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A$AP Rocky performs on “SNL”
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Key Takeaways
- A$AP Rocky’s blessed his fans with a teaser for a dual music video from his new album, Don’t Be Dumb.
- He then took to “Saturday Night Live” to perform “PUNK ROCKY,” “DON’T BE DUMB” and “HELICOPTER” live.
- The episode marked Rocky’s return to live TV performances after nearly eight years without a new album.
A$AP Rocky spent the first weekend of his Don’t Be Dumb era back in a familiar arena: Studio 8H. On Saturday (Jan. 17), the Harlem rapper made his musical guest debut on “Saturday Night Live” during Finn Wolfhard’s hosting turn. Rocky opened with “PUNK ROCKY,” then returned for a second set that jumped from the project’s title track to “HELICOPTER.” He also leaned into the comedy side of the show, popping up in “Snackhomiez,” the recurring boys-podcast sketch, which saw Wolfhard join a crew of teen snack obsessives and Sabrina Carpenter slide in as a surprise guest.
Don’t Be Dumb landed independently on Friday (Jan. 16) and marked Rocky’s first studio album in nearly eight years. The project’s visual identity already played a central role in the campaign, including cover art crafted by filmmaker Tim Burton that spotlights multiple Rocky personas.
The past weekend also saw Rocky teasing a short trailer for a “WHISKEY/BLACK DEMARCO” music video, in which Burton is expected to star in. Set in a bar/lounge environment, the teaser showed Rocky’s crash-dummy character getting clocked with a bottle before his Rugahand persona vaulted over the counter to step in.
As far as the subject matter, “AIR FORCE (BLACK DEMARCO)” toggles between brash punchlines and a slowed-down chorus that gave collaborator Spencer Sutherland room to add a melodic assist. “WHISKEY (RELEASE ME),” on the other hand, leans into a hook courtesy of Damon Albarn and lets Westside Gunn color the margins with signature ad-libs, all as Rocky raps about late-night temptation and trendsetting.
“How could I resist? Wanna get high as we can get and that’s how we exist,” the Harlem star expresses on “WHISKEY.” “The deaf don’t play like they don’t hear the kid, read his lips / How to be a pimp? How to be legit? / And live to see this s**t, and die with what you pick It all depends, is she gon’ get freaky and share with all her friends?”
