Floor Seats - A$AP Ferg: EP Review
is a New York rapper and member of the A$AP Mob hip hop collective that rose to prominence in the early 2000's. Ferg separated himself from the rest of the non-Rocky members of the collective in 2013 with his debut studio album Trap Lord and the breakout single Shabba. Since then Ferg has released a handful of projects that have failed to reach the same critical peak including a universally maligned second studio record Always Strive And Prosper before dropping nearly half of this EP as singles in the lead up to its release.
Review By Lavender:
My general distaste for A$AP Ferg's music has been known to get me into hot water. Whether it was calling Trap Lord average or calling Always Strive And Prosper one of the worst rap albums of the decade I have not been shy about my feelings towards Ferg, and his fans have not been shy back. So after I gave his last record yet another mediocre review I declared that it may be the final Ferg project I was willing to give a chance, but morbid curiosity got the best of me and I gave Floor Seats a chance, and I wish I hadn't.
The album really hits you with its wildest punch first and I really REALLY would prefer if it didn't. The title track Floor Seats has an absolutely insane chorus that I cannot understand somebody in good mental health ever recording of putting on a record. I think the goal is to be wild or experimental or maybe even progressive in some way but jesus does it just seem like a horrible idea that should have never been heard by anyone stuck onto a song that is otherwise just very average.
While the EP doesn't feature anything as horrible as Floor Seats there are plenty of underwhelming moments here. Wigs is a track that is just way too goofy for me with all the silly sound effects in the instrumental and the insanely repetitive chorus, Asian Doll has a feature here that I'm not a huge fan of either and ultimately I'm just comfortable skipping the tune. Hummer Limo is a track that I was iffy on before Ferg even started singing but once he starts crooning over the song it goes off immediately.
When Ferg isn't writing songs that are actively not good he's are writing songs that are so generic they may as well be any random SoundCloud rappers trying to emulate him. Jet Lag is a computer generated trap song that is only given any life by Ferg's loud and commanding demeanor and a few hilariously absurd one liners. Warm contains some absolutely unmatched corniness and a surprisingly tolerable MadeinTYO feature that makes it bearable while on but lacks anything memorable. Ride is the final generic song here that I can find a way to enjoy, Ty Dolla $ign is fantastic on the hook as usual and there are some genuinely cute and charming moments in the instrumental that make some of the uninspiring flows a little bit more bearable.
Despite most of this EP not resonating with me there we're a few songs and a few good features that I enjoyed quite a bit. Butt Naked is a throttling banger with a killer feature from Rico Nasty and a much better hook than most of the tracks here, with Ferg bringing a similar energy the song is just an unequivocal banger from artists who know how to do it. The closing song Dreams, Fairytales, Fantasies actually surprised me by being a sweet R&B inspired love ballad that has a great sung feature from Brent Faiyaz. By far my favorite track here is Pups a great and hilarious single from Ferg and A$AP Rocky that proves just how much chemistry the two have together. The beat is a great bouncy trapism that allows them to trade off verses despite their different styles for yet another excellent song in their long running line of collaborations.
Floor Seats is yet another A$AP Ferg project that has far more misses than hits and seemingly like every time I sit down to engage in one of his projects I came away from it no more sure of why people are such big fans of his. I think the next time Ferg releases a full length studio record will be the last time I engage with his music properly unless I end up being really impressed by it. But as of now there are barely enough singles in Ferg's entire career to make a worthwhile EP, and this certainly isn't it. 4/10
