News

A$AP Rocky recruits Winona Ryder for dreamlike “Punk Rocky” visual

image

The single serves as a preview of his upcoming Tim Burton assisted album Don’t Be Dumb, out Jan. 16.

A$AP Rocky is inviting listeners into a shadowy and surreal new universe. On Monday, the rapper unveiled a wild and disorienting video for his latest single “Punk Rocky,” which features appearances from Winona Ryder, Thundercat, and Danny Elfman.

The clip begins with Ryder stretched out on a plastic lounge chair, calm and unbothered, while her imposing partner storms around nearby, shouting into his phone. Moments later, Rocky steps out of a garage with hair rollers still in place, dives into a mosh pit, and takes a punch squarely to the face. Police eventually arrive, detaining Rocky and his crew and shoving them into a patrol car as the camera lingers on his swollen eye, which appears to speak.

“I wanna fall in love, don’t want no broken heart/Don’t wanna grow apart,” Rocky chants on the hook, his eyelids fluttering like lips in a visual trick that adds to the clip’s uneasy tone.

Elsewhere in the video, Ryder approaches Rocky and casually hands him a plate of cookies. When her partner spots the two together, he completely snaps. Rocky and his entourage are quickly hauled off to a police station, where mugshots are taken and the rapper delivers lines from behind bars while tossing cash toward an elderly attorney.

The video closes with Rocky sprinting through city streets and firing a gun into the air, before cutting back to him once again confined in the back of a squad car, violently crashing through the rear window.

“You’re punch drunk in love, left me with a blackened eye/She don’t like those rapper guys, take me back,” Rocky spits in the outro. “This punch drunk in love (Love), left me with a blackened eye/Right now, I’d like to apologize, take me back.”

The clip is steeped in Tim Burton style, from its dreamlike visuals to the presence of Elfman and Ryder, both longtime Burton collaborators on films like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands. The video also hints at the tone of Rocky’s forthcoming album Don’t Be Dumb, which arrives Jan. 16. Burton contributed to the album’s artwork and directed an accompanying film tied to the release. He previously told Vanity Fair that Elfman “scored a bunch of the songs” on the record.

As detailed in a press release, the album artwork “features six of Rocky’s signature personas, brought to life in Burton’s unmistakable style. Each character offers a window into unforgettable moments across the course of Rocky’s illustrious career.”

Advertisement

image
Reviews
Features
Video