A$AP Rocky‘s forthcoming fourth album Don’t Be Dumb was slated to arrive on Aug. 30, but in his new Billboard cover story that came out Thursday (Aug. 22), he revealed that he’s pushing the project to the fall.
“LEAKS & SAMPLE CLEARANCES ARE DISRUPTING THE ALBUM. ITS BEEN 6 YEARS & I WANNA MAKE THE BEST ALBUM EVER. IM SORRY FOR THE WAIT,” he wrote on X in response to NFR Podcast sharing Billboard‘s reporting about Rocky’s delayed album release.
The Harlem rapper (real name Rakim Mayers) told Billboard that Don’t Be Dumb will feature frequent collaborator and friend Tyler, The Creator and Morrissey and an all-star roster of producers, including Pharrell Williams, Mike Dean, Hitkidd, Madlib, Metro Boomin and The Alchemist. “I sat and I played the album for Tim Burton, and he was f—ing with it heavy,” he said, adding that the Beetlejuice director was “rocking his head” while listening to it. “He’s like, ‘Wow! I didn’t know you made that kind of music!’”
Don’t Be Dumb will arrive six years after Testing, which was released on May 25, 2018, via ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records. The 15-track project featured collaborations with Moby, T.I. and Kid Cudi (“A$AP Forever REMIX”), FKA twigs (“Fukk Sleep”), Skepta (“Praise The Lord (Da Shine)”), Kodak Black (“CALLDROPS”), Juicy J (“Gunz N Better”), French Montana (“Brotha Man”) and Frank Ocean (“Purity”). It reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.