A$AP Rocky
BIOGRAPHY
A lot has been written about Harlem’s A$AP Rocky and his early material, with most touting him as underground rap’s next successful mainstream crossover. He’s reportedly signed a $3 million deal with Sony, the biggest major-label rap record deal since 50 Cent (Drake’s recent record deal was a paltry $2 million), and has displayed confidence that he’ll be able to cut it in the mainstream as well as holding on to his underground roots.
Details on his background are currently patchy at best, he reportedly studied as a fashion student before dropping out to focus on his music (or getting high, you decide), and has also been quoted as saying he used to deal drugs, only to quit because it was a “corny” thing to do. His aversion to anything corny or clichéd comes across in his music, standing miles apart from anything New York has thrown up recently (Rocky describes the New York rap scene as “diamonds, cars, aviator shades, Gucci, half-naked bitches, wack-ass beats.”)
ASAP is the name of Rocky’s crew (of which he denies he is the leader), a mish-mash of producers, rappers and MCs all from different backgrounds, and all with different interpretations of what ASAP stands for. Various versions include Always Strive And Prosper, Accumulate Status And Power, Always Striving And Paperchasing, and Assassinate Snitches And Police, although Rocky’s version is Acronym Symbolises Any Purpose, an acronym which demonstrates his more open approach to his music than many of his peers.
Despite his open-eyed philosophy, his ego is predictably gigantic for someone of his ambition, frequently describing himself as a “pretty mother**ker”, most notably on one of his first tracks, and the one that made the blogs stand up and take notice, ‘Peso’. The purple drank-fueled track and accompanying video both drip with the effortless cool that seems to flow out of Rocky, whose charisma has clearly won over plenty of female admirers if his lyrics and interviews are to be believed.
Despite signing his massive record deal on the back of his first two tracks, A$AP Rocky’s first mixtape LiveLoveA$AP was released for free on Halloween this year (although it was later removed). The mixtape sees Rocky working with one of the buzziest producers around in Clams Casino, along with other members of his ASAP crew. While it hasn’t had the knockout impact of some other mixtapes this year it shows enough raw talent to make the prospect of his next move very exciting, and contains a couple of tracks which will surely be challenging for the title of best rap song of 2011.
Rap’s other megastar in waiting, Drake, has personally picked A$AP Rocky to follow him on his massive US tour, supposedly against his label’s wishes, paving the way for Rocky to hit the big time and inevitably pump out collaborations with mediocre artists. Unfortunately it’s the way the rap business seems to work, but in his current, raw state A$AP Rocky is one of the most exciting and enthralling artists to come out of New York in a very long time.
Links
Videos
Peso
Purple Swag
Trilla