If all goes as planned, A$AP Rocky may drop his long-awaited third album later this year. “A.S.A.P. It’s about to drop,” he teased this week. And if his verse on A$AP Twelvyy’s “Diamonds” is any indication, we may have this junior album by Christmas (“So next album, f—k around and make you wait until Christmas”). Even without details and a solid release date, the news itself is enough to draw up excitement for the fourth quarter. In addition, another level of excitement is the fact that it’s an album by A$AP Rocky, a rapper who, like David Bowie before him, continuously reinvents the wheel on each musical (and fashion) endeavor. Case in point: AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP.
On May 26, 2015, A$AP Rocky stretched the game out with his psychedelic opus, AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP. The fusion of the A$AP Mob aesthetic and influences gained in London gave Rocky a shining jewel in his discography. Hands down, the album was one of 2015’s best releases. And since he dropped A.L.L.A. to widespread acclaim, Rocky’s been visible, but still occasionally prompts a “Flacko where you been?”
So as we await the arrival of his third studio album, all as AWGE positions itself as one of music’s dominant collectives, we dug up everything A$AP Rocky’s done since — guest verses, tours, business moves, and studio collaborations — he last left us.
June 2015: Following the release of At.Long.Last.A$AP, A$AP Rocky bows atop the Billboard 200 with his second No. 1 album. The set moves 146,000 units in its first week. Shortly after the album release, the rapper stars in his first film “Dope,” which earns critical acclaim. In the week after “Dope” hit theaters, Rocky joins Selena Gomez for the song “Good For You,” a collaboration off the singer’s Revival album. By the end of the month, the rapper and Wiz Khalifa announced a joint tour for the UK.
July 2015: Aside from performing at the Wireless Festival, the month of July brings A$AP Rocky a shoutout from Susan Sarandon for her mention on “1Train” and an epic sing-along with Rod Stewart.
August 2015: Joining forces with Tyler, the Creator, Rocky announces the “Rocky and Tyler” tour. Together, the pair go on to release a slew of collaborations that draw up anticipation for a joint effort. Later that month, JAY-Z published a personal Tidal playlist featuring two Rocky cuts (“Peso,” “Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2”) and he joins French Montana for the remix to “Off the Rip.”
September 2015: Rocky partners with Guess once again for a brand new collection. Later that month, he links with retailer Virgin Mega for a limited-edition collaboration that consists of necklace chains.
November 2015: Days after being spotted in the studio with Kanye West and bringing out Lil B for his “Rocky and Tyler” trek, Rocky debuts “Yamborghini High” at the Clockenflap Fest in Hong Kong.
December 2015: On Pusha T’s King Push — Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude, Rocky appears on the Kanye West-featured track “M.F.T.R.”
January 2016: A$AP Mob teams up for “Yamborghini High,” a tribute to late friend A$AP Yams. Days after the aforementioned song’s premiere, the Mob perform at the first annual Yams Day Concert in New York City featuring Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, Flatbush Zombies, RetcH, Da$H, Joey Fatts, Lil Uzi Vert, and Madeintyo.
February 2016: In addition to providing the voice for Marvel superhero Falcon in the “Marvel Avengers Academy” game, Rocky joins A$AP Twelvyy for “Lords Never Worry” and is announced to perform at the first-ever Panorama music festival in New York City.
March 2016: Over Kanye West’s “Freestyle 4” instrumental, Rocky and Tyler, the Creator snap with a remix. Later that month, the rapper announces “Wavy Wednesdays,” a series in that spawns new music every hump day of the week. Songs released during this month are “I Don’t Care,” “Trap Anthem,”, “Phantogram,” “Goldie Mack,”, and “Presidents.”
April 2016: In the early part of April, A$AP Rocky releases an Off-White collaboration with his VLONE co-partner A$AP Bari. By month’s end, the rapper performs at Coachella, where he brings out Kanye West, Tyler, Miguel, and A$AP Ferg.
June 2016: The rapper becomes the face of Dior Homme’s winter 2016-17 collection.
August 2016: Joins French Montana for the MC4 collaboration “Said N Done.
September 2016: In the fall, A$AP Mob come alive. Besides being spotted in the studio with Jim Jonsin and Lenny Kravitz, Rocky connects with Mura Masa for the remix to “Love$ick,” and later inks a deal with MTV as creative director for the new “creative incubator” MTV Labs.
October 2016: Rocky gets added to the Business of Fashion 500 list, which is billed as the “definitive professional index for people shaping the global fashion industry.” Not long after the news, he joins Alicia Keys for the emotional record “Blended Babies” and releases Cozy Tapes Vol. 1: Friends with his A$AP Mob clique.
November 2016: Together with A$AP Nast, Rocky hops on the remix to Madeintyo’s “I Want.”
December 2016: Following a viral list that categorized the rapper as “overrated,” Rocky takes to Twitter to not only question its credibility but also announce that he’s soon going to quiet that talk. Not long after, he teases new music via a 40-seconds clip with the caption “TESTING.”
January 2017: For the second annual edition of Yams Day, Rocky and the A$AP Mob host performances by Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, The Weeknd, French Montana, Tyler, the Creator, Danny Brown, Kodak Black, and more.
February 2017: Rocky partners with Guess once again connect for a spring capsule collection.
March 2017: Frank Ocean surprises fans with a remix to his record “Chanel” featuring the A$AP Mob rapper.
April 2017: Following up his surprise Ocean collaboration, Rocky and A$AP Ferg join forces for “Wrong,” a song that begins the buzz for a sequel to Cozy Tapes Vol. 1.
May 2017: In addition to performing at the 2017 Rolling Loud festival, Rocky drops the much-anticipated single “RAF,” which features Quavo, Lil Uzi Vert and Frank Ocean. In that same month, he appears on the revamped version of Mary J. Blige’s “Love Yourself.”
July 2017: In the weeks after dropping videos for “Wrong” with A$AP Ferg and appearing in the video for “Who Dat Boy” featuring Tyler, the Creator, Rocky signs on with Under Armor to be the face of the brand’s lifestyle line. Later that month, he goes overtime, joining A$AP Twelvyy for the rapper’s track “Diamond,” Lana Del Rey for “Groupie Love,”, The Weeknd for a remix to “Reminder,” and A$AP Ferg on the “East Coast” remix. He also supplies music videos for the songs “RAF” and “Feels So Good.”
August 2017: A$AP Mob releases Cozy Tapes, Vol. 2: Too Cozy.
And now we wait.