10 Things We Learned From A$AP Rocky's SVDDXNLY Documentary
Most memorable moments from the Harlem spitter's movie.
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Long. Love. A$AP - Noisey just released a five-part documentary on the life of Harlem’s newest superstar A$AP Rocky called SVDDXNLY. The Mob leader discussed everything from his childhood growing up in Uptown to becoming an international rap phenomenon. Peep 10 things we learned about Pretty Flacko from the footage. —Michael Harris (@IceBlueVA)(Photo: Christopher Polk/BET/Getty Images for BET)
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Born to Do This - Talk about being prepared, A$AP Rocky had only performed at three shows in his entire career before heading out on Drake’s national Club Paradise Tour in 2012. Those three sets were his performance at the ALIFE clothing store in N.Y., his show at Santos Party House, and at the Creator Project festival as the third. Some people just have a gift for rocking crowds.(Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
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Barbadian Connection - Rihanna handpicked Pretty Flacko to open up for her tour in 2012. Rih Rih was impressed at some of his previous performances and wanted someone to have the crowd already hyped before she stepped onto the stage. Another reason she was connecting with the Harlem MC is because they both share a Bajan heritage as Rocky's dad is also from Barbados. (Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
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Keep It G - Rocky's road to success didn't have as many bumps as a lot of MCs thanks to his manger Chase Infinite. Chase Infinite has shared a lot of game with the Harlemite as he is also an MC and part of the L.A.underground group Self Scientific. The group was highly respected for their uphill battle in the early 2000s as they spit conscious reality music during the time when gangsta rap ruled and paved the way for progressive MCs like Kendrick Lamar.(Photo: Noisey)
Photo By Photo: Noisey
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"Pain" - Many rappers embellish their struggles growing up, but Rocky knows both sides of the coin. His father, Adrian “Duke” Mayers, was a hustler and the “Peso” MC revealed that he lived a good life up until the age of 11. “Every hustler’s story...every empire always has a demise and every hustler falls. Dad went to jail, lost all the money, police seized everything and mom was left with nothing, so me and mom and my family had no choice but to move into a shelter (Volunteers of America).”Fortunately for Rocky, his pops did come home and was able to see his son reach his success and realize his dreams before his passing in 2012.(Photo: Noisey)
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Hell Up in Harlem - Flacko credits a lot of his success to his older brother, "Ricky Black," who encouraged him to rhyme at age 8 and stay out of trouble. His big bro was highly involved in the streets and spent time in a juvenile detention center where he became a hard-core gang-banging Blood. His brother was murdered before Rocky ascended but he said his O.G. wanted better for him and told him, “Gangs wasn’t for you.” The rest is history.(Photo: Noisey)
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Brand New Guy - The Harlem MC made the cover of The New York Times in 2011 before he even had a record deal and revealed that was the first time he ever felt that he had accomplished something.(Photo: New York Times)
Photo By Photo: New York Times
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Uptown Reppin' - A$AP Mob started in 2006 with A$AP Yam, A$AP Bari, A$AP Illi and A$AP Rocky himself. Originally calling themselves the Piff Crew, they ran with that moniker for about two days when Yams came up with “Always Strive & Prosper” while they were eating at Wendy’s. And you thought it meant "As Soon as Possible."(Photo: BET)
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F----- Problems - A$AP made headlines in 2012 at SXSW when the whole crew started fighting the crowd. While most would point the fingers at rappers being unruly, the Harlem set didn't go into attack mode until after warning the boisterous crowd to stop throwing beer cans and water bottles at the stage.(Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SXSW)
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Fashion Killa - Rocky is a huge fan of high-end fashion and has become friends with some of the world’s top designers. He first wore Jeremy Scott’s Wing 2.0 Adidas in his debut video, “Purple Swag,” in 2011 and they have been like brothers since their first meeting at their Complex magazine cover shoot in 2012. He’s also cool with designers Alexander Wang and Raf Simons. Silencing the haters, the pretty MC added, “Those are people whose work I admired. So you can be gay or straight, I don’t care about what you do. If you make art on a professional note, or a creative note and I admire it, I f---s with you.”(Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images)
