DAROLD

Back in the 2010s, the A$AP Mob was a force to be reckoned with in hip-hop. Masterminded by A$AP Yams, the Harlem-based, fashion-centric crew helped redefine what a New York rapper could look and sound like. But in the 2020s, most of the members had spun off into their respective lanes, not the least of whom being A$AP Ferg. Having apparently shed half of his moniker and capitalized the rest, he makes his full-length return four years after the *Floor Seats II* mixtape, offering some insight into the artist—and the man—he grew into. After pledging his neighborhood allegiance alongside fellow Harlemites DD Osama and Bloody Osiris on the dizzying opener “Light Work,” Ferg gets straight to it over the Lex Luger/Mike WiLL Made-It co-production “Thought I Was Dead.” With proof of life now well established, plus the added benefit of a Dapper Dan introduction, he recounts on “Alive :( ” how he unplugged from online life and took inventory of himself, leading to meditative introspection as well as self-destructive whims. Some might find it surprising to learn the erstwhile Hood Pope came to resent what fame did to him, but these reflective revelations seem to have improved his New York state of mind. That said, he hasn’t rejected the rich-rapper lifestyle wholesale, evident on the not-so-humble brags of “Messy.” On “Casting Spells,” he flips the perspective to a more critical lens, offering rare scrutiny in verse of a cultural propensity towards materialism and superficiality. Indeed, he aims to do something good with what he’s got, a message summarized amid the grieving of “Dead Homies.” Elsewhere, Southern rap royals Future and Denzel Curry commune with Ferg in their unique ways on “Allure” and “Demons,” respectively, reaffirming his Trap Lord bona fides. Yet *DAROLD* finds him just as likely to connect with soulful singers as rappers, with the inimitable Mary J. Blige joining for two songs, including the hopeful “Chosen.” Assured of his own greatness and his accomplishments thus far, he says it with his whole chest on the righteous closing track.