Don’t Be Dumb

A$AP Rocky

Sylvia Wessberg

With eight years since his last album release, A$AP Rocky had a lot to live up to with his fourth studio album​​—which isn’t helped by the fact he’s been teasing this album since 2023. Finally, in January of 2026, Rocky released DON’T BE DUMB, and I can’t help but wonder if all that anticipation doomed it to be viewed not from a lens of quality, but through a lens of whether or not it was worth the wait.

A$AP Rocky doesn’t just create music, he curates and consolidates, and this album is yet another successful collage of Rocky’s talent and taste. It’s packed with samples from talents Doechi, Gorrillaz, and Brent Faiyaz, and many more. It features fast tempos and a new aesthetic for Rocky both sonically and visually—with an unexpected collaboration with Tim Burton on the album's art and music videos that create a surreal impression of Rocky’s typical aesthetic. Rocky takes on a punk inspired image, though he doesn’t incorporate much political or social commentary until the final song on the album, “THE END,” which features Jessica Pratt singing an eerie repetition of “This is the way the world ends…” with Rocky and will.i.am reflecting on the dystopian feeling of today’s society.

Though the album wasn’t a punk rap album like I hoped, nor very experimental or revolutionary, it was a return to form for Rocky and proved there’s still a place for him in the rap genre even after eight years.