Don't Be Dumb Review

Five years of sessions and a stack of abandoned release dates usually produce a mess. This is not quite a mess. The sequencing carries it. Punk Rocky and Helicopter set a loud, scrappy opening, and then the record keeps veering: Brent Faiyaz on Stay Here 4 Life, Doechii on Robbery, Westside Gunn and Damon Albarn sharing a track, Jessica Pratt and will.i.am closing it out.

The production is the strongest part, as it usually is with him. Clams Casino, Hit-Boy, Greg Kurstin and Emile Haynie all contribute, and the palette runs from trap to something closer to psychedelic rock without the seams showing much.

The rapping is fine rather than remarkable, and after eight years and an assault trial that ended in acquittal in 2025, the appetite was for something larger than fine. Sixty five minutes with the bonus cuts is also more album than these songs can fill, and the middle third drifts. Critics were generous anyway: the Guardian called it his strongest since his debut, NME gave four stars, Pitchfork sat at 6.8. It opened at number one with 123,000 units and 35.4 million Spotify streams on the first day.