After a six-year hiatus, A$AP Rocky is back in album mode.
The Testing creator, 35, dropped “HIGHJACK” on the streaming service on Friday, August 2, his first since “RIOT (ROWDY PIPE’N)” featuring Pharrell Williams, released just over a year earlier on July 21, 2023.
On “HIGHJACK,” the rapper enlists Jessica Pratt and Jon Batiste to deliver ethereal vocals behind his signature drums and murky organ sample, which come courtesy of production helmed by Rocky, Hitkidd, Zach Fogarty, Greg Kurstin, Jordan Patrick and Rex Kudo.
The “Praise the Lord” creator told Zane Lowe during an appearance on Apple Music 1 that “HIGHJACK” is part of him introducing “a whole new aesthetic to everything,” describing the sonics as “German Expressionism and the whole ghetto futurism bleak thing.”
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky Coordinate in black for a stylish night out in New York
As for working with Pratt and Batiste, Rocky told Lowe, “I just like alternative. I just like different sounds and whatnot. [Pratt] kind of gave me that kind of Portishead meets Stevie Nicks vibe. Law. So I’ve always had fun with her as an artist, so I figured I needed to get her, Jon Batiste on this and make her feel soulful to bring it home in the finale.”
Indeed, the song serves as an almost metaphorical victory march for Rocky who claims his tenure in the hip-hop hierarchy, and the rap artist “Tired of them n—-s sleepin’ on me, I don’t like naps/ N- —s f— around and stole the flow and you all like it?” A point he doubles down on by rapping, “Before we put ‘Peso’ on you, n—-s, you ain’t like the RAF,” referencing his debut single, which also served as the lead track on his 2011 album .a critically acclaimed hit mixtape Live. Love. As soon as possible.
A$AP Rocky; Jessica Pratt; Jon Batiste.
Arnold Jerocki/Getty; Jordi Vidal/Redferns; Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty
Rocky also mentioned his longtime girlfriend and mother of his two children, Rihanna, calling the FENTY creator his “wife” in the song, rapping, “These p—-s want my wife bad / people want my next song.”
A day before the release of the album “HIGHJACK”, on August 1, Rocky celebrated the birthday of his and Rihanna’s second son, Riot Rose, and shared several cute pictures and videos on Instagram of him with the baby, but also older than the stars. son, RZA, 2.
A$AP Rocky and two-year-old son RZA irresistibly star as the faces of mom Rihanna Savage x Fenty’s new campaign
Rocky also touched on fatherhood during the conversation with Lowe, saying, “It’s like time goes by when you’re a dad, man. It’s crazy. It’s insane. Surreal.”
Finally, the rapper teased the next track he plans to release: “Hood Happy,” featuring Fatman Scoop, Flavor Flav, Slick Rick, Morrissey and Busta Rhymes, describing the collaboration with Lowe as a fusion of “my parents’ favorite rappers” and “my favorite rappers .”
“RIOT (ROWDY PIPE’N),” “HIGHJACK” and “Hood Happy” are set to appear on Don’t be stupidwhich will arrive on streaming services on August 30.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education