A$AP Rocky on His Sundance Hit, Mourning A$AP Yams and Why He Rejects Those Tupac Comparisons

A$AP Rocky makes his acting debut in Rick Famuyiwa's
“dope” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
On Saturday.

It’s been an up-and-down couple of weeks for A$AP Rocky. On Saturday, the 26-year-old rapper attended the world premiere of his new film, “Dope,” a hip-hop-driven comedy in which he plays a drug dealer named Dom. (Also featured are Keith Stanfield, Zoë Kravitz and Rocky’s ex-girlfriend, the model Chanel Iman.) The movie — Rocky’s first — has been a Sundance hit, drawing rave reviews and becoming an early favorite to win the festival’s audience award. But Rocky, né Rakim Mayers, was in little mood to celebrate. Just six days earlier, on Jan. 18, his close friend and collaborator Steven “A$AP Yams” Rodriguez died suddenly of still-undisclosed causes. On Sunday morning, Rocky would have to fly to New York City for the funeral.

When T spoke with Rocky at the “Dope” after-party, the loss was weighing heavily on his mind. “I miss him,” he said of the A$AP Mob co-founder. “Yams was my Yoda. He’s my brother. He left too soon, but I cherished every moment that I knew him.” When the conversation shifted to the film, however, his mood brightened considerably. Citing the 1992 drama “Juice,” starring the late rapper Tupac Shakur, as an early influence, Rocky expressed a desire to keep acting after Sundance. And as he spilled about everything from fashion to film to the current state of hip-hop, it became increasingly clear that his ambitions extend far beyond Park City.

Q.

I noticed you’re wearing all black tonight. Did you take a different approach at all for dressing for your first film festival?

A.
It’s nothing special. It kind of is, but to the naked eye you wouldn’t be able to tell. I just came from Paris, stuntin’. I call it stuntin’ because I have a unique taste. I’m doing the combat Alexander Wang boots, but you can’t even tell that they’re Alexander Wang. I got my Raf denim, Rick Owens T-shirt, Dries Van Noten bomber. No jewelry, no grills.

You were really good in “Dope.” Is it true you approached the director, Rick Famuyiwa, about being in the film?

Yeah. I was helping Chanel with her lines, and there was one role where I was like, “Oh, this dumb kid, he seems a little interesting. I want to go for it.” I was actually in London recording my album, and I figured I’d just send a video in. So I sent two videos, and they liked them. And two months later, when I flew to L.A., I met up with Rick and did an audition in front of him, and he just decided to go with me. To be honest with you, I was worried that I didn’t get the role. I was pissed.

How did you find out that you got it?

Via text message from Rick. He wrote me, like, “Congratulations, Dom.” And I was like, “What? Did I get him correct just now? Am I trippin’? Am I buggin’?”

There aren’t many modern movies dealing with hip-hop.

This was the first in a long time! That’s why I had to be a part of it.

Are there any other genres you’d like to explore?

I like sci-fi films. I like action-packed thrillers — with, like, conspiracy theories. If I’m starring in a movie, I just want people to understand that I’m not a celebrity trying to use his status to finagle his way into Hollywood, you know? I really want to start from the bottom.

What about other musician-actors that whose career paths you really admire?

I really like the way Pharrell does things. Starting out as a music producer, and then around 2000 trying to rap, to going into doing, like, sing-y songs and really nailing it. That was really impressive. I love what Kid Cudi’s doing, because Cudi is just always on the scene. Movies here and there, short films, big cinema films, Hollywood blockbusters. His music is always good. That’s as far as hip-hop goes, but if you want to talk about in general? Michael Jackson.

People have compared you to Tupac.

I think that’s not a fair comparison. Those shoes are way too big to try to fill. I’m nothing like Pac. Nobody is, you know? It would be an honor to be influential and to be as revolutionary and universal as he was, to have that kind of impact with a genre like hip-hop. Which is, at this point — don’t even get me started with hip-hop.

How do you mean?

All I can tell you is that A$AP Yams was one of the most influential hip-hop pioneers of today. I have him and Danger Mouse executive chef-ing this mystical magical piece that we call art, my music today. And that’s all I’m really gonna say, man. It’s not what it used to be. For Tupac to do what he did, I commend him. I have nothing but respect. That’s also why I didn’t come out with my name, Rakim, because those shoes are too big to fill. So I’m just trying to pioneer my own legacy.

source: NYT