DON’T BE DUMB, Listen to the New Rocky Album
Elias Loya | A&E EDITOR
January 29, 2026
It’s been eight years since rapper, producer, actor, model, and fashion designer A$AP Rocky released his last full-length album, TESTING. Since then, Rakim Mayers (professionally known as A$AP Rocky) has collaborated with Puma and fathered three children with Rihanna. He also debuted his own fashion brand, American Sabotage, and was featured on several other artists’ tracks. Not to mention, he was briefly incarcerated on assault charges in Sweden and faced other assault charges from A$AP Relli. To put it bluntly, Rocky has been busy.
After dropping many singles, including “D.M.B.” and “HIGHJACK,” and repeatedly delaying his fourth album, many fans speculated that his new project would be scrapped. However, during his performance at Camp Flog Gnaw in 2025, Rocky was seen sporting a sweater with the numbers 1612026, while also selling “ALBUM NEVER DROPPING” merchandise. Weeks later, Rocky went to Instagram to promote his fourth album, DON’T BE DUMB, so at long last, the album is here.
When compared to previous works, like AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP, or even TESTING, DON’T BE DUMB is Rocky’s most experimental album to date. The album has 15 tracks on disc one and four on disc two, and is jam-packed with intriguing features and several different styles of music, ranging from trap, to psychedelic rap, indie, and even jazz.
The lead-off singles, “PUNK ROCKY” and “HELICOPTER,” differed greatly in style, with the former being similar to that of his 2018 hit “Sundress,” and the latter being a bass-heavy, braggadocious anthem. While he isn’t a renowned lyricist, Rocky is known for his flow, and his versatility is scattered all throughout. In one instance, you’ll be bobbing your head to the aggressiveness from “STOLE YA FLOW,” to laying back and daydreaming about your lover in “STAY HERE 4 LIFE.”
DON’T BE DUMB is packed with themes of love, introspection, and flexing, but overall, a sense of maturity. Rocky’s pen had its touching moments. He covered a range of emotions, like in the despondent tone of “PUNK ROCKY,” where he mourns a failed relationship, or when he reflects on how fulfilled he is in his life, warning himself to not take anything for granted in the aptly named “DON’T BE DUMB/TRIP BABY.”
Rocky even takes shots at Drake in “STOLE YA FLOW,” poking fun at the “BBL Drizzy” moniker and questioning Drake’s ability as a father, all while flexing his relationship with Rihanna (whom Drake used to date).
The features are also spotlight-worthy, like Brent Faiyaz and his angelic vocals on “STAY HERE 4 LIFE,” Doechii’s sultry verse on “ROBBERY,” and Sauce Walka’s lustful bars on “STOP SNITCHING.” Production-wise, DON’T BE DUMB both deviates from and celebrates A$AP Rocky’s original sound, with chopped and screwed sampling, psychedelic instrumentation, and traces of dancehall music.
On another note, this album can come off as unruly during the first couple of listens. Some features, like those of BossMan Dlow and Gorillaz, were very short, and Westside Gunn’s feature was nothing but his signature adlibs (which were, admittedly, fun to listen to). Slay Squad’s features on “STFU” were, to some fans, utterly obnoxious (the entire point of the track).
Despite displaying his six different personas over the years on the album cover, DON’T BE DUMB doesn’t do much to tie the actual story together. It relies on your knowledge of A$AP Rocky’s life outside of music to understand where these personas fit into the bigger picture.
Was DON’T BE DUMB worth the eight-year wait? Yes. It arguably isn’t his best work, some of the features could’ve been better, and several tracks that debuted from years prior did not make the final cut, but there’s something so exciting about seeing an artist return to the game after so long. In what other project can we see Rocky be as vulnerable, emotionally and creatively?
DON’T BE DUMB is innovative because it isn’t trying to be confined to one facet of hip hop, nor is it attempting to appeal to just one emotion. It’s a culmination of A$AP Rocky’s maturation as an artist and a now father. In its own chaotic way, DON’T BE DUMB speaks to the chaotic, complex lives of its listeners, and just like TESTING, this album will age like wine.
Final rating: 8.7/10