It's crazy that hip hop has been around so long now that the guy who designed the Bad Boy Entertainment logo's kid is now the one of the world's most famous rappers. With that second generation pedigree it probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise that A$AP Ferg) didn’t follow the current trend of proceeding his debut album with a series of free mix tapes. When Trap Lord came out last year it was immediately clear why he didn’t feel he needed to give anything away to get attention. Sometime cool parents do make a difference, unless you’re Jaden Smith).VICE: Hey Ferg, this is Ben from Noisey Australia. How’s it going?
A$AP Ferg: Hey I didn’t know you guys had a branch up in Australia.We’re huge. You’ve been here before, did you have fun?
Yeah I love Australia, I’m thinking about getting an apartment down there.That’s what celebrities always say. You’ll be here around the time of the next A$AP Mob release, how’s that coming along?
It’s coming along good, we got a lot of songs to choose from, I think.Is there anything from the L.O.R.D. album that you’re really excited about playing live?
Well pretty much all the songs. They’re all my brothers and each song is a collaboration.Do you feel more comfortable working collaboratively or by yourself? Is one more enjoyable?
Well it depends what mood I’m in, like if I’m in an album mood I like to be by myself. But if I’m in like song mood, I’ll call up artists and they’ll call. Right now I’m in more of a collaborative mood, I like using all the different music around, you have Casey Veggies, Flatbush Zombies— all of these different mediums you can use.So you released “Trap Lord” last year to a lot of praise. It was cool to hear something that slow and dark, I feel like people have been waiting for something like that for a long time. It was interesting you skipped all the mixed tape stuff and went straight to making an album. What was the process behind that?
Well I think first impression is everything. I wanted to do something serious, I didn’t want people to get to know the mixtapes and only know the mixtapes. An album is a masterpiece, you know, it’s for life. I wanted that push, I wanted people to take it serious, I wanted my label to push the album compared to a mixtape that you let float around and people gravitate to. You know if I put a mixtape out people go, “Yo where’s the album at?” I’d rather just get this album out and then another album out rather than put a couple mixtapes out and just do it like that.You went to art school, when you’re developing a track do you consider the visual? Or is that something that happens afterwards?
I get the visual first. There’s no doubt I get the visual first. The visual inspires the work. I’ll listen to a track and I’ll think about a visual and what I want to write comes from the visual.You’ve got a label, and come from a pretty creative background. When you soo all the people in the hip-hop industry dabbling in fashion, for you is that a good thing? Or is it frustrating to see people play in an area where you really work?
It’s fun. I’m a businessman too—I went to college for marketing and management. At the end of the day I can respect the business model. I don’t fault anybody, people try different things. Look at Puff Daddy he became the best entertainer, he felt like he’d reached the level where he felt he couldn’t get any higher, so he went in to fashion. And he was really, really good at fashion; he learned it, he had the best materials, and he worked with the best people, and had the best fashion shows—and now he’s gone into television.There’s a lot of religious iconography in your music and the artwork that it’s packaged in, is that something that’s a strong influence in your life?
Well I think it is in everybody’s life regardless of who you believe in, or what you believe in, you believe in something. It doesn’t even have to be holy or anything like that, a bunch of kids believe in me and I feel that when I get on that stage. I feel that believe, that I’m the Trap Lord.A$AP Ferg will be playing:2 April at The Corner in Melbourne3 April at The Hi-Fi in Brisbane4 April at Metro Theatre in Sydney5 April at The Bakery in PerthIf you can’t wait that long, check out his app.
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A$AP Ferg: Hey I didn’t know you guys had a branch up in Australia.We’re huge. You’ve been here before, did you have fun?
Yeah I love Australia, I’m thinking about getting an apartment down there.That’s what celebrities always say. You’ll be here around the time of the next A$AP Mob release, how’s that coming along?
It’s coming along good, we got a lot of songs to choose from, I think.Is there anything from the L.O.R.D. album that you’re really excited about playing live?
Well pretty much all the songs. They’re all my brothers and each song is a collaboration.Do you feel more comfortable working collaboratively or by yourself? Is one more enjoyable?
Well it depends what mood I’m in, like if I’m in an album mood I like to be by myself. But if I’m in like song mood, I’ll call up artists and they’ll call. Right now I’m in more of a collaborative mood, I like using all the different music around, you have Casey Veggies, Flatbush Zombies— all of these different mediums you can use.So you released “Trap Lord” last year to a lot of praise. It was cool to hear something that slow and dark, I feel like people have been waiting for something like that for a long time. It was interesting you skipped all the mixed tape stuff and went straight to making an album. What was the process behind that?
Well I think first impression is everything. I wanted to do something serious, I didn’t want people to get to know the mixtapes and only know the mixtapes. An album is a masterpiece, you know, it’s for life. I wanted that push, I wanted people to take it serious, I wanted my label to push the album compared to a mixtape that you let float around and people gravitate to. You know if I put a mixtape out people go, “Yo where’s the album at?” I’d rather just get this album out and then another album out rather than put a couple mixtapes out and just do it like that.
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I get the visual first. There’s no doubt I get the visual first. The visual inspires the work. I’ll listen to a track and I’ll think about a visual and what I want to write comes from the visual.You’ve got a label, and come from a pretty creative background. When you soo all the people in the hip-hop industry dabbling in fashion, for you is that a good thing? Or is it frustrating to see people play in an area where you really work?
It’s fun. I’m a businessman too—I went to college for marketing and management. At the end of the day I can respect the business model. I don’t fault anybody, people try different things. Look at Puff Daddy he became the best entertainer, he felt like he’d reached the level where he felt he couldn’t get any higher, so he went in to fashion. And he was really, really good at fashion; he learned it, he had the best materials, and he worked with the best people, and had the best fashion shows—and now he’s gone into television.There’s a lot of religious iconography in your music and the artwork that it’s packaged in, is that something that’s a strong influence in your life?
Well I think it is in everybody’s life regardless of who you believe in, or what you believe in, you believe in something. It doesn’t even have to be holy or anything like that, a bunch of kids believe in me and I feel that when I get on that stage. I feel that believe, that I’m the Trap Lord.
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