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Long. Live. ASAP (stylized as LONG.LIVE.A$AP) is the debut studio album by American rapper ASAP Rocky. It was released on January 15, 2013, by ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds Music, and RCA Records. The album's release was pushed back several times, including release dates of September 11 and October 31, 2012, the latter being the first anniversary of his 2011 mixtape Live. Love. ASAP.

The album features guest appearances from Schoolboy Q, Santigold, OverDoz, Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, Drake, Big K.R.I.T., Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Joey Badass, Gunplay, ASAP Ferg and Florence Welch. The album's production was handled by Hit-Boy, ASAP Ty Beats, Soufien3000, Clams Casino, Danger Mouse, Noah "40" Shebib, T-Minus, Skrillex and Emile Haynie, among other high-profile producers.

The album was supported with four singles—"Goldie", "Fuckin' Problems", "Wild For The Night" and "Fashion Killa"—and Rocky's Long. Live. ASAP national tour with rappers Schoolboy Q and Danny Brown.

Background

In May 2011, Rocky quit selling drugs and decided to focus on a career in rapping. He released a music video for his song "Purple Swag" in July, garnering Internet buzz and attention from record labels, despite negative feedback from his native hip hop scene in New York. He was courted by several labels, including the RCA-distributed Polo Grounds Music. However, he held off from any deal with a label, instead wanting to explore other pursuits. Rocky and Polo Grounds president Bryan Leach, also a Harlem native, subsequently spent time talking about music and lifestyles.

In August 2011, Rocky followed with "Peso", which first appeared on Internet blogs and eventually received radio airplay on New York City's Hot 97. The song also earned him respect in the New York scene, of which he later said, "It bring a tear to my eye to see native New York people give me my props because New York is stubborn and arrogant". After a bidding war among labels, Rocky signed a record deal with Polo Grounds and RCA on October 14. It was worth $3 million, with $1.7 million for his solo work and $1.3 million to fund his company ASAP Worldwide. Rocky said that he sought a "bigger platform" for him and his collective with the deal. His first studio album planned to be under the deal, but it allowed him to continue releasing mixtapes through RED Distribution.

Recording and production

In an interview with MTV, production group The KickDrums spoke about their collaboration with Rocky and indie pop singer Lana Del Rey. They admitted that the collaboration was Fitts, one of their members', idea. Of Del Rey and his production background, Fitts said:

"...she's a fan of hip-hop, and he's a fan of hers, and the beat managed to just kinda bring them together. That's actually the idea of this whole tape, the genre-bending that we as the KickDrums naturally do, 'cause we grew up with a bunch of different influences, like listening to everything from Nirvana and Pink Floyd, Radiohead to Dr. Dre and Jay-Z."

The track that features Del Rey was originally intended for a mixtape release to display KickDrums production, but was instead cut for Rocky's album, after Sony Music Group and Interscope Records both enjoyed the track. KickDrums respected the decision and agreed to give the track to Rocky for his debut album. Previously, though, the unfinished song had been intentionally leaked online, and KickDrums were alarmed by the impact and attention it had already received. Rocky described Del Rey as his "dream girl", after the two co-starred in Del Rey's music video for "National Anthem", where he plays ex-president, John F Kennedy. The track however did not make the final tracklist.

The song "1 Train" features an ensemble of young rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, Joey Badass, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson and Big K.R.I.T.. Rocky has described the song as "I wanted to make a posse cut that felt like an original '90s underground track, and I didn't have to tell anyone what to do." He also said he "took it upon myself to feature all the people who I respect as artists of my generation." He also said his favorite verse is K.R.I.T.'s.

The remix to Rocky's song, "Pretty Flacko", which features Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame and Pharrell Williams, was originally going to be included on the album, however it was removed due to his feud with the producer of the song SpaceGhostPurp. It would be included for free along with the album preorder on Rocky's official website.

Additional production was handled by ASAP Ty Beats, Soufien3000, Clams Casino, Friendzone, Joey Fat Beats, Hector Delgado, V Don, Jonathan "MP" Williams and self-production from Rocky as LORD FLACKO.

Release and promotion

The album was to be officially released on September 11, but was pushed back to Halloween 2012, then delayed further, to the first quarter of 2013, to put finishing touches on it; copyright holders have stalled to grant permission for the use of particular samples on the album, and Rocky refuses to omit them. With MTV, Rocky said on the topic: "The issue with my album is I got things on it that's so out of this world that it's taking so long to get mastered. That's the issue, and I refuse to take anything off. It's complete. Everything is being mastered and cleared right now...It's just so hard to get things cleared, because you got to find people to clear samples".

In the fall of 2012, Rocky embarked on his Long. Live. ASAP tour with Schoolboy Q and Danny Brown. The tour was originally designed to promote the album when it was scheduled for a September release date.

On December 3, 2012 while premiering his video for Fuckin Problems, ASAP announced that his album would be released on January 15, 2013. A music video for the album's title track premiered on MTV on December 23, 2012. To celebrate his album release he performed at The Hole in downtown New York City along with his group ASAP Mob. His iPhone was also stolen at the event.

Singles

The album's first single, "Goldie" was released on April 30, 2012, and was produced by Hit-Boy. For the song, Hit-Boy wanted to play off Rocky's laid-back style of rapping, accompanied by intentional vocal distortions, to produce a sound bordering along comatose. Beneath the beat, Hit-Boy added a reverberating chant meant to add a sinister atmosphere to the track. "Goldie" peaked at #65 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs. Complex named the song #30 on a list of the best 50 songs of 2012. On May 3, 2012, the music video was released for "Goldie".

