There’s a generational shift happening in hip hop, thanks to young and ambitious acts like A$AP Mob. While A$AP Rocky may have kicked in the door for the Harlem crew, others like A$AP Ferg have crashed the mainstream party.
A$AP Ferg is a busy man. He’s spent the week discussing the next collection of his Trap Lord clothing line in LA and recording with producer C-Note in Atlanta for his third album, but he’s managed to find time to chat after spending a relaxing day “riding all the rides” at Six Flags.
He’ll be making his Mainland debut at the Split Works-curated Concrete and Grass Festival on September 16 (with a late night Sep 14 stop at Beijing's Yugong Yishan that kicks off at 11.30pm added at the last minute), and the music festival veteran in the making admits the experiences are spoiling him.
“When you’re looking at that pool of people it becomes a blur to you,” he says. “When I perform to less than 10,00 people, it’s like, ‘Damn, this is tough.’”
Over the past year, A$AP Ferg’s name has risen up the festival marquee thanks to the success of his sophomore disc, Always Strive and Prosper. While his debut cemented him as a Trap Lord with a seemingly endless array of bangers, his goal for the 2016 album was “to use it as a medium to share my story with everybody.”
“A lot of people don’t know what A$AP stands for, so I wanted to bring it back to the basics,” he explains.
“I wanted to tell my story of always striving and finally prospering. I experimented a little bit more sonically and the music really brought the lyrics. I know how to make something everyone will like, but how do I make something that will also sound different? That’s what I’m always aiming for.”
It’s an attitude that permeates through the A$AP Mob crew. While the collective formed a decade ago, they rose to prominence on the 2011 viral success of A$AP Rocky’s now classic first singles, ‘Purple Swag’ and ‘Peso.’
Ferg smiles at the group’s influence on his hometown, noting they have changed the way the city dresses. “When we first came out, people used to criticize the shit we wore but now they love it,” he says.
“It’s the norm. How everyone used to want to be athletes in school before, now everyone wants to dress the craziest and the weirdest.”
In that sense, A$AP Mob is carrying on the tradition that Harlem legends Dipset set when they popularized pink. Ferg reflects on the crew’s younger days when Rocky “was just one of those dudes that always found a way to buy the expensive shit,” and “Bari and Nast were always on the futuristic shit.” He notes, “We all were fly but I was always into creating shit.”
That DIY attitude led A$AP Ferg to co-direct the music video for his 2012 street single, ‘Work.’ Filmed at an abadoned school’s yard in his neighborhood, the striking visual catapulted the emcee from anonymous crewmember to an artist to watch.
“I always wanted to do something there, and when I finally got the chance to flip the locks to shoot that video, it was one of those defining moments in my career,” he says. “It did exactly what I thought it would do – it caught flames and it’s never stopped burning.”
Beijing: Sep 14, 11.30pm-late, RMBTBA. Yugong Yishan, see event listing.
Shanghai: Sep 16, 5.50-6.50pm set, RMB230-300 (RMB360-440 for two day package) for full Concrete and Grass Festival. Shanghai Rugby Football Club (Woozy Dimension Stage), see event listing.
0 User Comments