Last November, at his gig opening for Dipset, ASAP Rocky declared that he was the “greatest contemporary artist of all time.” This is obviously a quantum leap from just being one of the best working rappers, a title he had a legit claim to at one point. On his 2011 debut, LIVELOVEA$AP, Rocky introduced himself as a tastemaking Harlemite, reappropriating Houston rap and Three 6 Mafia into a voice that was unapologetically uptown. But in expanding his sonic palette and Rolodex across his next two albums, Rocky’s experimentation with pop, rock, and electronic sounds ended up diluting his formula rather than expanding it.

After a series of releases that played more like sketches than actual songs, his latest track, “A$AP Forever,” serves as his I’m back statement. Prominently, it features an extensive sample of Moby’s downbeat song “Porcelain,” with its melancholic string loops spruced up by lurching drums. It’s among the most downcast and experimental instrumentals Rocky’s rapped over, but his winking presence and charm is never drowned out. Rocky sounds the most energized he has been in years, putting together taut triplets that unfurl as he weaves through crew shoutouts, fashion brand name-drops, and playful internal rhymes (“Flacko no Dominicano but eat the tostones with platanos”). In a surprise twist, “A$AP Forever” shows that ASAP Rocky’s genre-blending explorations might work after all. At about the midway point, Rocky fades into the background, the beat slows and splays itself as Moby’s sampled voice and guest vocalist Khloe Anna’s mournful croons coalesce in a moment of pure lucidity. Rocky’s peculiar sensibilities pays off here, closing out his best song in years.