Live. Love. ASAP (stylized as LIVE.LOVE.A$AP) is the debut mixtape by American rapper A$AP Rocky, who released it as a free digital download on October 31, 2011. Live. Love. ASAP is mostly known for its trippy and psychedelic production from the likes of producers such as Clams Casino and SpaceGhostPurpp, along with Rocky’s charismatic rapping style and lyrics relating to drug use and living a hedonist lifestyle. The mixtape was promoted with two singles, “Peso” and “Purple Swag,” which garnered ASAP Rocky mainstream attention and led to his first record deal. Upon release, Live. Love. ASAP received widespread acclaim from Read more on Last.fm.
Mr. Rocky is my favorite NYC-born rapper since the Mighty Mos Def, which is interesting since Yasiin was present at his listening party. So if Dante can co-sign on Rakim, then I know that ish has to be bomb which it IS. Only downside is the “Back to the future” track is not on this album. My fave tracks ‘Kissin’ Pink” and the impeccable “Leaf”. Did I mention that Rocky has enough charisma oozing from his pores for 10 Harlem rappers? I heart A$AP Rocky and A$AP Mob….This album gets 10/10 from me.
Kyle is right: let the swag of this album take you over, because it definitely will. The sheer coolness of this album is indescribable, so all I’ll say is that each song makes you feel like you’re taking a deep toke from the world’s most awesome joint and exhaling purple smoke.
So shoot me for thinking MC’s shouldn’t get a free pass on being thoughtful and being gratuitous with drugs/sex references. ASAP Rocky has his moments, to be sure, but the pure, literal lyrics are unimpressive.
And that’s, like, the ONLY thing wrong with this record. I could listen to this all day because the beats, the samples, the production, the execution, the ‘songwriting’—even the actual vocal rhythm—are all near-perfect. It’s like meeting a superstar with true humility because they have no idea how people see them. ‘LiveLoveA$AP’ is chill in the best sense of the word.
Hip-hop has had the most to gain from the hyperspeed evolution that only the instantly-self-aware world of modern technology could afford. As a result, there is a simultaneous immediacy and timelessness to quality releases of the genre. With LiveLoveA$AP, we have among the first pastiches of hip-hop influence that semi-directly channels a million hip-hop (and other) influences and creates a truly original sound. Innumerable movements of today and yesterday (ambient, glitch, dub, gangsta, psychedelic, “based,” rock, funk, soul) converge to support an MC who isn’t really as much a lyricist as he is a hypnagogist; a vibe merchant. It’s effortless, ethereal, cool, confident, heady, hedonistic, and free from many of its peers trappings thanks to the weird artiness of the Clams Casino sound. Consistent with the hip-hop ethos, it warrants not so much a critical-rhetorical approval as a simple stamp of authenticity. That is, it may be hard to pinpoint why this is a great record, but as the poet Robert Ritchie has said, “If it’s real, you’ll feel it.” Let the swag take you over. “Everything is purple,” indeed.