A$AP Rocky burst onto the music scene seemingly overnight, but nothing for the Harlem rapper was a dream or instant like a classic true Hollywood story.
With many nights spent in the studio and long days trying to make it out the hood, A$AP Rocky’s journey to success isn’t that of your average rapper.
In an in-depth interview, GlobalGrind sat down and got the chance to understand who A$AP Rocky is, what he stands for, and his musical ambitions.
A$AP dished on everything from his long-awaited debut album LongLiveA$AP, to rock star moments with Danny Brown, friends turned foes, money, newfound fame, and of course, the women.
Check out our exclusive interview with A$AP Rocky below!
GlobalGrind: Everybody is dying to know when will we get LongLiveA$AP. I know perfection takes time, but when can fans count on that hitting store shelves?
A$AP Rocky: We’re getting a lot of things cleared right now, so that’s really taking a process. There’s no definite date because masters and everything is getting cleared. I want to say I’ll have that answer within the next few weeks.
You’re on tour with ScHoolboy Q and Danny Brown. Can we expect them to be on the album?
What I have to say is, this is going to be basically the best album of my decade. I said it! All I have to say is, “It’s all going to make sense to me in a second. Tell my n*ggas quit the b*tching, we gonna make it in a second.” It’s about to happen. It is about to happen.
Is the world going to be f*cked up?
I think I’ll make it a better place. (Laughs) I’ll show these n*ggas how to do this sh*t. They got it twisted. Not to contradict myself or come across as condescending, but I really feel like most hip-hop videos contain the same sh*t everytime. Fake ass party. Fake ass people having fun, bottles, bottles, bottles, sunglasses in the club making it rain. Am I lying?
I’ll show these niggas how to do this baby! I got you. I’ll show them how to do this with some class, and I’ll still keep it gutter because I come from that. I won’t lie and say a fat booty doesn’t make my d*ck rock. I’m coming clean, but n*ggas don’t want to see that every single music video. Be creative. Ain’t nothing wrong with p*ssy. P*ssy make the world go ‘round. Everybody knows that. You could do something different. I won’t say I don’t use women as objects in my videos, because women are God’s most beautiful creations.
If you got a chance to do a collaborative album with any artist right now, who would you want to do a collaborative album with? Think of it as an A$AP Rocky “Best of Both Worlds” type of mash-up.
I don’t know. There’s a lot of artists. That’s a hard question to ask me.
I know that there were talks of you and ScHoolboy Q doing a mixtape.
Exactly.
So would ScHoolboy be someone you would consider doing a collaborative album with?
I don’t even think about that, because that’s in the works. Somebody else in mind is Thom Yorke, Kid Cudi, people like that. People like Danger Mouse or Gnarls Barkley.
Do you remember what your last dream was about?
I actually do. It was about a girl. In reality I know the girl. We got kind of personal. We had relations, but I can’t be with the girl due to life. In the dream for some reason I was thinking about her, but I was with her, and we understood that we couldn’t be together. Ain’t that some corny sh*t? I’m a deep motherf*cker!
That’s real life.
I’ll keep it real with you. I don’t even know how you know all of that sh*t without being around me?
This is so crazy, but for real, it took some getting used to. My first tour was the Drake tour. Three months later, I put another video out called “Peso.” Then my first mixtape ever, Live.Love.A$AP. A month after my first mixtape, I was on tour. I never did shows in my life. You’re on tour in front of 50,000 people. I’ve been exposed to so much stuff, but what people like about me is that it still feels underground, but has mainstream appeal. That’s why people really f*ck with me.
It took some getting used to back then. I hate the hype about me. That’s why I love that the hype is dying down, and people are starting to say, “I like him” or “I don’t like him.” Remember when 50 Cent was out? Oh, 50 Cent is the best rapper of all time. He got shot nine times. It’s just hype. Hype doesn’t get you anywhere. I’m glad that the hype is dying down, and my art is being appreciated for what it’s worth. Girls have been gassed up off the hype, and that sh*t is corny. Anyone can get hype.
What do you call people with one hit?
One-hit wonders.
Those one-hit wonders are hype. Everybody’s hype. I’m glad people are forgetting about the hype. Don’t get it twisted. There’s still buzz! But the hype isn’t as f*cking ridiculous as it was at one point in time. For some reason, a lot of people weren’t even giving my music a chance, which I can’t blame them. Anything with a whole lot of hype, I don’t f*ck with. I feel for them, and I understand why a lot of people chose to fall back, but I didn’t even answer your question yet.
It’s deep thoughts with A$AP Rocky right now.
It’s like with the whole famous thing, this was what I was born to do, and I swear to God I always hoped it would be like this, but I didn’t know it would be like this, to this extent. I didn’t know the depth of it. I didn’t know that I would go to sleep like this, and wake up like that.
I always just said, ‘One day I’m going to be big. God’s going to be good to me, and people are going to see me for my talent.’ As far as the famous thing, when I first started in the game and got introduced to people, there were only two or three people I got really hyped over. That was Rakim. When I met him, I was so amped to meet him.
I’ve been around the OG’s. They love my style because they can see for a young blood, I ain’t really with the f*ck sh*t. I ain’t really with the silliness and the riff-raff. That’s really why the G’s really f*ck with me. I never really take heed to the fact that I’ve gotten high with my idol Snoop Dogg a million times. That’s how life should be. I don’t know if maybe I should be more excited. Does it come across as arrogant? Does it come across as belligerent?
Hopefully, people get me how I am. This is one of those things where I’m happy to be here. It’s just a blessing overall. For the most part, this ain’t nothing. I’ve been through worse situations. Dealing with this is a walk in the park. Some people would pray for these kind of feelings. Well, most people pray for these kind of feelings. I’m thankful.
