ASAP Rocky Previews New Music Including Tribute to Fallen Rappers
Written by SOURCE on December 9, 2022
ASAP Rocky’s long-teased new album is finally on the horizon.
As fans likely already know, Thursday night brought with it Rocky’s appearance on the Amazon Music Live series hosted by 2 Chainz. Notably, in a quick clip shared during football-focused proceedings ahead of the livestream, Rocky confirmed to the camera that the record is “finished.” Furthermore, he seemingly pointed to the title of the new album, which—despite what was at one point widely speculated—is indeed not called All Smiles.
“Thursday Night Football. Amazon. My first time back on the stage. Album finished. Don’t Be Dumb. Let’s go,” Rocky said, as seen in the clip above.
Don’t Be Dumb also made a number of appearances during the performance itself, as did the teasing of new music, including a track that Rocky dedicated to “everybody we lost in hip-hop throughout the years.” Addressing the crowd before performing the track in question, Rocky elaborated on what the song means to him.
“You gotta know that we the highest statistic of losing people,” Rocky said. “No other genre loses rockstars, pop singers, and country artists. Hip-hoppers, we get killed and shot every day. Overdoses, all types of unfortunate events. So this song is dedicated to everybody we lost and anybody who ever lost somebody.”
The screen at the performance further drove home the song’s message by projecting images of Takeoff, DMX, Drakeo the Ruler, Juice WRLD, King Von, Lil Keed, the Notorious B.I.G., PNB Rock, Trouble, XXXTentacion, Slim 400, ASAP Yams, Fredo Santana, Bankroll Fresh, 2Pac, Pop Smoke, Young Dolph, Nipsey Hussle, Mac Miller, MF Doom, Ricky Black, and Adrian Duke Mayers.
Other not-yet-officially-released songs were also teased during the event, including the tentatively titled “Roddy Rowdy Piper” and “Mushroom Clouds.”
A release date for Don’t Be Dumb has not been announced. In a recent conversation with Jessica McKinney for Complex, however, Rocky confirmed that fans will not “have to wait long” for the release, joking that it’s coming “ASAP, no pun intended.”
