So, my rap game awards blog post from a few days ago got a pretty okay reception on here, despite it not being as fleshed out as I planned. I was hesitant to write too much because I wasn't sure if anyone was willing to read it but now it seems like there's a least a couple people on these forums willing to talk hip hop so let's try something new. I don't want to bite on Big Ghost's gimmick here but the idea is to review some rap records track by track and if people like it, I'll do some more. We'll start with probably the most anticipated rap album of 2013. It won't be officially released until January 15th but of course, it leaked as everything tends to do.

1. Long Live A$AP

This track (and its video) was released at the very end of last year and seems destined to be the album's third single. A$AP hasn't got much of anything new to say here but it serves as a great introduction for what's to come. He's pretty, he's purple sipping, he gives his shout outs to Houston and Memphis. The song really serves as a primer for Rocky's entire body of work and if you want to know what he's all about look no further. It helps that he says it all over an unreal beat produced by Jim Jonsin and Rico Love, which could possibly go down as the single best piece of work either one of them has ever produced. Rocky isn't reinventing the wheel or anything here but he knows his strengths and he plays directly into pretty much all of them here.

2. Goldie

Released way back in April, this is the album's lead single and goddamn, it deserves that distinction. A pure banger in large part to hip hop's hottest producer Hit-Boy, who you'll know from Jay-Z & Kanye West's "Niggas in Paris", "Clique" and "Cold" from Kanye's GOOD Music collab, Kendrick Lamar's "Backstreet Freestyle" and countless other gladiatorial beats over the past 12 months. We're only 2 songs into his debut album and A$AP is taking his victory lap right now. He's rocking the Margielas with no laces, his Ferrari is the latest model, he's drinking Cristal or Aces but doesn't matter which because he's chasing it down with a 40 ounce anyway. He already made it but he's gonna keep going anyway.

3. PMW (All I Really Need) (feat. ScHoolboy Q)

ScHoolboy calls himself A$AP-Q on his verse, which seems appropriate considering these two collaborate more than Rocky does with the A$AP Mob at this point. The two first got together on Rocky's "LiveLoveA$AP" mixtape for "Brand New Guy" and then again on Q's great "Habits & Contradictions" for "Hands on the Wheel", which just so happened to be the best track off the album. PMW (pussy, money, weed, if you haven't caught on yet) is pretty much exactly what you expect from the two. It isn't quite on the level of Hands on the Wheel and probably ranks third as far A$AP-Q duets go but that's not to say it's bad. It simply meets the expectations that these two have created for themselves over the last couple years and continues the album's incredibly strong start.

4. LVL

The reunions continue with Rocky hooking back up with his long time producing partner Clams Casino and delivering a track that would feel right at home on "LiveLoveA$AP." These two are a perfect mix and compliment each other in almost every way. Casino's spacey beats and Rocky's slow southern flow combined to create something both beautiful and raw at the same time. Thematically, A$AP isn't veering too far from what he knows but he does get some nice lines in there, including a little dig at Raider Klan, declares himself "Trill-Maluminati" and asks his haters to kneel before Lord Pretty Flacko before he starts to behead people.

5. Hell (feat. Santigold)

Clams Casino on back to back tracks here and unsurprisingly, he's 2 for 2. Rocky is joined by Santigold this time, who is still trying to prove that she's not just a poor M.I.A. imitation and she goes a great job here providing an awesome hook that really takes the track to the next level. Lyrically speaking, besides a nice shout out to Socrates, this is probably the weakest effort so far on the album but Santigold's vocals and Casino's production save it from being a dud.

6. Pain (feat. OverDoz)

The first track on the album that I'm likely the skip from here on out. I'll admit that I'm not at all familiar with OverDoz and this isn't really inspiring me to go check them out either. Not a bad song or anything but just kind of there compared the incredibly strong start.

7. Fuckin' Problems (feat. Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar)

And here's the radio song. Everyone knows you can't make a high profile rap album these days without a useless 2 Chainz appearance, who comes in for literally two lines on the hook. It's pretty clear that this song is just a vehicle to get some high profile names on the record and generate some buzz, which it has, I guess. As a song however, it's among the weakest that Rocky has ever produced. There is such a thing as coming off too strong. We get it, you like fucking bad bitches and you got a fucking problem. It's certainly not the first time a group of rappers have had this "problem" and it definitely won't be the last but they go about it in the absolute laziest way possible. It's an extra bummer because Rocky is good enough that he doesn't need to do this shit. If it gets some college girl listening to Z100 turned on to A$AP's music, I guess it's a success but for everyone else, this is trash.

