After nearly eight years between albums, simply getting Don’t Be Dumb out wasn't the finish line A$AP Rocky had in mind. The Harlem rapper says he approached the project with a specific career milestone still missing from his résumé and deliberately made the album hoping to finally take home a Grammy. “I think it would solidify everything that I worked hard for,” Rocky told Billboard. “I worked so hard on this, and I intentionally wanted to win one.”
The ambition comes after a year that already gave Rocky plenty of other measures of success. Don’t Be Dumb debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in January. It gave him his first chart-topping album in more than a decade. He also returned to the road for his first major tour in seven years, something Rocky sees as its own proof that the lengthy gap between projects didn't diminish his audience.
“This year my focus was really about the music,” he said. “Sixty dates sold out. It’s people who won Grammys that can’t even sell out arenas. These ideas, we’re giving people performance art that has never been seen.”
Rocky described his current live show as something beyond a standard Rap concert, telling Billboard that he views it as “performance art in a Hip Hop formation.” That approach matches how he built Don’t Be Dumb, bringing Tim Burton into the project’s visual world and working with Danny Elfman while extending the album through elaborate videos and alter egos.
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A$AP Rocky Is Still Chasing His First Grammy
Despite more than a decade as one of Rap’s most recognizable artists, Rocky has yet to win a Grammy. His previous nominations include Best Rap Song for “F***in’ Problems” in 2014 and Best Music Video for “L$D” two years later. “Tailor Swif” brought him back to the Best Music Video category in 2025. Still, he left without a trophy again.
That history helps explain why Don’t Be Dumb is being aggressively entered for 2027. According to Billboard, the album was submitted for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album, along with several production and packaging categories. “PUNK ROCKY” is being pushed for Record of the Year. Meanwhile, “STAY HERE 4 LIFE” with Brent Faiyaz was entered for Song of the Year.
Rocky doesn't sound interested in pretending the trophy would be meaningless after everything else he's accomplished. “It would be an honor,” he said. “I’m ready, and I think I should win these awards and solidify to kind of go on to the next chapter and sh*t like that.”
First-round Grammy voting runs through Oct. 22, with nominations arriving Nov. 16. Rocky has more music coming before voters finish making their decisions, with “Mushroom Clouds” set for release tomorrow (Oct. 16) as he begins moving toward Don’t Be Dumb - Disc 2.
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