There’s plenty of instances where Rocky just seems to be fine with sitting back and letting his guests outshine him. “Kids Turned Out Fine” sounds like Rocky doing some kind of dollar store Cudi/MGMT impression, while “Buckshots” is essentially a watered down Playboi Carti track that sounds rushed and lacks vision. That’s where Rocky finds most of his success and when he deviates from actually rapping is when Testing starts to lose a bit of its steam and becomes one giant blur. Tracks like “Tony Tone” and “Gunz N Butter” also go hard as Rocky is in that perfect pocket between spitting gritty bars and floating on the beat. That said, the ASAP star still holds his own even when exchanging bars with Skepta and there is a definite synergy between their vocals. Skepta provides a chorus, verse and production on the track and it really feels more like his song than Rocky’s. The fluty melody is infectious and the subtle references to DMX are also a nice tip of the cap to the New York rap legend. “ Praise The Lord (Da Shine)” has some serious replay value. Cudi’s verse also slides in nicely and the spacey tone of his voice is a welcomed addition to the out-of-this-world vibe of the track. The lead single “ A$AP Forever,” which features a guest verse from Kid Cudi on the album version, is a perfect trippy anthem that utilizes a great Moby sample to create a song that is truly unique in the hip-hop landscape. Let’s start with some of the high points of the album. While this isn’t the first time Rocky has gone full-on artsy (we got a taste of that on the cloud rap-infused At.$AP), TE$TING really ups the ante with an album that has moments that are creatively captivating and many that are simply scattered and unfocused. That mentality is at the core of Rocky’s third album TE$TING, which serves as a canvas for the Harlem native to quite literally “test” different sounds that he’s crafted. A$AP Rocky continues to make creative strides as a musician, but abandoning his bread and butter comes with highs and lows.Ī$AP Rocky’s recent musical trajectory has less had to do with adhering to conventional hip-hop norms and more with expressing himself as an artist through sonic experimentation that pushes the genre’s boundaries in new ways.
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