But the standout performance goes to Rocky himself, spinning out a cyclonic flow that fans the flames of the track with clever internal rhymes. Though the single version is fantastic on its own, the remixed album version is what throttles the song into high gear, with a prophetic intro from T.I., and a quick-footed yet songful verse from Kid Cudi. This can be seen vividly on “A$AP Forever”, an explosive leap upward for Rocky. The man named after Rakim turns up to these sessions with tight flows and a cool charisma as infectious as ever, allowing him to be assertive without even raising his voice, much like his namesake. Happily, the spirit of Yams still courses through this record, while simultaneously allowing Rocky to make huge leaps in developing his head-spinning sound. This makes TESTING the first album that has no involvement of Yams, save for a few referential tributes, and a heartbreaking line that sends the album off: “Lose someone every release, it feels like the curse is in me, press is gone and I grief”.
Yams sits alongside his dad who passed months after the release of $AP, and his sister just weeks after dropping Cozy Tapes, Volume 2. The influence of Yams could never be understated, as founder of the A$AP Mob, and this post-release bereavement is an unfortunate curse that Rocky has been put under. But the most glaring absence going into this album is the executivity of A$AP Yams, who passed during the lead-up to At.$AP. However, TESTING represents something different completely, even breaking away from the punctuated titling and monochromatic artwork. From a cloud-rap mixtape that earnt praise well beyond his New York area and Houston, whose sound ironically he clung onto and re-energised, he’s been constantly stepping forward to the experimental lane of hip-hop rather than the dead-end cul-de-sac of throwaway brag-rap. From Harlem beginnings, Rocky has risen like his boxer namesake.
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