ASAP Rocky says he was “bothered” by fellow ASAP Mob alum Ferg opting to drop “ASAP” from his stage name, but he and his “Ghetto Symphony” collaborator have “always been brothers.”
This moment of vulnerability from the Don’t Be Dumb artist was one of several highlights from his recent interview with Ebro Darden for Apple Music, released Wednesday (Jan. 21). After a mention of Yams Day, which this year saw Rocky performing for a new episode of Amazon Music’s Songline series, Darden asked about his relationship with Ferg.
“I haven’t seen Ferg in a minute, man,” Rocky responded. “I’mma be totally honest. I haven’t even been living in New York. I always love Ferg. Ferg, he got a good heart. I saw a couple interviews where he was just like, he ain’t ASAP and he dropped ASAP from his name. That shit bothered me but I ain’t gon’ hold it against him, and I wish him the best.”
Asked if things between them were “fixable,” Rocky expressed certainty that they are, though the opportunity to sit down and make that happen is a ways off.
“For sure, for sure. But I’m just really locked in and focused on me right now, as I should be,” Rocky explained. “I’m trying to put out a great masterpiece, a body of work. The rollout has been amazing. The focus is there. It’s a very focused album and I want all components related to it to be cohesive. So I feel like when I get some time, me and my brother, we could talk. Because that’s what we always been, we always been brothers. But Ferg ain’t never do no out-of-the-ordinary shit to me to where I would be like, nah, I can’t mess with this dude, unlike other people in ASAP.”
Rocky is indeed deeply entrenched in the Don’t Be Dumb rollout, pulling out all the stops in delivering both the music itself, and a number of expertly executed visual accompaniments. As part of this chapter in his legacy, he’s also enlisted filmmaker Tim Burton, a personal favorite of Rocky’s, to contribute artwork and star in one of the album’s music videos.
Fans will still have to wait a few days to see where DBD lands on the charts, but one thing is already clear: Rocky is confident in his latest body of work, and for good reason. The album, marking his fourth studio effort, is a feat of meticulously crafted artistry on all fronts.
