ASAP Rocky is driving fans crazy with the long wait for his new album Don't Be Dumb. Despite a couple of singles, announcements, press runs, and promises, the album seems no closer to landing on our doorstep. What's more is that recent reports have his die-hards losing even more hope, relegating the project to its mythical status once more after fans actually thought it would drop this year. According to Dro, @99Vinyl_ on Twitter, the Harlem rapper and his team began to send out refunds to people who pre-ordered the LP on vinyl, seemingly serving as a nail in the coffin that places it back in limbo.
Of course, fans reacted in all sorts of ways to this, whether that was joking about their desperation, scathingly criticizing this rollout, clowning folks for believing in Don't Be Dumb in the first place, or bringing up other narratives such as the rap beef with Drake as another jab. Take this with a grain of salt, though, as A$AP Rocky could definitely change this narrative by announcing it with a short wait time-span or just releasing it out of the blue.
As for why these vinyl pre-orders resulted in refunds, A$AP Rocky probably had to delay the album once more, which could be for a whole host of different reasons. Perhaps it's due to sample clearance issues, volatile and shifting label release schedules, waiting for other rollout elements like live performances and press opportunities to roll around... Who knows? Also, another big factor to consider is his alleged assault case over the shooting of A$AP Relli, which definitely made him pretty busy and understandably focused on that to some degree. But there's no telling at press time whether that impacted Don't Be Dumb, an album whose title ironically and sadly reflects what a lot of people are saying to his fans about believing in its release.
Meanwhile, for other fans, teasing an album and never following it up is a family tradition. A$AP Rocky's boo Rihanna is in the same boat with fans, and they most likely know this. Maybe everything would be water under the bridge if they definitively unveil both albums at the same time. But for all the theories we could spout out about them, we can do nothing else but wait and see what happens.
