ASAP Rocky Mixtape: LIVELOVEA$AP + Interview [MIXTAPE + VIDEO]

The buzz over Harlem’s A$AP Rocky was amplified recently, as word circulated of a record deal with Polo Grounds Music (Sony/RCA) reportedly worth $3 million for his solo and group projects. Serving as a punctuation mark to that news, his mixtape LIVELOVEA$AP, which dropped on October 31, is receiving generally positive feedback from the masses, and critics. With this, and an upcoming tour alongside Drake, it looks like the self-proclaimed “weirdo” may be making a strong run at breaking out of the New York shadows into the mainstream spotlight.

The A$AP Rocky phenomenon is interesting to watch, as the industry has been leaning toward a newer style of hip hop, starting to play their typical follow-the-leader game, watching the surprising-to-some success of oddball acts like Odd Future and Lil’ B. A$AP Rocky falls into a bit of that mold, with spacey, smoked out rhymes and vibes emphasizing a modernistic hip hop swag, perfectly exemplified by tracks like “Peso” and “Purple Swag,” his two best known joints so far.

Bear in mind that A$AP Rocky himself can be a bit contradictory. In interviews prior to his offer, he sounded like he was planning to remain an adamant independent. When asked by Pitchfork what had changed, he responded bluntly, “About three million dollars.”

That’s fair.

He also stated in that interview that mainstream attention didn’t happen until he received co-signs from some already established rap entities like Jim Jones, Lil Wayne and Drake, but then stereotypes “New York rap” as a mess of cliches, dismissive to the fact that there are dozens of A$AP Rocky-like artists in New York, in the sense that there are many, many artists who are decidedly NOT following the “diamonds, cars, aviator shades, half-naked bitches,” formula he mentions, who are as stuck in the shadows as he was mere weeks ago. Interestingly ironic also, keeping in mind many of his songs are clearly musically aiming for the masses with a style not normally associated with the Big Apple.

So while talk of A$AP Rocky being the next New York artist to blow may be true, it will be by decidedly tailoring his sound to appeal to the other regions of the country, rather than by developing or sticking to a progressive regional style, like others are doing.

All that being said, there is definitely interesting A$AP Rocky music hitting our ears, so we’re going to sit and marinate with LIVELOVEA$AP for a bit, and we suggest you do the same. Download below, plus a little interview with VladTV where A$AP Rocky talks more about “the deal.”

Download/Listen: A$AP Rocky – LIVELOVEA$AP [Mixtape]