Civil Interview: A$AP Rocky Talks ‘A.L.L.A.,’ Growing As An Artist, & How The Album’s Cover Art Came About
by Staff Editor
A$AP Rocky: You should just call him Pretty Flacko Sr.! [laughs] I would say I learned a lot. He’s definitely one of my mentors. In the game, people who have mentored me have been Snoop Dogg, David Banner, Swizz Beatz, Mos Def, my manager Chase Infinite, and my big bro Angelo. They all give me good advice.
How did you land the UGK feature on the “Wavybone” track?
A$AP Rocky: Pimp C’s wife is a really, really good and close friend to all of us. Her and Yams were really close. That’s why me naming the song “Wavybone” after Yams, and having Pimp on there – Pimp wanted that so bad.
What was your reaction to first hearing Pimp’s verse?
A$AP Rocky: For me, when I first heard the verse, I was buggin’ like, “Yo! This ni**a Pimp! This ni**a Pimp!” Having an unreleased Pimp C verse? I feel so blessed, man. It’s amazing, man.
In what aspects do you think you’ve grown from your Long.Live.A$AP days?
A$AP Rocky: So many ways. I’ve developed more because I’m evolving. As human beings, as the days go by we evolve. That’s just inevitable. For me, as an artist, I wanted to prove to people so bad that I could be successful mainstream-wise, that I did a “Wild For The Night” and “Fuckin’ Problems,” and all of that stuff, which is cool. This project, I didn’t feel the need to prove nothing no more. I was like, “Yo, I’m making some dope ass art.” If you like it, here it is. If you don’t get it, well, it’s like art. Feel free to judge.
When was the exact moment you decided on that cover art?
A$AP Rocky: Rick Owens’ wife, Michele Lamy, and I were talking about an elderly woman with permanent gold teeth since 1985. She dips her hands in this ink, and her style is just so crazy and next level. For my birthday, [Michele] bought me this like chocolate diamond ring. She curated the shoot for my cover. While it was going on, I had music playing, and she told me, “I need your emotion.” That’s when I went like this [cradles head into hands]. What we did was collide three pictures that are in the booklet to make one for the cover. That’s actually my face twice. So it’s once at the bottom, one’s on one side, and then we cut it and put Yams’ eye and face on the left side. All those pictures are in the booklet. People just look past shit like that [laughs]. We gave him the psychedelic birthmark with the purple swag and wavy mark.
Rocky has honestly done it again by producing game changing sounds! Definitely one of the most good humored and creative rappers out there. Loved seeing that side of him again through this interview. Amazing work Linds! And yes his TEETH ARE PHENOMENAL!