Midsummer Again Roma Surrectum Ii Ost
| Testing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio anthology by ASAP Rocky | ||||
| Released | May 25, 2018 (2018-05-25) | |||
| Studio | Germano, New York City, New York | |||
| Genre |
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| Length | 52:xvi | |||
| Label |
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| Producer |
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| ASAP Rocky chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Testing | ||||
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Testing is the 3rd studio album past American rapper ASAP Rocky. It was released on May 25, 2018, by ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records. The anthology includes invitee appearances from Frank Ocean, Kid Cudi, Skepta, French Montana, Kodak Black, Dev Hynes and FKA Twigs, amongst others, and was produced primarily past Hector Delgado and ASAP Rocky himself, aslope a diversity of high-profile record producers.
Testing was supported past ii singles: "ASAP Forever" and "Praise the Lord (Da Polish)", alongside numerous promotional singles. The album received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number four on the U.s. Billboard 200, earning 75,000 album-equivalent units of which xiii,000 were pure sales, condign ASAP Rocky'southward third consecutive peak-five album on the chart.
Background [edit]
In September 2017, ASAP Rocky appear the release of a new album, originally scheduled for a belatedly 2017 release.[3] The previous month, ASAP Rocky released Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy as function of the rap commonage ASAP Mob.
In Jan 2018, the album'southward title was cryptically left under SoundCloud song descriptions, until being officially confirmed in May 2018.[iv] In an interview with GQ, Rocky stated: "My new album is really almost testing new sounds. People are scared to examination new sounds, so they become with what's current 'crusade it's the easy thing to do. The tiptop 100 songs sound a certain way. People cater more to that because it's a bigger demographic behind that, or it's a guaranteed demographic backside that. I prefer to experiment and have my crowd abound with me and to reach new crowds. I don't just rap—I actually make music. That's why information technology takes time. These sonics represent me."[five]
The album artwork was unveiled on May 21, 2018, while the tracklist was announced three days afterward.[6] [7]
Encompass artwork [edit]
The cover of Testing features a photo by Houston-based creative managing director Cary Fagan, in which 10 shadowy figures surround a bold typeface logo.[8]
Promotion [edit]
In January 2018, a series of not-anthology songs were released by ASAP Rocky onto SoundCloud, including "5ive Stars", "To a higher place" and "Money Numberless Freestyle".[9] [10] The song, "Bad Company" featuring BlocBoy JB, was released as a promotional single on March 28, 2018.[11]
The album's pb single, "ASAP Forever" featuring Moby, was released on April 5, 2018.[12] The song peaked at number 65 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[xiii] The album version of the unmarried includes guest appearances from Kid Cudi and T.I.
The anthology's 2d single, "Praise the Lord (Da Polish)" featuring Skepta, was released to rhythmic and urban contemporary radio on June 26, 2018.[fourteen] [15]
Critical reception [edit]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | six.iv/10[16] |
| Metacritic | 67/100[17] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [18] |
| The A.5. Gild | B–[xix] |
| Consequence | B+[xx] |
| Exclaim! | 7/10[21] |
| The Guardian | [22] |
| Highsnobiety | five.0/5[23] |
| HipHopDX | 2.9/5[24] |
| HotNewHipHop | 81%[25] |
| At present | iii/v[26] |
| Pitchfork | 6.7/10[27] |
Testing was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 67, based on eight reviews.[17] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it vi.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[16]
Bansky Gonzalez of Consequence gave a positive review, stating "It'due south a welcome add-on to a genre that has become so occupied with spacey, bare-bones operations and overly simplistic results".[xx] Dean Van Nguyen of The Guardian commented that Testing is "completely out of step with any mainstream rap album y'all're likely to hear this year", merely "is a spottier affair" where "too many tracks minimise his strengths".[22] Kassandra Guagliardi of Exclaim! stated that the anthology is "A shedding of the 29-year-former artist'due south old skin and a rebirth of something more profound and slightly more complicated", complimenting the anthology's experimental aesthetic and identity.[21] Andreas Hale of Billboard complimented the anthology'due south experimentation but believed that ASAP Rocky is "still style over substance and his efforts at experimentation don't always click like he wants them to".[1] Jake Boyer of Highsnobiety acclaimed Testing, labelling information technology "an absolute triumph. Information technology does not have the world-shattering impact of his genre-defining debut, nor does it have any one rails with as much immediacy as, say, a 'Fuckin' Problems', simply information technology is unequivocally his almost thoughtful, virtually ambitious, and most rewarding project to date", praising the album's production, experimentation, cohesion and invitee appearances.[23] Nina Hernandez of The A.V. Club said, "Though the finished project is as loose and incohesive as its title might suggest, there's a lot to similar nigh Testing".[nineteen]
