Saturday Night Video: Long Live A$AP

A$AP Rocky is in the triumvirate of new rappers I’m listening to right now, alongside Kendrick Lamar and Joey Bada$$. His debut album, Long.Live.A$AP totally pushes the art form somewhere new.

Joey and Kendrick both appear on the record, as do some of the hottest producers in the game, including Danger Mouse, Clams Casino and Skrillex. Rocky’s got a few things going for him, beginning with his his given name Rakim Mayers – supposedly he was actually named for the legendary emcee Rakim (of Eric B. and Rakim fame). He was born in 1988 so that seems entirely plausible given the ubiquity of Paid In Full at the time.

But my fave moment on the album is on the track Pain, where the Harlem-bred fashion plate rapper disses a rival by telling him that he over-accessorizes. LOL, this kid’s killer.

Here’s the video for the album’s opener, Long Live A$AP: