A$AP Rocky has revealed the tracklist for his new album Don’t Be Dumb ahead of its long-awaited release this Friday (January 16).
Dubbed “a true masterpiece by A$AP Rocky and his alter egos,” the project features 15 songs including the recently released “Helicopter$” and “Punk Rocky.”
Other tracks include “Stole Ya Flow,” “Stop Snitching” and “Whiskey (I’m Not Resisting),” all of which the Harlem rapper has performed live in recent years.
Guest features and producers remain under wraps for now, but Rocky has teased a number of high-profile collaborators including Tyler, The Creator, Metro Boomin and Busta Rhymes, among others.
There are also rumors that the elusive Frank Ocean will make a rare appearance on the song “Air Force (Black DeMarco)” after its producer, Digital Nas, strongly hinted as much on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this week.
UPDATE: A$AP Rocky has revealed the Don’t Be Dumb features via Spotify billboards promoting the album. Tyler, The Creator, Westside Gunn, Doechii, Brent Faiyaz, Thundercat, Gorillaz, BossMan Dlow, will.i.am, Danny Elfman, Jon Batiste, Slay Squad and Jessica Pratt are all set to appear.
A$AP Rocky — Don’t Be Dumb (Tracklist):
1. Order of Protection2. Helicopter$3. Interrogation (Skit)4. Stole Ya Flow5. Stay Here6. Playa7. Trespass8. Stop Snitching9. STFU10. Punk Rocky11. Air Force (Black DeMarco)12. Whiskey (I’m Not Resisting)13. Robbery14. Don’t Be Dumb / Trip Baby15. The End
One confirmed (and central) contributer to Don’t Be Dumb is Tim Burton, the legendary filmmaker behind Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and the late ’80s/early ’90s Batman movies.
Burton’s name appears on the official cover art, which he also designed, while the tracklist describes the album as “the nightmare b4 the release” — a clear nod to Burton’s 1982 poem The Nightmare Before Christmas (which was, of course, later turned into a cult-classic film).
“I love Tim Burton, man. I’ve been inspired by him [since] a child,” A$AP Rocky told Vanity Fair last year. “I think what he does with claymation and how he transcended into live-action movies, the parallels between them and [how] he seamlessly included it from matte painting to German Expressionism. I think he’s a fucking genius.”
Longtime Burton collaborator, the composer Danny Elfman, is also involved, with A$AP Rocky saying in the same interview: “Danny Elfman did my album with me, he scored a bunch of the song. We had [the TV] on mute and were just making music to all of the old fims, Pee-wee’s Playhouse and The Simpsons, all that.”
As for the “alter egos” part, a clue may lie in the vinyl listing of Don’t Be Dumb.
“The 15-track [album] moves through genres the way you’d move through a city — jazz, hip hop, metal, indie, R&B — each track capturing a different block, mood, or moment. It’s Rocky in full range,” it reads.
