A$AP Rocky

Hot on the heels of mega-buzz generating singles "Purple Swag" and "Peso," rap's newest phenom and Harlem's native son, ASAP Rocky releases his highly anticipated mixtape, LiveLoveA$AP, which is a fresh, energetic smorgasbord of Houston-lean, leftfield spacey beats and young street swag all wrapped up nicely in a hipster rap package. He's not what'd you expect to hear coming out of the home of Dipset, but with his strong mic presence and laidback drawl, combined with the next level beats served up by New Jersey bedroom producer extraordinaire Clams Casino, ASAP Rocky and his growing ASAP movement are the culmination of the new rap landscape, which liberally borrows from other genres of music and fashion, and where racial barriers are nonexistent. Whether zoning out on the euphoric haze of "Leaf," featuring Main Attrakionz, or puffing his chest out on anthemic album opener "Palace," a mash of 808s, a choir and a chopped and screwed vocal sample, ASAP Rocky shows why RCA saw fit to front the kid three million to get rolling. Welcome to the present/future of rap.