Frank Ocean lands gracefully on Testing before the curtains get raised. A$AP Rocky’s willingness to separate from the pastiches of current day hip hop is highly commendable. “Purity” on a gentler slope, caps a ride through busy weather. While Rocky has been all kinds of busy in the lead up to this effort, it’s slightly ironic that we’ve chosen to highlight the last cut on the record, but not for nothing. Frank Ocean’s rarefied presence proves that quality doesn’t breed out of nothing. If A$AP Rocky had but one strength, it’s his ear for curation. Before his rap skills were as polished as they are now, the production value stood firm, and his recruitment process, as always helps him to create a universalized maxim of ideas.
“Purity” like other Rocky records plays with EQ, giving it a distinctly vintage feel. The guitar tabs are equally nostalgic. They come into place right before Frank Ocean lets us in on his daring and intuitive world. Ocean uses inanimate history to describe his mental state, and by the time he’s done his tirade, A$AP Rocky feels the impetus to do the same, as if their spitting image on “Purity” was intentional.
