In an interview with Michael Sebastian for Esquire, ASAP Rocky explained why he named his most recent album Don’t Be Dumb and brought up 21 Savage’s recent “fuck the streets” comments.
When asked about the title of the record, Rocky said there are “so many reasons” for its name. “One being the prior album was just all about crashing out, crash dummies, and I think this is a call to it,” he said at the two-minute mark of the interview, as seen above.
“If you look at what's going on right now or just not long ago, last month in December, a lot of rappers are starting to say, ‘Fuck the streets. I got trauma. Fuck the streets,’” he continued. “All of these guys that were portrayed as, you know, gangsta and street dudes are now coming out and just being like, ‘You know what? This whole shit is rigged. This is make-believe. Kids, we've been, you know, selling y'all a lie because we, you know, had a blindfold over our eyes. And Don't be Dumb embodies all of that.”
Asap is referring to 21 Savage’s rejection of the glamorization of street life in a tweet calling on Gunna and Young Thug to “fix” their issues. “You knew Gunna wasn't no gangster when he told the first time and we swept it under the rug for you you know he wasn’t tryna leave you to hang n***a fuck the streets we ain't get shit but trauma from that shit," he wrote in a tweet that prompted strong reactions from the hip-hop community.
Artists, including G Herbo, YFN Lucci, and Pooh Shiesty, who have spoken about the impact street life has had on them, co-signed 21 Savage’s statement, but a lot of artists vehemently disagreed.
“Next time say fuc yo street lol I’m not shaking none of you n***as hands back stage no more I never thought I’d see the day n***as saying fuc the streets for a 21 savage feature fuck da industry!” wrote Blueface in a post shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 6ix9ine, who has faced his own allegations of cooperating with authorities as Gunna did, suggested that the movement is just a way to justify working with certain rappers again.
Boosie Badazz, meanwhile, said that rappers who say “fuck the streets” need to stop rapping about the streets if they really mean it. “RAP ABOUT FRUITS, COLLEGE COURSES N STAYING OUT THE STREETS,” he posted in all-caps, later claiming that it’s wrong for rappers to reject the streets if that’s where they came from. “YES I WANT EVERY KID TO MAKE IT OUT THE STREETS 'THATS WHAT WE ALL WANT 'BUT IM NEVER SAYING 'FUCK THE STREETS'. THEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR SUCCESS.”
NBA YoungBoy offered another blunt response, too, simply replying, “I don’t give a fuck about that. I am the streets. I love the streets. I come from the streets. I ain't on any of that pussy ass shit. It’s just stop the violence, same shit I've been on.” Fivio Foreign has also waged a war on 21 Savage for his comments, calling the rapper a “pussy.”