I'm not "letting" anyone write man. WRITE! I want everyone here writing about what they're listening to. Don't just say "it's dope," fucking TELL ME why it's dope. Yeah!
A$AP Rocky - Live.Love.A$AP - 2011 - self-released
When an album is as good as this, it's almost hard for me to articulate. And a lot of it is (of course) personal taste. But Rocky's debut - a self-released mixtape at that - is just stunning. I guess what I think is so amazing about it is that it seems to create a whole new genre, admittedly by mashing many influences together. A$AP Mob has always worn its Dipset love on its sleeve. That shines through in esoteric lyrics. But there's a far, far deeper love of all things purple that reach far further than Harlem - namely Houston. Live.Love.A$AP often feels like a chopped-n-screwed album, without the vocals slowed down. It's jarring, and beautiful, and relaxing, and soulful, and introspective, and ugly all at once. Such druggy highlights include "Whassup" with classic Clams Casino a chopped-up vocal-beat and shitty high-hats that cut out like an ameteur rocking Fruity Loops. But it's this sort of cheap-ass DIY asthetic that makes me love this album the way that I assume those that were really there for the birth of punk loved it, and knew that they were hearing something unique that would eventually be in the public domain. Elsewhere, SpaceGhostPurrp - whom Rocky would eventually grow apart from rocks a slowed down sax sample on "Keep It G" and also guest-stars on a remix of early Youtube "hit," "Purple Swag." It's a shame hearing these tracks and wishing the two could have continued their collaborations. And then you get to "Trilla," a track that is so out of place with its bouncy and slick guitar line that you realize that Rocky could rap over any beat and sound amazing - but he's just mostly focusing on the hazy shade of purple cloud rap that is the epitome of perfection in his own mind. This mixtape is incredible because it seems to be a product of such a huge amount of influences - named by Rocky himself (Kanye, Outkast, Bone Thugs...) and yet at the same time feels almost like it was created within a vaccuum where outsiders don't exist. This is a manifesto of young, hungry rappers who want to present themselves to the world as 'brand new guys,' while never for a second forgetting where they came from. A true modern day masterpiece.