Testing was supported by two singles: "ASAP Forever" and "Praise the Lord (Da Shine)", alongside numerous promotional singles. The album received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, earning 75,000 album-equivalent units of which 13,000 were pure sales, becoming ASAP Rocky's third consecutive top-five album on the chart.
Background
In September 2017, ASAP Rocky announced the release of a new album, originally scheduled for a late 2017 release.[3] The previous month, ASAP Rocky released Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy as part of the rap collective ASAP Mob.
In January 2018, the album's title was cryptically left under SoundCloud song descriptions, until being officially confirmed in May 2018.[4] In an interview with GQ, Rocky stated: "My new album is really about testing new sounds. People are scared to test new sounds, so they go with what's current 'cause it's the easy thing to do. The top 100 songs sound a certain way. People cater more to that because it's a bigger demographic behind that, or it's a guaranteed demographic behind that. I prefer to experiment and have my crowd grow with me and to reach new crowds. I don't just rap—I actually make music. That's why it takes time. These sonics represent me."[5]
The album artwork was unveiled on May 21, 2018, while the tracklist was announced three days later.[6][7]
Cover artwork
The cover of Testing features a photo by Houston-based creative director Cary Fagan, in which 10 shadowy figures surround a bold typeface logo.[8]
Promotion
In January 2018, a series of non-album songs were released by ASAP Rocky onto SoundCloud, including "5ive Stars", "Above" and "Money Bags Freestyle".[9][10] The song, "Bad Company" featuring BlocBoy JB, was released as a promotional single on March 28, 2018.[11]
The album's lead single, "ASAP Forever" featuring Moby, was released on April 5, 2018.[12] The song peaked at number 65 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[13] The album version of the single includes guest appearances from Kid Cudi and T.I.
Testing was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 67, based on eight reviews.[17] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.4 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[16]
Bansky Gonzalez of Consequence gave a positive review, stating "It's a welcome addition to a genre that has become so occupied with spacey, bare-bones operations and overly simplistic results".[20] Dean Van Nguyen of The Guardian commented that Testing is "completely out of step with any mainstream rap album you're likely to hear this year", but "is a spottier affair" where "too many tracks minimise his strengths".[22] Kassandra Guagliardi of Exclaim! stated that the album is "A shedding of the 29-year-old artist's old skin and a rebirth of something more profound and slightly more complicated", complimenting the album's experimental aesthetic and identity.[21] Andreas Hale of Billboard complimented the album's experimentation but believed that ASAP Rocky is "still style over substance and his efforts at experimentation don't always click like he wants them to".[1] Jake Boyer of Highsnobiety acclaimed Testing, labelling it "an absolute triumph. It does not have the earth-shattering impact of his genre-defining debut, nor does it have any one track with as much immediacy as, say, a 'Fuckin' Problems', but it is unequivocally his most thoughtful, most ambitious, and most rewarding project to date", praising the album's production, experimentation, cohesion and guest appearances.[23] Nina Hernandez of The A.V. Club said, "Though the finished project is as loose and incohesive as its title might suggest, there's a lot to like about Testing".[19]
In a mixed review, online hip hop publication HipHopDX wrote that "There is no new movement birthed; there is no paradigm shift about the occur; it's simply as the title states: a series of harmonic evaluations meant to gauge audience reaction. Instead of creating a new wave, ASAP Rocky has drowned himself in his own ambitions and lost his identity along the way".[24] Similarly, Stephen Kearse of Pitchfork believed there to be flaws in the experimentation, writing: "Rocky is enamored with collision. His approach to songcraft on Testing is to mash sounds together and capture the friction. The results are often dismal."[27] Kevin Ritchie of Now believed that "Testing's title might suggest experimentation, but it delivers more on tentativeness, with a smattering of solid songs mixed into aesthetically interesting but unresolved experiments", criticizing the lyricism and flows that "aren't as ambitious as the production".[26] Fred Thomas also provided a mixed review for AllMusic, stating that "While in some ways Testing is more musical than anything we've heard from ASAP Rocky before, it's also more confused, with ideas and musical shifts colliding at times to the point of randomness. The album title itself refers to testing new sounds and pushing in new directions in hopes of growth. Like any set of experiments, Testing offers some success, some failure, and some moments that can only be met with a blank stare. Though songs like the gorgeous Frank Ocean collaboration 'Purity', or the darkly simmering 'Fukk Sleep' featuring FKA Twigs, take risks that push ASAP Rocky to new, exciting territory, some of the experiments that made it onto Testing could have been left bubbling over in the lab rather than weighing down the rest of the album".[18]
Testing debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 75,000 album-equivalent units with 13,000 copies in pure album sales, becoming ASAP Rocky's third consecutive top-five album on the chart.[30][31] In its second week, the album dropped to number 15 on the chart, with 26,000 album-equivalent units (1,000 in pure albums sales).[32] In its third week, the album dropped to number 22 on the chart.[33] In its fourth and fifth weeks on the Billboard 200, the album dropped to number 37 and 41, respectively.[34][35] It left the top 50 on its sixth week, ending up at number 56, before dropping to number 60 during its seventh week on the charts.[36][37] On October 16, 2019, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 units in the United States.[38]
"Praise the Lord (Da Shine)" contains a sample of "Midsummer Again – Roma Surrectum II", written by Viktor Tärnholm.
"Calldrops" contains a sample of "Morning Sun", written and performed by Dave Bixby; and "Money & the Power", written by Hayword Ivy, as performed by DJ Squeeky.
"Buck Shots" contains a sample of "The Format", written by Anthony Cruz, as performed by AZ.
"Gunz n Butter" contains a sample of "Street Type Niggaz", written and performed by Tommy Wright III; and "Still Ridin Clean", written by Patrick Houston, Jordan Houston and Paul Beauregard, as performed by Project Pat.
"Brotha Man" contains a sample of "Intermission", written by Leon Michels, Toby Pazner and Jeffrey Silverman, as performed by Lee Fields.
"OG Beeper" contains a sample of "Street Type Niggaz" and "Shoot to Kill", written and performed by Tommy Wright III; and "Still Get My Dick Sucked", written by Hayword Ivy, as performed by DJ Squeeky.
"Kids Turned Out Fine" samples "Don't Come Home Today" by Good Morning.
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 23.Týden 2018 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
