A$AP Rocky

Why he matters

Rakim Mayers was born in Harlem in 1988 and named, like his sister Erika, after Eric B. & Rakim. He started rapping at nine, learning from his older brother, and spent part of his childhood in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He grew up on the Diplomats, but also on Mobb Deep, Three 6 Mafia, UGK and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, and that mix is the whole story. In 2007 he joined A$AP Mob, a Harlem collective of rappers, producers, video directors and designers.

In 2011 the video for “Purple Swag” got the internet talking, even as some of New York’s own scene pushed back. Then “Peso” leaked online and within weeks was on Hot 97. After a bidding war he signed with Polo Grounds and RCA in October for a reported $3 million, with $1.3 million earmarked to fund his company, A$AP Worldwide. Live. Love. A$AP, recorded in Dumbo, Brooklyn, came out as a free download at the end of that month, built on woozy production from Clams Casino, A$AP Ty Beats and SpaceGhostPurrp and drawing heavily on Southern rap.

Long. Live. A$AP debuted at number one in January 2013, and At. Long. Last. A$AP did the same in 2015. He produces under the name Lord Flacko, has co-directed most of his own music videos, and founded the creative agency and label AWGE in 2014.

What a working rapper can take from it

Your influences don’t need a zip code. Rocky took chopped-and-screwed hooks and slow, syrupy tempos, Southern tools, and made a Harlem record out of them. If you love a sound from somewhere else, don’t hide it. That gap between where you’re from and what you sound like can be your whole identity.

Treat the vocal as texture. The mixtape’s chopped-and-screwed choruses make the voice part of the production, not just something sitting on top of it. Stack doubles and ad-libs like instruments. The vocal recording guide covers both.

Negotiate for the crew, not just yourself. Nearly half of that first deal went to fund A$AP Worldwide. If a label wants you, ask what it will put behind the people who got you there. And before any of that, have a release plan of your own; the streaming release guide is the place to start.