The album features guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Drake, Big K.R.I.T., Santigold, Overdoz, Yelawolf, Florence Welch, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Joey Badass, Gunplay, and ASAP Ferg.

The album's production was handled by Rocky himself (under the pseudonym Lord Flacko), Hector Delgado, Hit-Boy, Clams Casino, Jim Jonsin, T-Minus, Danger Mouse, 40, Skrillex, and Emile Haynie, among other high-profile producers.

[2] When he released a music video for his song "Purple Swag", it garnered Internet buzz and attention from record labels, despite negative feedback from his native hip hop scene in New York.

[3] Rocky and Polo Grounds president Bryan Leach, also a Harlem native, subsequently spent time talking about music and lifestyles.

[3] In August 2011, Rocky following a music video for the song "Peso", which first appeared on internet blogs and eventually received radio airplay on New York City's Hot 97.

In an interview with MTV, production group The Kickdrums spoke about their collaboration with Rocky and singer Lana Del Rey.

That's actually the idea of this whole tape, the genre-bending that we as the KickDrums naturally do, 'cause we grew up with a bunch of different influences, like listening to everything from Nirvana and Pink Floyd, Radiohead to Dr. Dre and Jay-Z.

The song "1 Train" features an ensemble of young rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, Joey Badass, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson and Big K.R.I.T.

Rocky has described the song as "I wanted to make a posse cut that felt like an original '90s underground track, and I didn't have to tell anyone what to do".

[10] Additional production was handled by ASAP Ty Beats, Soufien3000, Clams Casino, Friendzone, Joey Fatts, Hector Delgado, V Don, Jonathan "MP" Williams and self-production from Rocky as Lord Flacko.

[23] For the song, Hit-Boy wanted to play-off Rocky's laid-back style of rapping, accompanied by intentional vocal distortions, to produce a sound bordering along comatose.

[25] On October 25, 2012, Rocky and Kendrick Lamar premiered the album's second single, "Fuckin' Problems", live on tour in Oakland, California.

[30] The music video for "Wild for the Night" was released on March 26, 2013, and was shot in the Dominican Republic with Skrillex and featured cameos from the ASAP Mob.

It was produced by both Jim Jonsin, Rico Love and co-produced by Finatik N Zac, Frank Romano and Rocky himself as Lord Flacko, it was released for streaming on December 20, 2012.

[43] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone wrote that it "ups the ante" musically "without losing what made the [mixtape] compelling".

[52] AllMusic's David Jeffries described him as "rap's Jim Morrison, offering an accessible, attractive, and brutish journey into darkness while remaining true to his spirit".

[42] Chris Kelly of Fact commented that he has "an ear for captivating beats whose lyrical shortcomings can be glossed over with healthy servings of charisma and panache".

[53] Lucy Jones from NME stated that "Rocky's debut is full of superb moments and offers a rich tasting menu of unique sounds".

[48] In a mixed review, Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo felt that the album still finds Rocky "routinely underplaying material that demands a strong anchoring presence and refusing to push his lyrical focus beyond the usual hackneyed tropes".

[45] David Amidon from PopMatters found it relatively "safe" compared to other "cloud rap" offerings and stated, "He's still a great talent vocally, but it remains to be seen if he can match his voice with his pen".

[55] Andrew Nosnitsky of Spin found Rocky's lyrics superficial and clichéd, writing that "there's no personal narrative or identity here to compensate for the hollowness of his craft".

[51] Writing for MSN Music, Robert Christgau said "the beat hooks" only on "six highly listenable, casually unmatched tracks" and wrote of Rocky, "Skillfully but never dazzlingly, congenially but never charismatically, with entertainment value added by a screwed-and-chopped alter ego, Rocky raps over the music without saying a damn thing older, meaner, and sharper rappers haven't said before".