It looks like A$AP Rocky's long-awaited album Don't Be Dumb is actually going to drop this Friday. It was supposed to come out back in August of 2024, when Rocky released the surprise Jessica Pratt collab "Highjack," but now it's been so long that "Highjack" isn't even on the album anymore. Tim Burton, who was "fucking with it heavy" back then, did handle the cover art, and Burton's old pal Winona Ryder starred in the video for the new single "Punk Rocky." Ryder's Stranger Things cast-mate Finn Wolfhard is hosting SNL this coming Saturday with Rocky as musical guest. It's all connected!
Today Rocky's got another advance track for us, and unlike "Punk Rocky," this one is content to be a rap song. Rocky wrote "Helicopter$" with Kelvin Krash, and the two of them produced it with Soufien Rhouat, the artist formerly known as Soufien 3000. It's got the kind of murky, dark-tinted beat Rocky has always gravitated toward, with bonging live bass notes and eerie layers of keyboards.
It sounds intentionally musty as if cooked up in a dungeon (not the Dungeon), which pairs well with director Dan Streit's heavily filtered lo-fi music video. The clip features the same helicopter Rocky played new music from at Rolling Loud, though this time it might be CGI. The Playstation-referencing packshot presumably figures into the whole aesthetic. Watch below.
Don't Be Dumb is out 1/16 on A$AP Worldwide/RCA.
