Alexander Wang loves hip-hop, and that’s no f*ckin’ problem.
After tapping c-word slinging Azealia Banks as his muse and Met Ball date, and receiving name drops in A$AP Rocky’s “Fashion Killa” (“Her jeans is Helmut Lang, shoes is Alexander Wang”) Wang’s involvement in the hip-hop fashion world has been more evident than ever.
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So who better to tap than Wang for a one-on-one with Rocky?
Interview Magazine paired the pals up for a phone interview while Rocky was setting out to embark on a world tour with Rihanna.
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The outcome was a genuine conversation between friends, highlighting their individual triumphs with humility, that took a turn and morphed into a very interesting discussion about homosexuality in hip-hop, what it means to be a role model and what A$AP Rocky wants to teach those listening to his music.
Check out some of the interview below:
A$AP Rocky on hip-hop & homosexuality:
So now that I’m here and I’ve got a microphone in my hand and about 6,000 people watching me, I need to tell them how I feel. For instance, one big issue in hip-hop is the gay thing. It’s 2013, and it’s a shame that, to this day, that topic still gets people all excited. It’s crazy. And it makes me upset that this topic even matters when it comes to hip-hop, because it makes it seem like everybody in hip-hop is small-minded or stupid—and that’s not the case. We’ve got people like Jay-Z. We’ve got people like Kanye. We’ve got people like me. We’re all prime examples of people who don’t think like that. I treat everybody equal, and so I want to be sure that my listeners and my followers do the same if they’re gonna represent me. And if I’m gonna represent them, then I also want to do it in a good way.
WANG: It’s a very positive message that you’re putting out there in your music and in breaking down those preconceptions that hip-hop gets stereotyped with a lot.
ROCKY: I also want people to see that I come from the ghetto—I come from the hood—and honestly, man, the mind-state there was kind of fucked up for a while. But now you see me—and other people like me—who are standing up and saying, “All right, the jig is up. It’s not a joke. These are actual people we’re talking about.” It’s same as with racism. There was a time when someone would get on a plane and request to move their seat just because the person sitting next to them was of a different ethnicity or religion or nationality. But I don’t think my generation wants that. That’s how it used to be. People are racist because parents and grandparents are embedding that kind of shit in their heads. But it’s 2013. Time goes on. We’ve moved past that. Everybody should be able to enjoy their life, because you only live once. So I just want to get it all out there and be the best role model that I can be, if people want to put me in that kind of predicament. I mean, I didn’t ask to be a role model, because I’m not perfect.
It gets tricky when a person put in the public eye for their talent is brought on with the responsibility to be a role model in the public eye.
Much respect to Rocky for speaking up on a touchy topic in the music business.
Be sure to head over to Interview Magazine to read the entire interview between the two, you won’t regret it.
SOURCE: Interview Magazine
