<p>A$AP Rocky has gone Hollywood and isn’t looking back. </p><p>If the rapper’s latest album collaborations with Tim Burton, appearances in A24 films “Highest 2 Lowest” and “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”<i> </i>and an upcoming Tribeca award weren’t enough of a red-carpet rollout, his latest action-packed tour is his full jump-ship moment, where the word blockbuster comes to mind.</p><p>The hip-hop visionary has always been one to build worlds and squeeze creative juice out of escapism, but his new “Don’t Be Dumb” Tour takes it to a whole new level. In the first few minutes of opening night in Chicago on Wednesday, there was a succession of flashbang fireworks, two helicopters (doubling up the rapper’s go-to prop), bright searchlights and blinding reds and blues, loud alarm sound effects and a 50-person backup crew dressed as a militarized SWAT team that took over the United Center.</p><div class="Enhancement" data-align-center> <div class="Enhancement-item" data-crop=""> <figure class="Figure"><a class="AnchorLink" id="image-380000" name="image-380000"></a> <picture data-crop="medium"> <source type="image/webp" width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0e70f1f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2856x1603+0+270/resize/490x275!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fce%2Fdf%2F9862a0d64b38894f897bd55a0e1b%2Fimg-6391.jpeg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/20e59cf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2856x1603+0+270/resize/980x550!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fce%2Fdf%2F9862a0d64b38894f897bd55a0e1b%2Fimg-6391.jpeg 2x" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <source width="490" height="275" data-srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1f7fa48/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2856x1603+0+270/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fce%2Fdf%2F9862a0d64b38894f897bd55a0e1b%2Fimg-6391.jpeg" data-lazy-load="true" srcset="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" /> <img class="Image" alt="A$AP Rocky performs Thursday at United Center." srcset="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1f7fa48/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2856x1603+0+270/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fce%2Fdf%2F9862a0d64b38894f897bd55a0e1b%2Fimg-6391.jpeg 1x,https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/145d881/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2856x1603+0+270/resize/980x550!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fce%2Fdf%2F9862a0d64b38894f897bd55a0e1b%2Fimg-6391.jpeg 2x" width="490" height="275" data-src="https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1f7fa48/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2856x1603+0+270/resize/490x275!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fce%2Fdf%2F9862a0d64b38894f897bd55a0e1b%2Fimg-6391.jpeg" data-lazy-load="true" src="data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZlcnNpb249IjEuMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIyNzVweCIgd2lkdGg9IjQ5MHB4Ij48L3N2Zz4=" > </picture> <div class="Figure-content"><figcaption class="Figure-caption"><p>A$AP Rocky performs Wednesday at United Center.</p></figcaption><span class="line"></span><div class="Figure-credit"><p>Selena Fragassi/For the Sun-Times</p></div></div> </figure> </div> </div><p>Adding to it was the fact that the rapper started the show — <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/lollapalooza/2025/08/04/a-ap-rocky-lollapalooza-2025-review-set-list" target="_blank" ><u>late per usual</u></a> — up in the nosebleeds, riffing the first three songs while “detained” near staged metal detectors, giving the 300 section the best seats in the house for a few.