Childhood & Early Life
Rakim Mayers was born on October 3, 1988, in Harlem, New York City. His father was a Barbadian while his mother is African-American. He has an older sister named Erika B. Mayers.
Rocky started rapping when he was 9 years old. He used to rap with his older brother who then had the French braids hairdo which Rocky later himself sported.
When Rocky was 12 years old, his father was arrested for selling drugs. His father eventually died in 2012. At the age of 13, he lost his elder brother, Ricky, who was murdered by a rival drug dealer. This unfortunate incident motivated Rocky to work hard on his music.
He took to drug pedalling to support his family as they wandered around homeless shelters. He was arrested for drug pedalling in 2004 and was imprisoned for two weeks. In was in prison where he first met future rapper ‘Casanova’.
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Career
ASAP Rocky has been rapping since childhood owing to the influence of his elder brother. In 2007, he became a part of the Harlem based group ‘ASAP Mob’ after which he took on the moniker ‘ASAP’.
His first single ‘Purple Swag’, came out in July 2011, and made him a rap sensation as it gained tremendous popularity in New York City.
In August 2011, his single ‘Peso’ was leaked online and within a short span of time made a spot for itself on the high-profile Hot 97 New York radio station. However, the tremendous success of ‘Purple Swag’ had already got him noticed by record labels. He came out with the mixtape ‘Live. Love. A$AP’ before signing a $3 million worth deal with RCA Records and Polo Grounds Music. With the deal he also started the label ‘A$AP Worldwide’.
ASAP Rocky performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival in July 2012. Later that year, he performed as a guest rap on Rihanna's ‘Cockiness (Love It)’ at the MTV Video Music Awards.
In January 2013, he released his solo album ‘Long Live Asap’, which not only sold 3 million copies in the US but also went on to take the eighth spot on the Billboard 100 chart. The album included several popular names such as Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, 2 Chainz, Florence Welch, A$AP Ferg, and Santigold.
Rocky launched his own clothing line ‘A$AP’ in 2013 and also collaborated with designer Raf Simons. In 2014, he announced his official contract for worldwide representation with William Morris Endeavor.
He played a short cameo in the comedy drama ‘Dope’ that released in 2014. The film went on to showcase at the Sundance Film Festival the following year and was released in movie theatres in June 12.
ASAP Rocky released the short album ‘Flacko Jodye Season’ on the eve of his 26th birthday. The album included additional vocals by rapper Juicy J.
His second album, ‘At.Long.Last.A$AP’, came out in May 2015. The album was supposed to release a few weeks before the actual date but due to an online leak, Rocky had to bring the release date forward by a week. This time he worked with Kanye West, Mark Ronson, MIA, and Future. He also worked the famous rocker ‘Rod Stewart’ on the single ‘Everyday’.
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’At. Long. Last. A$AP’ released to mixed reviews but still managed to debut on the top of Billboard 200. The album sold 116,000 copies in the US and 11,000 copies in Canada making it his second consecutive successful album.
In 2016, Rocky collaborated with fashion brand, Guess, and revived the brands '90s clothing that he wore growing up and called it GUE$$.
Later that year, he worked on a track composed by Alicia Keys ‘Blended Family (What You Do for Love)’, for her album ‘Here’.
The following year he featured in the two tracks ‘Summer Bummer’ and ‘Groupie Love’ of Lana Del Rey’s album ‘Lust For Life’.
In May 2018, Rocky released his album ‘Testing’ which was well received by the critics and his fans. The album went on to take the number four spot on the US Billboard 200 in the first week itself before eventually tumbling out of the charts.
Personal Life & Legacy
Rocky was in a relationship with fellow rapper Iggy Azalea. The couple met through a common friend and Iggy officially confirmed their relationship in January 2012. She later revealed that she tattooed the title of Rocky's mixtape ‘Live.Love.A$AP’ on her fingers. After the couple parted ways in July 2012, Iggy stated that she has striked out the word ‘A$AP’ and retained only ‘Live.Love’ of her tattoo.
Thereafter Rocky went on to date several female celebrities, such as Rihanna, Rita Ora, Madison Skylar, Chanel Iman, Rosee Divinem, Tahiry Jose and Kylie Jenner.
