TESTING

## **Singles from *TESTING***

1. "A$AP Forever"
Released: April 5, 2018
2. "Praise The Lord (Da Shine)"
Released: June 26, 2018

***TESTING*** is the third studio album by American rapper A$AP Rocky. It was released on May 25, 2018, by ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records. The album includes guest appearances from Frank Ocean, Kid Cudi, Skepta, French Montan, Kodak Black, Dev Hynes and FKA Twigs, among others, and was produced primarily by Hector Delgado and ASAP Rocky himself, alongside a variety of high-profile record producers.

*TESTING* was supported by two singles: "A$AP Forever" and "Praise The Lord (Da Shine)", alongside numerous promotional singles. The album received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number four on the US *Billboard* 200, earning 75,000 album-equivalent units of which 13,000 were pure sales, becoming A$AP Rocky's third consecutive top-five album on the chart.

## Synopsis

A$AP Rocky has always lived in an elaborate world of his own creation. His dedication to avant-garde fashion would tell you that his world is bigger than his native Harlem, but on Testing, it's frequently even bigger than hip-hop itself. The project is his most experimental to date, with extended bouts of singing ("Calldrops", "Kids Turned Out Fine") and spoken word ("Brotha Man"), and Rocky utilising guests in new ways, including a BlocBoy JB feature consisting solely of ad libs and an artfully placed Kodak Black phone call. Vintage Rocky touchstones are still present—the charming sense of invincibility, the dark and plodding production (including a reunion with key early collaborator Clams Casino) and the extended tours of his closet—but Testing is proof positive that the rapper fits in no box.

## Critical reception

Metacritic assigned the scored of 67 out of 100 based on eight critic reviews. Fred Thomas of AllMusic wrote, "pushes A$AP's experimental impulses to the forefront, expanding his boundary-pushing tendencies into the album's mission statement." They continued of how the album was weighed down by its experimentation, making it "more confused, with ideas and musical shifts colliding at times to the point of randomness. [...] Like any set of experiments, *Testing* offers some success, some failure, and some moments that can only be met with a blank stare." Bansky Gonzalez of *Consequence* opined, "feels bloated at times, and though its spastic nature is what leads to the album’s best moments, it also makes for plenty of uneven segments that drag it down." They added, "It's a welcome addition to a genre that has become so occupied with spacey, bare-bones operations and overly simplistic results." *Exclaim!*'s Kassandra Guagliardi assessed, "A$AP Rocky has always been a tastemaker with an eclectic palette, and with his third studio album, *Testing*, he isn't catering to the ears of current hip-hop fans. Rocky is making music outside of the confines of rap while simultaneously pushing boundaries within it."

*HipHopDX* was less impressed, calling it "the most uneven A$AP release to date." They concluded, "Instead of creating a new wave, A$AP Rocky has drowned himself in his own ambitions and lost his identity along the way." Stephen Kearse of *Pitchfork* described the project as "more experimental and personal," while *The Guardian* felt it to "completely out of step with any mainstream rap album you’re likely to hear this year." *Billboard* wrote, "experimentation doesn’t quite hit the notes that the Harlemite would have liked it to. [...] Perhaps one of the most alarming things about Testing is the fact that it truly is lacking that one shining moment that A$AP Rocky can call his own."

## Track listing

**Notes**

* "A$AP Forever" features background vocals by Khloe Anna
* "Tony Tone" features background vocals by Puff Daddy and additional vocals by Akia Harvey
* "Fukk Sleep" features background vocals by Hector Delgado
* "Calldrops" features background vocals by Acyde and Dean Blunt
* "Buck Shots" features background vocals by Playboi Carti, Smooky MarGielaa and Kelvin Krash
* "Brotha Man" features background vocals by Frank Ocean and Snoop Dogg
* "OG Beeper" features background vocals by BlocBoy JB
* "Kids Turned Out Fine" features background vocals by Mateo "Teo" Arias
* "Hun43rd" features background vocals by A$AP Mob
* "Black Tux, White Collar" features background vocals by Mikky Ekko

**Sample credits**

* "ASAP Forever" contains a sample of "Porcelain", written by Richard Melville Hall, as performed by Moby.
* "Tony Tone" contains a sample of "Man Inside", written and performed by Roger Webb.
* "Fukk Sleep" contains a sample of "FYM", written by Albert Johnson, Gary Lucas, Matthew Samuels and Michael Tyler, as performed by Joyner Lucas.
* "Praise the Lord (Da Shine)" contains a sample of "Midsummer Again – Roma Surrectum II", written by Viktor Tärnholm.
* "Calldrops" contains a sample of "Morning Sun", written and performed by Dave Bixby; and "Money & the Power", written by Hayword Ivy, as performed by DJ Squeeky.
* "Buck Shots" contains a sample of "The Format", written by Anthony Cruz, as performed by AZ.
* "Gunz n Butter" contains a sample of "Street Type N\*ggaz", written and performed by Tommy Wright III; and "Still Ridin Clean", written by Patrick Houston, Jordan Houston and Paul Beauregard, as performed by Project Pat.
* "Brotha Man" contains a sample of "Intermission", written by Leon Michels, Toby Pazner and Jeffrey Silverman, as performed by Lee Fields.
* "OG Beeper" contains a sample of "Street Type N\*ggaz" and "Shoot to Kill", written and performed by Tommy Wright III; and "Still Get My Dick Sucked", written by Hayword Ivy, as performed by DJ Squeeky.
* "Kids Turned Out Fine" samples "Don't Come Home Today" by Good Morning.
* "Hun43rd" contains a sample of "Cradle to the Grave", written by Tupac Shakur, Tyruss Himes, Maurice Shakur, Diron Rivers and Walter Burns, as performed by Thug Life.
* "Changes" features a sample of "International Players Anthem (I Choose You)" by UGK featuring Outkast.
* "Purity" contains a sample of "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind", written and performed by Lauryn Hill.

## References

1. ↑ "Testing Review by Fred Thomas". *AllMusic*.
2. ↑ Gonzalez, Bansky (June 15, 2018). "Album Review: A$AP Rocky Successfully Goes Against the Grain on Testing". *Consequence*.
3. ↑ Guagliardi, Kassandra (May 25, 2018). "A$AP Rocky *Testing*". *Exclaim!*
4. ↑ Chintaluri, Narsimha (May 27, 2018). "Review: A$AP Rocky's "Testing" Experiment Is a Quiet Fail". *HipHopDX*.
5. ↑ Kearse, Stephen (May 29, 2018). "Testing". *Pitchfork*.
6. ↑ Nguyen, Dean (May 25, 2018). "A$AP Rocky: Testing Review – Twisted Pretty-Boy Cranks Up the Weirdness". *The Guardian*.
7. ↑ Hale, Andreas (May 25, 2018). "A$AP Rocky Returns with 'Testing,' His Most Experimental Album to Date". *Billboard*.

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