A$AP Rocky’s first mixtape “LIVE.LOVE.A$AP” was re-released on Oct. 29, 2021, on mainstream platforms in honor of its 10 year anniversary on Oct. 31, 2011.

Rocky hasn’t released an album since “Testing” in May 2018, so when I saw he released an album I was somewhat intrigued. But other than the outro track “Sandman,” nothing is new with the album.

For a decade, Rocky’s mixtape hasn’t been available on any mainstream platforms. Its re-release gives new-age Rocky listeners the chance to listen to, in my opinion, the worst of his albums.

The 49-minute tape starts with “Palace,” a slow rap featuring a subtle beat and background choir typical of the 2000s east coast rap style. Halfway through the track, there’s a massive tone change; the verses get faster and faster, thus preparing listeners for the album. Usually, after the halfway mark of an intro, you get a good indication of an albums’ rap style, but that isn’t the case.

“Palace” is followed by “Peso,” “Bass” and “Wassup”; three songs with spacey melodies and slow, mellow verses. The lack of lyrical worth and any sort of catchy verse makes these three songs arguably the worst of the track.

Rocky changes tone with “Brand New Guy” featuring ScHoolboy Q, “Purple Swag,” “Get Lit” featuring Fat Tony, “Trilla” featuring A$AP Nast, and A$AP Twelvyy, and “Keep it G” featuring Chace Infinite and Space Ghost Purrp. These tracks feature are relatively upbeat and include horrible deep-voiced verses created by a voice changer.

Rocky then makes his final tone change in “Houston Old Head,” “Acid Drip,” “Leaf” featuring Main Attrakionz, “Roll one up” and “Demons”. Other than “Houston Old Head,” these tracks were horrible. Usually, I’m a fan of the nostalgic tone used in tracks, but it has to be grouped with lyrics that have worth. 

Songs should have a story, they should have meaning; Rocky chose to flaunt his rap skills with a series of verses bragging about his possession of guns, drugs and cars. As well as his “triumphs” and illegal activities that I highly doubt he’s performed.

The album concludes with “Sandman,” a track not originally included in the 2011 release of the album. The only thing the song effectively does is seem out of place. You can blatantly tell that the song is new due to the audio quality, which doesn’t fit the tape’s previous nostalgic toned tracks. The outro of an album should end a tape with a bang, and this track just didn’t do that.

Overall, I was incredibly disappointed. As a frequent listener to melodic, nostalgic Rocky songs such as “Sundress,” “Everyday,” “L$D” and “F**kin’ Problems,” which feature meaningful and catchy lyrics, I expected the same from his first mixtape. I would give the album a 3/10.