A$AP Rocky f/ ASAP Nast and ASAP Twelvy: "Trilla"

ASAP Rocky epitomizes the potential star, his blankly engaging persona reminding one of Tha Block Is Hot (1999)-era Lil Wayne, all budding style and swagger. At this point a mouthpiece for the narcotic haze of Clams Casino, Main Attrakionz (both of whom he’s worked with), and their ilk, Rocky identifies location (Harlem), allegiance (Houstonian liquids and flow), and doesn’t stray too far from either. He succeeds via suggestion, never letting a showy line distract from his delivery—his delivery: nimble and laconic—inviting the listener to wonder why such a simple rapper is the right person at the right time, and why, more importantly, his appeal is so hard to deny.

As usual, the question is the answer. There’s no cult, no Huntsville tourism, no Odd Future idiocy to latch onto. Want to be huge? Look interesting (here: braids); be just good enough to make everyone believe you can be great; pick beats hot enough to make everyone think you’re relevant. Hot, subconscious choruses and a confident flow are what follows, and while Rocky isn’t quite radio-ready yet, “Trilla” insinuates both tantalizingly. The chopped “one, two, buckle my-” sample is like a subliminal “six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch,” and the reverb of the guitar hook is crisp enough to make Bradford Cox’s mouth water, both evidence of producer Beautiful Lou’s impressive instincts.

Rocky’s cohorts get in the flashiest lines—“God bless America / My flow is scarier / Style wild like my nigga Common after Erykah,” says Nast—but it’s his self-actualized, unwavering drawl that centers the song. “I’m a weirdo / But I’m real, though,” Rocky says, and the way he does, in a deeply serious, almost smiling shrug, should hopefully preclude any questions about his career’s trajectory to the careful listener.