A$AP Rocky Breaks Down His 15 Most Essential Songs

A$AP Rocky has been in the spotlight for just over a year, and already he's assembled an impressive body of work. Fresh off the debut of his new Complex cover story, we're taking a closer look at his discography, with words from the man himself. From viral hits to smash singles, we talked about it all.

Rocky told us his thoughts on his star-studded posse cut "Fuckin' Problems," opened up about his friendship with frequent collaborator ScHoolboy Q, and recalled recording in a closet at the onset of his career. Read on for the stories and insights of Dat PMF himself in this breakdown of A$AP Rocky's 15 most essential songs.

As told to Ernest Baker (@newbornrodeo)

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Album: LongLiveA$AP
Label: Polo Grounds, RCA
Producer: Noah "40" Shebib

A$AP Rocky: “I was supposed to get that last year, but I feel like last year wasn’t the time to do it. I feel like my whole situation was rushed. There was a lot of hungry people around me. Everything around me was just incredible. The expectations for me are almost unfair, and unrealistic. I just wanted something to really back up that hype. That song is like the Club Paradise Tour song. We were all busy, but we made it happen.”

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Album: LongLiveA$AP
Label: Polo Grounds, RCA
Producer: Hit-Boy

A$AP Rocky: “I was in L.A. recording with Hit-Boy. We was going through some tracks. He was going through some tracks he had made for Jay-Z. He goes, ‘You ever hear this?’ He let me hear it. I go, ‘Let me get that,' and he let me have that record. I spit to it, and it was like, ‘This beat was made for you.’ That’s just how it worked. With ‘Goldie’ I just really wanted to show people a different side of me. I wanted to show them something jiggy. Some tastemaker shit."

Album: Lord$ Never Worry
Label: Polo Grounds Music/RCA
Producer: Very Rare

A$AP Rocky: “Can I be real with you? ‘Purple Kisses’ is one of my favorite videos/songs that I ever did. When I directed that video, I didn’t have any support. Like, that was all independent. Me, I paid that out of my money, and I shot it in London, so you know, I don’t have that many resources over there, so I had to improvise. That was the challenge of it. People don’t really know the behind-the-scenes part about directing your own videos.

“All it was was me talking about a European orgy I had. The song, in general, was just about like how easy it is to meet somebody and really like them. It’s so easy.”

Album: N/A
Label: Def Jam
Producer: Bangladesh

A$AP Rocky: "That was with Rihanna. For some reason, she loves me. I’m not even saying in a sexual way, if that makes any sense to you. It’s just like inspiration. It was Rihanna’s idea. Only thing I did was a verse. That was it."

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Album: LiveLoveA$AP
Label: N/A
Producer: A$AP Ty Beats

A$AP Rocky: "We definitely recorded that shit in some small ass closet. I was getting high. I was high as a kite. On some purple drink, purple weed, shouts to this weed. It just felt so natural. Holy shit. I was in a world where everything was purple. I was just high. Purple lights was everywhere. It was just like, dark room, purple lights. Music blasting. That type of shit. Everything is purple. Swag.”

Album: Habits & Contradictions
Label: Top Dawg Entertainment
Producer: Best Kept Secret

A$AP Rocky: “That was all Q. Basically, it was something like that. He was like, ‘I got this joint for us.’ When he sent it, I was like, ‘Oh, this shit is hot.’ I went in, I sent it back to him, and he was just like... But me and Q, believe it or not, me and Q used to spend a lot of time in the studio together, ironically, because when I came to California, I started using the same studio that he was using, but that was just a coincidence.

There was times where we would be in the same studio for months at a time, but wouldn’t even work together. We would just be hanging together, if that makes any sense. Or, I got this song on my album that got leaked, called ‘Pussy, Money, Weed,’ and like, all you hear is Q on the hook like, ‘Yeah, ye-yeah,’ like you know, that’s it. It’s certain things where we was just like, we really didn’t want to overdo the A$AP Rocky-Schoolboy Q thing at the time.

I regret it, because now people want an EP or LP from us. We could’ve used that time to give them what they want, but you know, you win some, you lose some. We on tour right now, and we cooking up.”

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Album: LiveLoveA$AP
Label: N/A
Producer: A$AP Ty Beats

A$AP Rocky: “I feel like I was really showcasing my lyrical ability. I was showing people what A$AP was. Mad rapping. Keep in mind, the same producer that did 'Purple Swag,' was the same producer that did 'Pe$o.'"

Album: N/A
Label: N/A
Producer: The Kickdrums

A$AP Rocky: “I feel like it would’ve been so good on the album, but I can’t put that on. Everybody heard it. It fucked me up, 'cause that was a masterpiece. That song is really dope. It’s just they want to be thirsty and leak the lyrics that I did when I was freestyling for a reference to take it home and actually make real lyrics. It was embarrassing, 'cause some people don’t know that. They don’t know the story behind it. That that’s not something I would put out.

