Album Review: A$AP Ferg-Always Strive and Prosper

The man that was once known as the "Trap Lord" appears to be in the middle of an identity crisis. After releasing one of the finest efforts the genre has ever seen with 2013's Trap Lord, Ferg went to great lengths to deviate from his established trap mold on his wildly uneven and often contrived 2014 mixtape Ferg Forever. The jarring tonal shifts and bizarre forays into more mellow, introspective material that dragged down the quality of Ferg Forever have somehow managed to get significantly worse on his second LP Always Strive and Prosper.

Ferg's willingness to experiment with pop, conscious and electronic-influenced hip-hop is undeniably ambitious, but when all of those genres are executed this poorly, that ambition ends up being meaningless. Everything from the overwhelmingly cheesy inspirational anthem "Strive" to the "sensitive" love song "I Love You" to the five-minute ode to his late grandmother cleverly titled "Grandma" is haphazardly put together and completely disingenuous. There's not a moment on any of these tracks where Ferg seems enthused by or actually believes anything of the words coming out of his mouth. The confident, in-your-face MC that ruled a vast majority of Trap Lord is nowhere to be found as he stumbles through his verses with a hesitant delivery and no real personality on display. This entire record feels like a blatant attempt to cash in on the biggest current trends in hip-hop (Drake and J. Cole's introspective, catchy take on pop rap, Kendrick Lamar's dense storytelling, Die Antwoord's hip house style) while sacrificing the heart, well-structured songwriting and genuineness that makes the music of the artists Ferg is trying so desperately to replicate here work. 

The only time Ferg sounds natural on Always Strive and Prosper is when he goes back to his trap roots. Singles "New Level" and "Let It Bang" gave me hope that Always Strive and Prosper would mark a return to form for Ferg after the extremely inconsistent Ferg Forever. On this duo of fiery bangers, Ferg lets the wit, grit and charisma he displayed in droves on Trap Lord loose in a major way. It's abundantly clear while listening to these tracks that this is Ferg exposing his true self and having a great time on the mic. "New Level" and "Let It Bang" are textbook examples of an artist that's locked in and on the top of their game. Unfortunately, these moments of triumph are too few and far between to make up for the rest of the album's uneven and often head-scratching nature. Ferg has ample talent and an excellent ear for beats, but until he stops his current obsession with an inorganic experimentation and returns to his trap roots, his music won't be listenable.

2/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.New Level (feat. Future)
2.Let it Bang (feat. ScHoolboy Q)
3.Rebirth