At. Long. Last. ASAP

Background

On March 16, 2014, the announcements were made for the release of their instrumental mixtape, titled Beauty and the Beast: Slowed Down Sessions (Chapter 1), and the ASAP Mob's collaborative album, titled L.O.R.D. ASAP Rocky revealed that he has already began working on his second album. On September 26, 2014, ASAP Mob's founder ASAP Yams announced on his Tumblr account that the group's collective's album L.O.R.D. has been scrapped, and then made Rocky's second album as the next release. On October 2, 2014, Rocky announced that he has signed a contract for worldwide representation with William Morris Endeavor.

On January 18, 2015, ASAP Rocky's mentor and business partner ASAP Yams died at the age of 26, which greatly affected the album's development. After the ASAP Yams' death, Rocky revealed that his second album would be executive produced by himself and Yams, alongside the American rapper Juicy J and record producer Danger Mouse. Rocky also revealed that he has been working on the album with the artists such as FKA Twigs and Lykke Li, as well as production on the album with Clams Casino.

Title

In 2015, after he performed at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival. ASAP Rocky revealed to Billboard, that the title to his second album will be A.L.L.A.. On March 26, 2015, in an interview with GQ, Rocky deciphered the album's title: "I'm claiming ownership of my legacy. Look at it: At.Long.Last.A$AP. A-L-L-A. Like slang for 'Allah.' It's the return of the god MC. I'm named after Rakim, and I'm finally facing what it means: I was born to do this shit. And I hope I get to do it for a very long time."

Composition

Following the release of the song "M's" (stylized "M'$"), Rocky revealed that he had also worked with fellow New York rapper Mos Def, as well as up-and-coming British musician Joe Fox (who is prominently featured on many tracks on the album). Hector Delgado and Rocky say that they met Joe Fox while roaming the streets of London, England: "I met the man. He was a street performer. [I met him in] London. I was at Dean’s Studio until 4 a.m. I came outside and we waiting for our Uber to go to Starbucks, tired. This kid comes with his guitar and stuff. He was out there playing and stuff and he comes,” Rocky explained of his first encounter with Fox. “It was about 4 a.m. so there’s nobody in the streets. He tried to give me a CD and shit. I was like, ‘I’m not about to listen to that, man. Play something. You got your guitar.’ He played it and I was just like, ‘Stop man. Come on let’s go.’ That’s where it started."

Release and promotion

On October 2, 2014, ASAP Yams and ASAP Rocky posted links to their website FlackoJodyeSeason.com, and then announced that Rocky's new single would be releasing at midnight. On October 3, Rocky released the album's promotional single, "Multiply" featuring Memphis-based rapper Juicy J. The song was accompanying by the music video (directed by ASAP Rocky and Shomi Patwary), which was officially released at midnight on the website, which had previously displayed a countdown timer. Upon the release, Rocky teased the release of his second studio album, which gave no further details.

On April 8, 2015, the song, titled "M'$" (pronounced as "M's"), debuted during Rocky's interview with the Red Bull Music Academy and it was released two days later on the iTunes Store. However, Rocky denounced the song as an official single from the album. The album version includes a re-worked version of the track, replacing Rocky's second verse, with a guest verse from a New Orleans-based rapper Lil Wayne. On May 7, Rocky announced that the release date for the album is on June 2, 2015. On May 9, Rocky unveiled the album's cover art on his instagram page, with the caption "AT LONG LAST...." On the same day, he also released the album's alternative artwork.

On May 25, 2015, the album was leaked online, approximately one week before its expected release. Rocky later tweeted to announce that the album had to be released at midnight, advancing the date to a week early. The album was released to digital retailers on May 26, 2015, by A$AP Worldwide, Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records. On August 30, Rocky performed "M'$" and "LSD" at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.

Singles

On January 7, 2015, ASAP Rocky released the album's lead single, titled "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 (LPFJ2)". The song was produced by the duo Nez & Rio. The music video, which was directed by Rocky, was released on February 11, 2015.

On May 8, 2015, Rocky released the album's second single, titled "Everyday". The track features guest vocals from a musician Rod Stewart, an American R&B recording artist Miguel and Mark Ronson, who also produced this track, alongside Emile Haynie.

On May 19, 2015, Rocky released a music video for this song, called "LSD" (stylized "L$D", which stands for Love, $ex, Dream). The song was produced by Hector Delgado, Jim Jonsin and Finatik N Zac. The music video was directed by Dexter Navy. "L$D" was officially released as the album's third single on May 21, via digital distribution.

Critical reception

At. Long. Last. ASAP received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 33 reviews. In The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick called it a "big, bold, madly ambitious album" on which Rocky "made a frequently dazzling spectacle, another reminder that hip hop is currently setting the bar very high indeed". Jon Caramanica of The New York Times said the rapper "doesn't absorb and repurpose his guests’ styles. He's fully formed, a rapper who understands his talent in relation to that of his peers and that of his influences, unafraid of showing you his blueprint." Jon Dolan from Rolling Stone credited the producers for sustaining the album's "expensive vibe" with "a sound that's at once tough and transporting — from the gospel-steeped 'Holy Ghost' to the interplanetary ass-shaker 'Electric Body' to the Rod Stewart-sampling soul fantasia 'Everyday' (featuring Miguel). Even at his trippiest, Rocky makes sure things never swirl off in a haze of incense and peppermints, with steely lyrics that often focus on inescapable truths."

Rebecca Haithcoat was less impressed in Spin, highlighting the upbeat production of "L$D", "Excuse Me", and "Westside Highway", but finding the rest of the record often "despondent". Mojo reviewer Andy Cowan gave it a lukewarm assessment, writing that while "there are few lyrical miracles in these scattershot songs obsessed with sex, drugs and shopping, in this intuitive stylist's mouth the words themselves are often beside the point."

Commercial performance

At. Long. Last. ASAP debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 146,000 album-equivalent units in the United States, 116,000 coming from pure sales. In conclusion to this, it also gave Rocky his second consecutive number one album on the charts to date. In Canada, the album debuted at number one, with 11,000 copies sold. The album spent two more weeks in the top ten of the Billboard 200. As of July 2015, the album has sold 215,000 copies in the United States. It has sold 60,662 copies in the United Kingdom as of June 2015. In addition, At. Long. Last. ASAP also spent four weeks at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums from June 13–July 4, before singer Leon Bridges' debut album, Coming Home, dethroned the album's run at the top slot. Also, as the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart's distillation, A.L.L.A. stayed at the top slot on the Rap Albums chart for a total of five nonconsecutive weeks (between June 13–July 11), before being dethroned by fellow rapper Meek Mill's second studio album, Dreams Worth More Than Money, which also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, giving Meek Mill his first number one album to date as well. As of March 2016, the album has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for achieving over 500,000 album-equivalent units.

Track notes

Personnel

Credits are adapted from AllMusic.