On October 25, 2012, Rocky and Kendrick Lamar premiered the second single, "Fuckin' Problems", live on tour in Oakland, California. The song was released on that day to iTunes and also features 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar and Drake. It has since charted on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #8. Billboard labeled the production on the record's second single, "Fuckin' Problems", as a "new scorcher". To produce the beat, Rocky recruited Noah "40" Shebib, who co-produced it along with Drake under the pseudonym C. Papi. On December 3, 2012, the music video was released for "Fuckin' Problems" featuring 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

The first promotional single was the album's title track "Long Live ASAP", which also serves as the opening track on the album. It was produced by both Jim Jonsin, Rico Love and co-produced by Finatik & Zac, Frank Romano and Rocky himself as LORD FLACKO, it was released for streaming in December 18, 2012. On December 23, 2012, the music video was released for "Long Live ASAP".

The track "Wild for the Night" was released as the album's second promotional single on January 11, 2013. The single listed both Skrillex and Birdy Nam Nam as featured guests, although the only guest listed on the album is Skrillex who produced the track along with Birdy Nam Nam and later remixed it with Rocky as LORD FLACKO. It was confirmed shortly after by Rocky himself that the track will serve as the third official single. On March 26, 2013, the song was officially released to Rhythmic crossover radio as the third single. The music video for "Wild For The Night" was released on March 25, 2013, and was shot in the Dominican Republic with Skrillex and featured cameos from the ASAP Mob. The song has since peaked at #82 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The fourth single was announced to be "Fashion Killa" on June 17, 2013. On September 23, 2013, the music video for "Fashion Killa" premiered on 106 & Park.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	B+
Entertainment Weekly	A
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
NME	7/10
Pitchfork Media	8.5/10
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spin	5/10

Long. Live. ASAP received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, based on 40 reviews. Chris DeVille of The A.V. Club called it "an aesthetic marvel, fully realized and unmistakably distinct." Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone wrote that it "ups the ante" musically "without losing what made the compelling." Pitchfork Media's Jayson Greene praised Rocky's "malleability", writing that he "sounds natural in every setting", and called the album "a triumph of craft and curation, preserving Rocky's immaculate taste while smartly upgrading his sound." Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly viewed that Rocky turns "radio-baller clichés ... into contagious comic relief", and Simon Price of The Independent wrote that "Rocky's rhymes are believable when reminiscing about growing up poor. And when he slides into sexism, at least he's funny with it." Allmusic's David Jeffries described him as "rap's Jim Morrison, offering an accessible, attractive, and brutish journey into darkness while remaining true to his spirit." Chris Kelly of Fact commented that he has "an ear for captivating beats whose lyrical shortcomings can be glossed over with healthy servings of charisma and panache."

In a mixed review, Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo felt that the album still finds Rocky "routinely underplaying material that demands a strong anchoring presence and refusing to push his lyrical focus beyond the usual hackneyed tropes." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called its music "frequently thrilling", but found the lyrics occasionally "boring". David Amidon of PopMatters found it relatively "safe" compared to other "cloud rap" offerings and stated, "He's still a great talent vocally, but it remains to be seen if he can match his voice with his pen." Andrew Nosnitsky of Spin found Rocky's lyrics superficial and clichéd, writing that "there's no personal narrative or identity here to compensate for the hollowness of his craft." MSN Music's Robert Christgau felt that "the beat hooks" only on "six highly listenable, casually unmatched tracks" and wrote of Rocky, "Skillfully but never dazzlingly, congenially but never charismatically, with entertainment value added by a screwed- and-chopped alter ego, Rocky raps over the music without saying a damn thing older, meaner, and sharper rappers haven't said before."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 139,000 copies in the United States. As of April 17, 2013, it has sold 312,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

 • (co.) Co-producer
 • (add.) Additional production

Note

• The asvpxrocky.com pre-order contains an instant download of a remix of the track "Pretty Flacko" featuring Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame and Pharrell.

Personnel

Credits for Long. Live. ASAP adapted from Allmusic.

Charts

Release history

See also

• List of number-one albums of 2013 (Canada)
• List of number-one albums of 2013 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 2013 (U.S.)
• List of number-one rap albums of 2013 (U.S.)
• List of UK R&B Chart number-one albums of 2013

References

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2. A$AP Rocky’s ‘Long.Live.ASAP’ Projected To Land At #1 On Billboard Charts
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9. Poll: Which Rapper Has The Best Verse On A$AP Rocky’s ’1 Train’?
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55. "Long.Live.A$AP Deluxe Pre-Order Bonus Track". asvpxrocky.com. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
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External links

• Long. Live. ASAP at AnyDecentMusic?
• "Decoded: A$AP Rocky 'Long.Live.A$AP'" at Life+Times

• Pages with empty short description
• 2013 debut albums
• RCA Records albums
• Sony Music Entertainment albums
• Albums produced by Hit-Boy
• Albums produced by Noah "40" Shebib
• Albums produced by T-Minus
• Albums produced by Jim Jonsin
• Albums produced by Rico Love
• Albums produced by Danger Mouse
• Albums produced by Emile Haynie
• Hip hop albums by American artists
• English-language albums