{"id":40955,"date":"2025-07-14T23:09:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T23:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/14\/what-is-going-on-with-asap-rockys-album-dont-be-dumb\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T23:09:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T23:09:37","slug":"what-is-going-on-with-asap-rockys-album-dont-be-dumb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/14\/what-is-going-on-with-asap-rockys-album-dont-be-dumb\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Going On With ASAP Rocky\u2019s Album \u2018Don\u2019t Be Dumb\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tASAP Rocky<\/a> has been teasing his forthcoming album Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/a><\/em> by name for over two and a half years, over the span of which he: performed potential tracks on it at Rolling Loud twice<\/a>, starred in two high-profile feature films<\/a>, began raising one infant <\/a>with Rihanna, welcomed another<\/a>, and now is waiting on the arrival of a third<\/a>, oh, and beat a felony assault<\/a> case levied by his former friend and collaborator that could have sent him to jail for 24 years. While there\u2019s understandably been some restlessness and perhaps even annoyance (as Rocky has noted himself) towards the delayed arrival of the album, when you put it in perspective, it\u2019ll be a miracle if Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em> comes out at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter announcing a few unmet release dates and divulging details about the album in interview after interview, Rocky\u2019s concerns about fan fatigue<\/a> towards updates alone may have been warranted. His last album, Testing<\/em>, dropped in 2018. \u201cI\u2019m in the mixing and mastering realm of it, but I think quite frankly, people are tired of hearing about updates about the album,\u201d he told GQ<\/em><\/a> of Don\u2019t Be Dumb <\/em>in February. On July 3, Rocky dropped \u201cPray4DaGang\u201d as an Apple Music exclusive for the first 24 hours, seemingly a new look into a new era. However, social media soon noticed<\/a> that in its tenure on Apple music alone, the song didn\u2019t seem to crack the platform\u2019s daily top 200 songs chart (meanwhile, that weekend, Rocky\u2019s rival Drake released \u201cWhat Did I Miss?<\/a>\u201d and made a spectacle of it with his Iceman stream, drawing many eyes and landing the song high on the same chart).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThough both Rocky and Drake came up in the trenches of the Blog Era<\/a> and defined many elements of rap culture, their lives and careers have taken very different paths, with one chasing superstardom through a constant churn of music, and the other living a fuller, broader life. Will Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em> make that dissonance clearer?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAs we await the album, here\u2019s everything we know about Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em> so far.<\/p>\n

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\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tApril 2022 \u2013 ASAP Rocky<\/a> is Arrested on Felony Gun Charges<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThis happens roughly eight months before Rocky reveals Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em> as the title of his next album, but the fallout of his arrest<\/a> for allegedly shooting his former friend ASAP Relli covers its entire timeline. In April 2022, Rocky was taken into police custody at Los Angeles International Airport after flying in from a private plane from his partner, Rihanna\u2019s, native Barbados.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tMay 2022 \u2013 Rocky Clarifies That the Album Won\u2019t Be Called All Smiles\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThough Rocky had teased a project called All Smiles<\/em> previously, he clarifies with <\/em>Dazed<\/em><\/a> that his forthcoming album won\u2019t be called that. \u201cOne thing I can tell you is that the name isn\u2019t gonna be All Smiles <\/em>\u2013 you know, I never publicly said that my album was called All Smiles,\u201d he corrects for them. \u201cThat one is more of a concept project, it\u2019s music and more. I\u2019m wrapping up the new album now; I\u2019ve been shooting so many visuals for it. I don\u2019t want to be cliche or sound like a salesman, but I\u2019ve pushed myself to the limit on everything. Going from that industrial, subversive sound from Testing<\/em> and then graduating with a more polished sound\u2026 I just like where it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDecember 2, 2022 \u2013 Metro Boomin Has Entered the Chat<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIn another interview with GQ<\/em><\/a>, Rocky teases that Metro Boomin made major contributions to his fourth album: \u201cI\u2019m gonna put it to you like this: This next album needs to be just called Flacko Boomin<\/em>, you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDecember 8, 2022 \u2013 The Album\u2019s Real Name is Revealed<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWhile performing<\/a> on 2 Chainz\u2019s Amazon Music Live<\/a> concert series, Rocky debuts the somber \u201cSame Problems?\u201d while displaying the portraits of many late rappers like 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G., DMX, Nipsey Hussle, Mac Miller, and Pop Smoke. The title, Don\u2019t Be Dumb,<\/em> is also on display and referenced throughout the show.<\/p>\n

