A$AP Rocky’s comeback is now officially a video game. On Monday (Jan. 12), four days ahead of Don’t Be Dumb, he released “Helicopter$” with a throwback, PlayStation-style video in which a cartoon Rocky hijacks a helicopter, leads a rooftop riot and gets chased by swarms of SWAT teams.
Pitchfork says Rocky wrote and produced the song with Kelvin Krash, with co-production from Soufien 3000, and directed the video alongside Dan Streit. The clip mixes motion-captured animation of Rocky and his crew with the “D.B.D.” helicopter he used as a prop in his 2025 Lollapalooza set. Rolling Stone noted that it nods to Grand Theft Auto, with saturated colors and satirical set pieces, and that Rocky promoted it with a PlayStation-case cover and a pointed caption: “THIS VIDEO IS NOT Ai GENERATED!” It ends badly for the star: per Billboard, he falls from the chopper on a last-ditch escape.
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It’s the second video in a week. On Jan. 5, he released “Punk Rocky,” the album’s lead single, with a surreal video that features Winona Ryder, Thundercat and Danny Elfman, per Rolling Stone. ESPN has since taken both songs into its college football coverage, using “Punk Rocky” in a semifinal spot and “Helicopter$” as the official soundtrack for the College Football Playoff National Championship, Billboard reported.
The rollout has been expansive. Rolling Stone said Tim Burton designed parts of the album’s artwork and a film meant to go with it, Elfman scored many of the tracks, and 130,000 physical vinyl copies had already been sold, according to a press release. It is Rocky’s first album since 2018’s Testing, and he joined the 2026 Governors Ball lineup the same week.
He is aware of the stakes. “It’s odd because as I get older, I’m more conscious about how I view myself,” he told Variety, as quoted by Rolling Stone. “Describing my life sounds very braggadocious, and I want to figure out how to say it to where it feels more humble, relatable, and sincere.”
The album arrives Friday (Jan. 16), and Rocky would make his Saturday Night Live musical debut the next night. The run would stretch well past the album: by the fall, AWGE’s Paris runway show sat inside the arena he headlined hours later.
Don’t Be DumbA$AP RockyListen on Apple Music
Added to the High Grailed archive on October 12, 2026.
