittin’ Me”. Three days later Jessica McKinny interviewed Mayers in which he said, “he was ‘wrapping up the album.’” Mckinny goes on to write, “Now, seven months later, the multifaceted artist says he’s still in the process of finishing the project, but it will be here sooner than you think.” As a Kendrick Lamar fan, hearing the phrase, “sooner than you think” means people will have to wait at least a year before expecting a new project, and waiting is exactly what fans did.
After releasing this song, Rocky goes on to release more singles like “Taylor Swif” and “Ruby Rosary”. Each song was met with positive feedback, but the question still remained: when is A$AP Rocky dropping the album?
Then, on January 5, 2026, the fans’ prayers were answered. Mayers releases a music video for his song “PUNKY ROCKY” and with it, he announces his long awaited project Don’t Be Dumb is releasing the next day with physical releases available for purchase. This created an uproar because fans have been waiting for a new A$AP Rocky album since his release of Testing back in 2018.
Based on his singles, it became difficult to see what his new project will sound like, with “Taylor Swif” sounding more like a mix between boom-bap and trap, “Ruby Rosary” sounding like straight up boom-bap, and “PUNKY ROCKY” sounding like a punk song. However, this is what fans expect and what is amazing about Mayers as an artist. His diverse sound always makes people want more.
The main standouts from this album are “STOLE YA FLOW”, “STAY HERE 4 LIFE”, and “ROBBERY”. Each of these tracks help to show Mayers’ ever changing sound, with “STOLE YA FLOW” being an experimental trap track, “STAY HERE 4 LIFE” being a rap and R&B mixture, and “ROBBERY” being a jazz rap track sampling a tune called “Caravan” arranged by Thelonius Monk. With each one of his albums Mayers never sits within the same sound. He’s always evolving and trying out different mixtures of genres to help keep the audience entertained.
While most of the songs don’t follow a particular theme of what’s going on in the world, “STOLE YA FLOW” is a song that is directly referencing a rap beef that dominated the genre back in the Spring/Summer of 2024. This beef was none other than Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake. While this feud was solely meant to be between them, due to Mayers having children with Rihanna, an artist and now beauty/fashion mogul, Drake took it upon himself to send disses towards Mayers throughout the rap feud. Mayers never addressed him during this time, however, he used his album to say his words about Drake on “STOLE YA FLOW” saying, “You still a sensitive n***a still in his feelings / You bit the image, my n***a I had to switch it / First you stole my flow, so I stole your b***h”. These lyrics directly referencing a romantic relationship that Drake and Rihanna once had and how Drake has, oftentimes, been accused of stealing the style of other rappers in order to try and make himself seem more respected than he actually is.
A lot of artists often get stuck with one sound because that is the sound that their fanbase is following them for. However, due to Mayers always switching his sound with every project, there’s always something new that his fanbase can look forward to. He has an amazing ability to never make his fans feel bored with his music.
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