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\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tJuly 20, 2023 \u2013 \u201cRiot (Rowdy Pipe\u2019n)\u201d is Called an Official Album Single<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIn an interview with <\/em>Complex<\/em><\/a>, Rocky plants a stake in the ground: his latest song at this point, \u201cRiot (Rowdy Pipe\u2019n),\u201d is a Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em> single. Though he condemns constant leaks as a source of his album delays, the song itself is a version of one that was leaked under the name \u201cPiper\u201d years before, too. \u201cThese dummies got to stop leaking shit,\u201d Rocky says. \u201cEvery time, we have to go back to the drawing board, but right now I think it\u2019s in a place where we tightened it up and we really can\u2019t make or break anything right now.\u201d \u200bA few days later, he would perform another new song, now known as \u201cTailor Swif,<\/a>\u201d at Rolling Loud Miami. While chopping it up with Complex,<\/em> he shares that in addition to Metro Boomin, Hit-Boy, Tyler, the Creator, Madlib, The Alchemist, and Hitkidd did some production on the album.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOctober 2023 \u2013 <\/strong>Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em><\/strong> is Rocky\u2019s \u201cBest Work Yet\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIn a new Dazed<\/em><\/a> interview, Rocky sets a high bar for his next album. \u201cI\u2019ve been really experimenting as usual, and what I like about this is it feels like my best work yet,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to leave expectations wide and open. I don\u2019t want to tell you what to expect. I just want people to experience it how they do naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJune 2024 \u2013 <\/strong>Don\u2019t Be Dumb <\/em><\/strong>Gets Its First Release Date<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWhile presenting his clothing line American Sabotage in his Paris Fashion Week debut, he plays music from Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em> and livestreams<\/a> the show beyond the posh city streets. Mid-stream, he announces August 30 as its release date and opens up pre-orders. He tells GQ<\/em><\/a> <\/em>how the clothing line and the album were connected when asked where the name American Sabotage came from. \u201cI was working on my album and I was thinking about being rebellious and the stuff that we\u2019re not really allowed to talk about,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not about treason or nothing like that, it\u2019s more about deciding to do things from a different perspective, taking the hard way instead of the easy way. And sometimes challenging yourself can come across as self-sabotaging. Exceeding time limits and deadlines, that\u2019s self-sabotaging. So it\u2019s also about talking about your flaws and the struggle that made you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJuly 2024 \u2013 DJ Kast One Says the Album Will Make Rocky a Permanent Drake Enemy\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWhile on the Ebro in the Morning <\/em>show on New York\u2019s Hot 97, DJ Kast One divulges<\/a> his take on the Don\u2019t Be Dumb <\/em>music he\u2019s heard, claiming that Rocky \u201cis going to be cemented on Drake\u2019s list after this.\u201d A player in the Kendrick vs. Drake saga, Rocky has also seemingly tossed shots at the Canadian rapper on songs like Kid Cudi\u2019s \u201cWow,\u201d Future and Metro Boomin\u2019s \u201cShow of Hands\u201d and his J. Cole collaboration \u201cRuby Rosary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for Don\u2019t Be Dumb, <\/em>DJ Kast One also says, \u201cI heard Slick Rick [on it]. That was amazing. I also heard ASAP Rocky definitely addressing a lot of the main topics that are happening out here right now. Let\u2019s just say, the list keeps going on strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAugust 2, 2024 \u2013 Okay, So Now \u201cHighjack\u201d is the First Single?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIn the description of an Apple Music interview<\/a> with Zane Lowe, the streamer calls his song \u201cHighjack\u201d Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em>\u2019s first single. \u201cMost of the songs that I usually perform and shit like that, muthafuckers leak it. And once it\u2019s leaked, it\u2019s just like, \u2018Nah, it\u2019s not on the project,\u2019\u201d Rocky tells Lowe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAugust 22, 2024 \u2013 Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em> Delayed to Fall 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOnce again, blaming leaks in addition to sample clearances, Rocky takes to Twitter<\/a> to explain the latest roadblock. \u201cLEAKS & SAMPLE CLEARANCES ARE DISRUPTING THE ALBUM,\u201d he wrote. \u201cITS BEEN 6 YEARS & I WANNA MAKE THE BEST ALBUM EVER. IM SORRY FOR THE WAIT.\u201d In better news, in a Billboard<\/em><\/a> cover story, Rocky notes that his hero, the filmmaker Tim Burton, heard the album and loved it: \u201cI sat and I played the album for Tim Burton, and he was f\u2014ing with it heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDecember 2024 \u2013 Fall Has Come and Gone; the Album is Delayed Again<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tFans who pre-ordered Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/em> box sets, vinyl, and CDs receive a refund email<\/a> announcing an early 2025 release date. They also get an \u201cattached coupon for a gift upon release.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFebruary 2025 \u2013 Found Not Guilty in ASAP Relli Assault Trial, Rocky Is Ready to Move On In More Ways Than One<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOn February 18, Rocky was found not guilty<\/a> of shooting at ASAP Relli after a three-week trial. Just ten days later, he tells GQ<\/a> <\/em>he\u2019s tired of yapping about his unreleased album. \u201cThe album\u2019s done,\u201d Rocky said. \u201cI just want to drop it. I don\u2019t want to keep saying what I\u2019m going to do, and I want to give people what I\u2019ve been promising them for a long-ass fucking time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMarch 2025 \u2013 Rocky Performs at Rolling Loud California<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tAs one of the popular rap festival\u2019s headliners<\/a>, Rocky began his set aboard a helicopter that had Don\u2019t Be Dumb <\/em>painted across its side.<\/p>\n

\n\tMay 2025 \u2013\u00a0 <\/strong>Don\u2019t Be Dumb <\/em><\/strong>May Show Rocky\u2019s Sensitive Side<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIn an interview with Variety<\/em>, Rocky teases the album\u2019s subject matter and a bit of insecurity: \u201cThis fucking album, it represents who I am right now. It\u2019s just I hope that it\u2019s digestible,\u201d he says. Elsewhere, he adds, \u201cIt\u2019s odd because as I get older, I\u2019m more conscious about how I view myself. Describing my life sounds very braggadocious, and I want to figure out how to say it to where it feels more humble, relatable, and sincere, as opposed to just shitting on the next person or making the next person feel down, or just evoking negative shit out of people.\u201d In July, he tells<\/a> Apple Music\u2019s Mehdi Ma\u00efzi, \u201cIf I\u2019m out here telling y\u2019all how pretty I am again, it\u2019s not talking about nothing..If I talked about how I fucked your bitch or how I can take your bitch again, it\u2019s not really talking about nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n

\n\tJuly 3 \u2013 \u201cPray4DaGang\u201d Drops as An Apple Music Exclusive<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPray4DaGang\u201d gets a seemingly rocky rollout in the public eye, as fans\u00a0notice<\/a>\u00a0the Fourth of July drop doesn\u2019t land on Apple\u2019s top songs, though it\u2019s released exclusively there, and that its music video was pulled from YouTube.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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