Mon 12 Nov 2012
ASAP Rocky Tells Complex His Influence on Hip-Hop Even Reaches Kanye West
Posted by Mikey Fresh under Photos , Quotes[7] Comments
Without a debut album out, A$AP Rocky lands his second Complex cover. This time he gets to rock the coveted spot solo. It’s just him, his goldies, and Rambo knife. Haha. Our fam JLP took care of the cover story and got some great answers out of the kid. Together, they spoke on Rocky’s upcoming album, his influence on hip-hop, fashion, and more. But one of the best quotes came from a question regarding Kanye. Let us know what you think about his bold statement.
Complex: Do you think you’re influencing people like Kanye?
Rocky: Of course. That’s obvious. [Laughs.] We’re all in the same circle. He’s way richer than me, but of course he’s influenced by me. C’mon, bro. I made waxed denim cool in hip-hop…
Read more from the cover story and check out a behind-the-scenes- video after the jump…
It’s easy to see the kids are heavily influenced by your style.
Hell yeah!
Do you think any of hip-hop’s fashion greats are influencing more people than you?
Hmm…no.
Do you think you’re influencing people like Kanye?
Of course. That’s obvious. [Laughs.] We’re all in the same circle. He’s way richer than me, but of course he’s influenced by me. C’mon, bro. I made waxed denim cool in hip-hop. Fucking waxed denim and rips in jeans. Nobody else did that. I don’t give a fuck. I didn’t know what I was doing. These jeans are Balmain, and I wear them with a Supreme jacket. Of course I’m influencing.
How do you feel about the culture of hip-hop changing? Lil Wayne is skateboarding now. That’s dope. I put Wayne in Jay-Z and Kanye’s bracket, in terms of success. Wayne is still fun. Are we forgetting that Wayne made everybody switch their flow up and start using the E’s and R’s, and “I’m ir-regul-ar, seg-ular”? Like, c’mon, are we forgetting that Wayne changed hip-hop, too? Are we forgetting that he made all these motherfuckers want to have tattoos? Are we forgetting that? It wasn’t Wiz, it was Wayne. Wiz did it, too, but I’m just stating facts. This is a guy who fucking went from being the youngest underdog in his crew to saving his company, and saving his “Daddy.” I’m not a fucking Lil Wayne dickrider—I’m just speaking facts.
That’s fair.
People can say what they want about him with the way he dresses. I hate the way he dresses. I’m keeping it 100 with you. It’s very tacky at times. But that’s what he chooses to do. Get off his dick! If that’s what he chooses to wear, OK. At least he’s not wearing it ’cause he saw some other lame motherfuckers wearing it. That’s when I don’t respect it. He’s doing him! Maybe it doesn’t work for you, but it works for him. So we need to get off his dick and let that man be legendary.
read the full story at Complex
Related:
A$AP Rocky and Jeremy Scott Explore Fashion in Complex Cover Story
What Do You Think of ASAP Rocky’s T-Shirt Line?
ASAP Rocky Delays ‘LongLiveASAP’ to Early 2013
November 12th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
One thing that i hate about young people and immature people in general they really believe the world started the day they came outside smh….
November 12th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Amazing perspective from a young craftsman. Saddens me to hear old greats like Timbaland say the new generation is wack when there are so many greats like A$AP and others. Brush the hate off and step ya ears up Timothy. But yeah it’s refreshing to hear a NY artist with an honest unbiased perspective and it’s no coincidence that he’s the best in that region right now.
November 12th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
actually, Timbaland likes ASAP Rocky. In fact, I think the first words out of his mouth when Envy asked him who he was feeling out of the new school was “ASAP Rocky”.
LiveLoveASAP, from a production/stylistic perspective, is the most interesting album a new cat has dropped in years. It’s pretty obvious to anyone with musical taste. I’m being a bit arrogant when I say that. But for real, why else is ASAP Rocky blowing up on such a small body of work?
It’s because it’s stellar. something you almost-never see with new rappers.
November 12th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
what he supposed to say?kanye isn’t God.anybody can be influence anybody.
November 12th, 2012 at 7:01 pm
Not being a “kanye d**k-rider” but kanye was wearing leather pants and waxed denim before we even heard of asap rocky. I’m not hating I respect asap and his music is cool. I’m Just stating facts. And before kanye, it was the weird cool kids in high school (who got made fun of or acused of being gay) who did it before him. I respects asap rocky and all of these new kids making moves but I want to really see one of them deliver some real classic groundbreaking ish before we start putting them up on this pedestal. Not being a hater I respect the grind and all, but right now its just feeling like a lot of hype out there and no one is delivering music that you will remember years from now. Again not being a hater lol I feel like I gotta say that a lot now cuz as soon as you state your opinion, someone will call you a d**k-rider or a hater.
November 12th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Same soup… Just re-heated. Bullets said some real shit. These young niggas think the world started when they came outside. ASAP is a good up and coming artist but he’s not great. He seems to be influenced by Kanye.. With his arrogant/ dick head comments.. Seems like he’s taking a page out of the Kanye “all attention is good attention” book!
November 12th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
Well said