TESTING

A$AP Rocky’s third studio album, 2018’s <i>Testing</i>, was the Harlem rapper’s first release created without the guidance of his late mentor A$AP Yams, who played a crucial role in Rocky’s rise, and who died in 2015. <i>Testing</i> introduces an experimental new sound—hence the title—that serves as a compliment to Rocky’s avant-garde aesthetic. The album’s promotion was just as unorthodox as the music itself, with Rocky staging an installation at Sotheby’s, one that found him voluntarily enduring various uncomfortable challenges inside a glass box in front of an audience. <i>Testing</i>’s collaborations are plentiful, with features from the likes of Kid Cudi, Skepta, FKA Twigs and Frank Ocean (who shows up on the artfully composed “Purity”). “People are scared to test new sounds, so they go with what's current ’cause it’s the easy thing to do,” Rocky said in an interview around the time's release. “These sonics represent me.” The sonics in question include a laundry list of skillfully flipped samples, including Moby’s “Porcelain” on the single “A$AP Forever”, and an interpolation of “International Players Anthem (I Choose You)” by UGK on “Changes”. He even enlists early collaborator Clams Casino, responsible for a number of cuts on Rocky’s 2011 breakthrough debut, <i>LIVE.LOVE.A$AP.</i>