He’s played dress ups with Lana Del Ray, toured the world, recorded a yet to be released album and spoken out against homophobia before Jay Z did, but rapper A$AP Rocky is too busy smoking weed to “do too much rewarding things.” He’s pretty chill like that, just don’t ask him about his romance with Iggy Azalea…
Hey, how ya doing? I’m alright, can’t complain.
Where in the world are you and how’s your week been so far? I’m in New York City at the moment. I’m just recording, I did a few TV appearances and I have a video that I’m currently shooting. That’s what I’m doing.
So let’s talk about the album then, what kind of percentage are you complete on that? I’m basically done with it. There’s always time for more though. Sometimes I might come across a record that I feel should be on a project. There’s always room for more, basically is what I’m trying to say.
So as it stands now, how many songs do you think are going to make the cut and what’s the general vibe? So far, I’ve got about 20 songs that I want to use, but I don’t want to make my project that long, of course…
Can you talk us through the people you collaborated with on this and what do you look for when you approach a collaborator? I look for people who make music that’s appealing to my taste. I like a lot of taste making music, therefore I’m always rooting for the taste makers. I want to work with a lot of people that people forget about. Great people that sometimes get looked over or underrated, they’re my favourite people to work with. Just innovative, creative artists, they’re the people I want to work with. I worked with Clams Casino, I worked with Santigold, I worked with Lana Del Ray. I worked with a couple of people, I don’t want to give too much away!
What’s your usual routine when you write, what helps the process? What helps the element? What helps me into the zone? A little bit of weed and purple drank. Purple weed, purple drank, sometimes it makes me laid back and relaxed. Then I just get on these beats and spill my thoughts, that’s it.
What’s been the craziest experience for you in 2012?Everything that’s going on, the general zone, everything that is happening right now for me is just a crazy experience. The whole situation…
What’s the most rewarding thing you’ve done this year? I don’t really do too much rewarding things! I haven’t accomplished enough yet. I’m still working so I didn’t reward myself yet.
Hip hop’s seems to have turned a corner on homophobia. What do you think about that? Yeah and I think I helped that, I was one of the first rappers to talk about that. I was the first rapper to come out. I was the first to come out and say…Well second, ‘cos Kanye kind of did it first but people didn’t really care until Jay Z started saying it.
Do you think it’s a genuine thing? Yeah I think it’s genuine coming from them because it’s the truth. People don’t care anymore! I don’t care about people and their sexuality. I like women and that’s the way it is.
When did you first meet Iggy Azalea? I don’t talk about her, I don’t talk about Iggy Azalea, sorry about that.
Do you have any plans to travel Australia with the album? I hope so, that’d be dope.
What’s the best advice you’ve received this year? The best advice that I’ve received this year is to be myself and don’t stop being myself and continue to be myself.
A$AP Rocky’s debut studio album LongLiveA$AP is due for release later this year.