In a mixed review, online hip hop publication HipHopDX wrote that "At that place is no new movement birthed; there is no paradigm shift about the occur; it's simply every bit the title states: a series of harmonic evaluations meant to gauge audience reaction. Instead of creating a new wave, ASAP Rocky has drowned himself in his own ambitions and lost his identity along the style".[24] Similarly, Stephen Kearse of Pitchfork believed there to exist flaws in the experimentation, writing: "Rocky is enamored with collision. His approach to songcraft on Testing is to mash sounds together and capture the friction. The results are frequently dismal."[27] Kevin Ritchie of At present believed that "Testing 'south title might propose experimentation, but it delivers more on tentativeness, with a smattering of solid songs mixed into aesthetically interesting only unresolved experiments", criticizing the lyricism and flows that "aren't equally ambitious as the production".[26] Fred Thomas besides provided a mixed review for AllMusic, stating that "While in some ways Testing is more musical than annihilation we've heard from ASAP Rocky before, it's likewise more confused, with ideas and musical shifts colliding at times to the betoken of randomness. The anthology title itself refers to testing new sounds and pushing in new directions in hopes of growth. Like any set of experiments, Testing offers some success, some failure, and some moments that can only be met with a blank stare. Though songs similar the gorgeous Frank Ocean collaboration 'Purity', or the darkly simmering 'Fukk Slumber' featuring FKA Twigs, take risks that button ASAP Rocky to new, heady territory, some of the experiments that made it onto Testing could accept been left bubbling over in the lab rather than weighing downwardly the residuum of the album".[18]
Year-end lists [edit]
Commercial performance [edit]
Testing debuted at number four on the United states Billboard 200 chart, earning 75,000 album-equivalent units with 13,000 copies in pure anthology sales, becoming ASAP Rocky'southward third sequent top-5 album on the nautical chart.[thirty] [31] In its second week, the album dropped to number 15 on the chart, with 26,000 album-equivalent units (1,000 in pure albums sales).[32] In its third week, the album dropped to number 22 on the chart.[33] In its fourth and 5th weeks on the Billboard 200, the album dropped to number 37 and 41, respectively.[34] [35] It left the top l on its 6th week, ending up at number 56, before dropping to number threescore during its seventh week on the charts.[36] [37] On October 16, 2019, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States.[38]
Track listing [edit]
| No. | Title | Author(south) | Producer(south) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Distorted Records" |
|
| two:20 |
| two. | "ASAP Forever" (Remix) (featuring Moby, T.I. and Kid Cudi) |
|
| 5:fifteen |
| 3. | "Tony Tone" |
|
| three:28 |
| 4. | "Fukk Sleep" (featuring FKA Twigs) |
|
| 3:12 |
| 5. | "Praise the Lord (Da Polish)" (featuring Skepta) |
| Skepta | iii:25 |
| 6. | "Calldrops" (featuring Kodak Black) |
|
| 2:42 |
| 7. | "Cadet Shots" |
| Kelvin Krash | 2:47 |
| 8. | "Gunz due north Butter" (featuring Juicy J) |
|
| three:33 |
| nine. | "Brotha Man" (featuring French Montana) |
|
| 3:36 |
| 10. | "OG Beeper" |
|
| 2:35 |
| eleven. | "Kids Turned Out Fine" |
|
| three:03 |
| 12. | "Hun43rd" |
| Hynes | 4:02 |
| 13. | "Changes" |
|
| 5:14 |
| 14. | "Black Tux, White Collar" |
|
| 2:42 |
| fifteen. | "Purity" (featuring Frank Ocean) |
|
| iv:22 |
| Total length: | 52:16 | |||
Notes
- ^[a] signifies an additional producer
- "ASAP Forever" features background vocals by Khloe Anna
- "Tony Tone" features background vocals by Puff Daddy and additional vocals past Akia Harvey
- "Fukk Sleep" features background vocals by Hector Delgado
- "Calldrops" features groundwork vocals by Acyde and Dean Blunt
- "Buck Shots" features groundwork vocals by Playboi Carti, Smooky MarGielaa and Kelvin Krash
- "Brotha Human being" features groundwork vocals by Frank Ocean and Snoop Dogg
- "OG Beeper" features background vocals by BlocBoy JB
- "Kids Turned Out Fine" features groundwork vocals past Mateo "Teo" Arias
- "Hun43rd" features background vocals past ASAP Mob
- "Black Tux, White Collar" features groundwork vocals by Mikky Ekko
Sample credits
- "ASAP Forever" contains a sample of "Porcelain", written by Richard Melville Hall, every bit performed by Moby.