8. Wild for the Night

This should be terrible. There are literally zero reasons why this song should be any good. A lot was made of Rocky getting together with Skrillex for this track prior to release, which was mostly people saying "holy shit, that sounds horrible." At least that was my reaction. But lo and behold, they pulled it off remarkably well. It not only works but it ends up being one of the strongest songs on the album. I'm sure this track is going to generate a lot of backlash simply because it's Skrillex and believe me, I want to hate it too but I just can't. Rocky's "Me and my nigga, Skrillex" line will never not be hilarious, though.

9. 1Train (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T.)

Six of the hottest rappers in the game (and Yelawolf) with Hit-Boy on the beat? Instant classic, right? Not so fast. The track is far from bad but at some point, it's just too much. Hit-Boy's production is good but it can't quite hold up for 6 minutes. With a couple less heads, this could have been great but as it stands, it's just a little too over-stuffed and a little too under-produced. If you want a great posse rap, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire's "The Last Huzzah" is still the song you're looking for.

10. Fashion Killa

Eh. Kind of just a boring track. I can't really be bothered to say all that much.

11. Phoenix

After a bit of a mid-album slump, Danger Mouse puts everything back in focus. Danger isn't a really a name that anyone has associated with hip hop since he collaborated with MF Doom years ago but he produces an absolutely gorgeous beat here and Rocky gets back to his bread and butter, delivering some of his best rhymes on the whole album. He talks about leaving Harlem behind and how, although a lot of rappers want to say that they have love for their hometown friends who they grew up, Rocky doesn't want to associate with a bunch of fake people who want to capitalize on his fame. It can be hard to leave behind your home because loyalty is such an important aspect of hip hop but A$AP has risen above the projects and is shining like a phoenix, brighter than ever.

12. Suddenly

Wow. On first listen, this track absolutely floored me. That's Rocky himself on the barely there but still incredibly soulful production to which he delivers some of the poignant rhymes of his career. A$AP is all on his past life in the hood and the harsh realities until near the end when, well...suddenly the beat and the rhymes amp up to represent Rocky's sudden rise to fame for a brief free bars before coming back down. It's a rare human look at A$AP that I'd love to see more of.

13. Jodye

The rest of these are technically bonus tracks so I'll check it short. Rocky gets on his Odd Future shit here in a SpaceGhostPurrp diss track without ever explicitly referring to him or Raider Klan. The beat implies a much more vicious lyrical murdering than this actual is but Rocky has said in the past that he doesn't really want to participate in any kind of blood feud with Purrp.

14. Ghetto Symphony (feat. Gunplay & A$AP Ferg)

I have no idea why this is a bonus track but this is awesome. Some absolutely unreal production and Rocky and Gunplay both tear it up. Gunplay is a rapper who we should hear a lot more from in the future so it really sucks that everything he does outside of the studio pegs him as a total fucking idiot. Between the swastika tattoo on his neck and the life in prison charge he's currently facing, it's almost too bad that he's as talented as he is. As for Ferg...uh...you'll get 'em next time, kid. But even despite that, this is definitely one of the hottest tracks on the entire record and it's a shame that it's buried in the bonus section.

15. Angels

Now, this sounds like a bonus track. Not bad, just kind of unremarkable and screams b-side.

A$AP Rocky has made a career out of defining expectations. When he signed a $3 million record deal with Sony before he even had a mixtape out, people said there was no way he could live up to the hype. Then he did with LiveLoveA$AP. When his debut studio album was mired with delays, people said it was doomed to fail. But then it didn't. LongLiveA$AP isn't a perfect album but it lives up to any expectations that I could have had. Don't be fooled, Rocky is making pop rap and he's not the east coast Kendrick Lamar but as long as he keeps putting out hits, people will remember the name A$AP.

FOUR HUNKADUNKS OUT OF FIVE

Stand-out tracks: Long Live A$AP, Goldie, Suddenly, Ghetto Symphony