“I fucks with Lana. Her music is dope. Personally, she’s a really big inspiration for me. Her stuff is like...I feel like she’s a female version of me. She’s eclectic, in things that she chooses, the beats she chooses. We work with the same producers for our albums, so it’s just kind of crazy. I mean, I worked with Skrillex and Florence and the Machine for this thing, man.”

Album: LiveLoveA$AP
Label: N/A
Producer: Clams Casino

A$AP Rocky: “That was just me basically saying, ‘Yeah, I’m on this weird artsy shit, but I can still go back to the hood.’ I’m still getting love, basically.”

Album: Lord$ Never Worry
Label: Polo Grounds, RCA
Producer: P On The Boards

A$AP Rocky: “I fuck with Flatbush Zombies. I handed them the torch. I can’t be in New York all the time. I gotta be in certain other places. There’s gotta be someone to hold it down. The issue is, when people get in my position, and they don’t know how to show no love. It took people to show me love to get where I’m at.

“This don’t belong to me. This shit was here before me, and this shit will be here after I’m gone. It’s music. Niggas be so scared. That’s 'cause they ain’t got shit, man. They don’t show no love amongst the hip-hop community, they ain’t gonna get no love. Not only that, but it’s not that serious. It’s just music, man. People be jealous and shit in this industry. Like females. It’s kind of depressing. It’s like you hating, if you ask me.

“If it wasn’t for Drake co-signing me when he did, I wouldn’t be on tour with him. Who’s to say I would be this far? I’m not saying Drake is the reason why anything happened, but who’s to say he’s not? Like, show some love man. It don’t hurt. I don’t mind. At the end of the day, I think those kids are talented, and that’s why I back them up.”

Album: LiveLoveA$AP
Label: N/A
Producer: Lyle

A$AP Rocky: “‘Brand New Guy’ happened before we were really cool. Like, I was a fan of Schoolboy Q before I got on. He had some song called ‘Bet I Got Some Weed,’ and ‘Druggys Wit Hoes.’ I used to listen to those songs on YouTube, watch the videos like everyday and get high to it. I really liked his music. I wanted to work with him so bad.

"So by the time that ‘Purple Swag’ started buzzing just a little bit, you know Q, he’s reluctant. He doesn’t really like go collabing with artists. He’s like me. Only way he’s going to collab with you is if he really has a personal connection with you, and it should be that way, because at the end of the day, all this music and shit has to have some real kind of substance and significance to it that makes sense. If it’s just, ‘Oh, we just did this for the money,’ yhat doesn’t mean anything. Most people are only like that.

“So when ‘Brand New Guy’ came up, it was like, I was reaching out to his people for months—not months—but a month, and it seemed like, you know, ‘Oh, he’ll do it,’ and then at that point, I was always one of those guys that wouldn’t get my hopes up high for something. I was one of those guys that would never let my hopes get up high over things like records or stuff like that.

“My first day speaking, meeting, greeting Drake, he told me, ‘I’m going to bring you on tour with me.’ I didn’t believe him. It’s not that I didn’t think it would happen, I just never got my hopes up high. When I heard I was going to get a $3 million deal, I didn’t celebrate until I got a $3 million deal. It’s not up until now that I would hear something, and would kind of be looking forward to it. Like the VMAs. I heard about it. My friends didn’t even know I was doing the VMAs when I did it. That’s just how I look at things.

“When I met Q, we bonded, and it became fun. We just became cool ass friends."

Album: The Cold Corner 2
Label: G-Unit Records
Producer: Doe Pesci & Tha Jerm

A$AP Rocky: "The Lloyd Banks thing was me on some lyrical shit at this time, which was when nobody believed it. It was like, ‘Okay, now let me prove to y’all that I can spit.’ So that’s why I did what I did with Lloyd Banks.”

Album: LiveLoveA$AP
Label: N/A
Producer: Beautiful Lou

A$AP Rocky: “I felt like ‘Kissin' Pink’ was necessary. ‘Kissin' Pink’ was natural. ‘Kissin' Pink’ was a real classic. It just introduced the world to Ferg, and it introduced them to our other styles that we got. That’s why I love ‘Kissin' Pink’ so much. It’s a lot of that on his mixtape.”

Album: Lover's Holiday II: Rose Island
Label: Warner Bros.
Producer: DJ Carnage

ASAP Rocky: "See like, with Theophilus, he did just be hanging with us on some cool shit. That song just happened on some chilling shit. We chill a lot.”

Album: LiveLoveA$AP
Label: N/A
Producer: Clams Casino

A$AP Rocky: “It’s one of those songs, when it come on, you just got to fuck with it. That’s how it is. It’s just like, bass, it’s right there in your face.”