- "Tony Tone" contains a sample of "Man Inside", written and performed past Roger Webb.
- "Fukk Sleep" contains a sample of "FYM", written by Albert Johnson, Gary Lucas, Matthew Samuels and Michael Tyler, every bit performed past Joyner Lucas.
- "Praise the Lord (Da Smooth)" contains a sample of "Midsummer Again – Roma Surrectum 2", written by Viktor Tärnholm.
- "Calldrops" contains a sample of "Morning Sun", written and performed by Dave Bixby; and "Coin & the Ability", written past Hayword Ivy, equally performed by DJ Squeeky.
- "Cadet Shots" contains a sample of "The Format", written by Anthony Cruz, every bit performed by AZ.
- "Gunz n Butter" contains a sample of "Street Type Niggaz", written and performed by Tommy Wright III; and "Still Ridin Clean", written by Patrick Houston, Jordan Houston and Paul Beauregard, as performed by Projection Pat.
- "Brotha Homo" contains a sample of "Intermission", written past Leon Michels, Toby Pazner and Jeffrey Silverman, as performed by Lee Fields.
- "OG Beeper" contains a sample of "Street Blazon Niggaz" and "Shoot to Impale", written and performed past Tommy Wright III; and "Withal Get My Dick Sucked", written past Hayword Ivy, as performed past DJ Squeeky.
- "Kids Turned Out Fine" samples "Don't Come up Dwelling Today" past Skilful Morning time.
- "Hun43rd" contains a sample of "Cradle to the Grave", written past Tupac Shakur, Tyruss Himes, Maurice Shakur, Diron Rivers and Walter Burns, every bit performed by Thug Life.
- "Changes" features a sample of International Players Anthem (I Cull You) by UGK featuring Outkast.
- "Purity" contains a sample of "I Gotta Find Peace of Heed", written and performed by Lauryn Hill.
Personnel [edit]
Credits adapted from ASAP Rocky's official Twitter account and Tidal.[7] [39]
Instrumentation
- Andrew VanWyngarden – keyboard (track 4)
- Devonté Hynes – bass (track 13)
- Michael Burman – guitar (track 13)
- Mikey Freedom Hart – guitar, keyboard (rail 13)
- Eric Alcock – guitar (track 15)
Technical
- Hector Delgado – recording, mixing (except rail 13)
- Sam Houselander – recording (tracks 2, 11)
- Alex Ridha – recording (rail half dozen)
- Nico Marzouka – recording (track 13)
- Marylebone – recording (track 15)
- Tom Elmhirst – mixing (track xiii)
- Billy Cumella – mixing assistance (tracks 1, 3, 5–7, ix, 11, 14, 15)
- Federico "C Sik" Lopez – mixing aid (tracks 1, 4, 8, 10, 12)
- Barry McCready – mixing assistance (rail 2)
- Dan Fyfe – mixing assistance (tracks 10, 12)
- Tatsuya Sato – mastering
Charts [edit]
Certifications [edit]
References [edit]
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- ^ "ASAP Rocky says new anthology Testing is "washed," shares artwork". Outcome. May 21, 2018. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testing_%28album%29