A$AP Rocky may be one of the most publicized upstarts of last year’s new crop of hip-hop blogstars, but listening to his first legitimate LP after signing to RCA Records imprint Polo Grounds Music, you might not know it. Wielding a roster of taste-making producers and artists, Long. Live. A$AP. could easily be mistaken for the release of an emcee that is already few albums deep with some top-tier industry friends in his pocket.

But before Rocky (aka Rakim Mayers—yes, after that Rakim) became the Givenchy-clad arbiter of East Coast hip-hop, the New York native was watching his 2011 mixtape—Live. Love. A$AP.—build steam alongside his music collective, the A$AP Mob. The mixtape, which set much of the tone for Long. Live. A$AP’s sound, was a collection of murky, atmospheric beats with a vocal delivery influenced as much by Rocky’s east coast idols as 90s SoCal hip-hop and Texas Screw music.

Long. Live. A$AP. not only retains the better aesthetic properties of the mixtape but also expands them. Still present are the slowed down vocals and woozy beats, but the song structures and hooks have a dynamism that was often missed on the mixtape. “Goldie”, produced by Hit Boy, was the first single of the new effort. The track is accented with beeping synth and brimming with the cheeky, lyrical puffery we’ve come to expect and love: “I said it must be cause a nigga got dough/Extraordinary swag and a mouth full of gold/Hoes at my shows they be stripping off they clothes/And them college girls write a nigga name on they toes/Niggas talk shit ’til they get lockjaw/Chrome to ya dome ’til ya get glockjaw/Party like a cowboy or a rockstar/Everybody play the tough guy ’til shit pop off.”

Rocky’s got plenty to say about his own swag, money, girls, etc., but on Long. Live. A$AP. he’s not afraid to share space on the track. With collaborators ranging from Drake to Florence Welch, Rocky knows there can be strength in numbers. On “1Train”, Rocky is joined by Action Bronson, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$ and Big K.R.I.T—a veritable who’s who of up-and-coming hip-hop fixtures from the past few years. The song, over six minutes long and featuring a smooth, almost Primo-like string sample, doesn’t disappoint. And like many tracks featuring other artists, Rocky actually takes a backseat to the talent on “1Train”, with each rapper seeming to try and out-do the next.

It might be precarious to feature such high-grade talent on your first solo effort—the fear being that your own performance becomes an anemic secondary to your guests. But on this album I never questioned Rocky’s ability to keep me interested, with his re-appropriation of 90s slang (“jiggy”, humorously enough) and dark, provocative beats. It seemed the biggest risk was enlisting the help of friend and electro-wizard Skrillex. Up-tempo production has never been something Rocky’s chased. He’s made a name for himself in syrupy, Screw-style production. Conversely, EDM producers are, in many cases, speed freaks. “Wild For the Night” is certainly up-tempo (Skrillex’s adrenaline pumping synth stabs make sure of that). But Rocky keeps up during the verse, while his boasting, vocally decelerated foil spits in half time.

With “Suddenly”, “Long Live A$AP”, “Fuckin’ Problems” and “LVL” rounding out the other high points of the album, it’s not difficult to see Long.Live.A$AP. as a success for Rocky. The real triumph of this album, however, isn’t the long list of collaborations or the alleged multi-millions ($3 million, to be exact) he earned from signing to a label. Rocky did what not many artists are able to: perpetuate a vein of their original sound, while successfully tweaking and pushing it into new creative spaces. If you find yourself excited for what’s to come from this guy—I don’t blame you.

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