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- [00:01]
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- [00:30]
A$AP Ferg
Victoria Ray show okay though. Victoria Ray show okay though.
- [00:37]
Torre
That might be the best question I've ever been asked.
- [00:40]
A$AP Ferg
You's a phenomenal person. I mean, you legendary. I am a fan of you, my brother. People, like, they came out and said I wasn't a part of ASAP no more.
- [00:54]
Torre
Are you in asap?
- [00:55]
A$AP Ferg
Well, I am asap. I made ASAP me along with Rocky and, you know, the founders who built it. Masterpiece. Asap. Yam.
- [01:03]
Torre
Yeah, but the news industries is. You're not in asap, are you or are you not?
- [01:10]
A$AP Ferg
Well, I don't think there is ASAP anymore. It's like the whole collective. Yeah. I don't. It's not a cozy tape out a new one or it's not an office. It's not a record label. ASAP Worldwide is not a record label. I think it's a thing of the past. I think people hold on to the legacy that we created and those things. But when you think about asap, I think from the music point, you think about, like, me and Rocky who, like, did the music and all of that. Of course, it was built off the backs of, like, Bari and. And all of that, but, like, we're the faces.
- [01:55]
Torre
Asap. Fergus, one of the hottest emcees out right now. My man from Harlem is back with a new album called Darnold, which is his actual government first name. I love his style. I love his music. He's been on the show before, so I'm excited to have him on again. He's the man. I just texted him and said, yo, come through. He said, no doubt. And then he was here. Let's get into it. It's A$AP Ferg on tour. A show.
- [02:29]
A$AP Ferg
Ferg, what's going on?
- [02:32]
Torre
What's good? Congrats on the new album.
- [02:35]
A$AP Ferg
Thank you.
- [02:36]
Torre
Darold. Darold, which is your government?
- [02:39]
A$AP Ferg
My government, My name.
- [02:41]
Torre
Why'd you name it after your government?
- [02:43]
A$AP Ferg
It was just that time. It was that time to let people in. I. I feel like a little bit more I've been gone for four years. I figured, like, you know, the fans deserved it. The fans deserve to. You know, the ones who love me and really love the work, I wanted to give them a little bit more than I've given. You know, I'm a super personal person. Like, I don't really go out and put my beefs out there, put, like, my disagreements or family business or whatever the case may be out there. So I just. I wanted to have a transparent moment and, you know, get into the guy behind the guy, which is Daryl. You know, Daryl is the. You know, the maker of a Trap Lord or a Ferg or ASAP Ferg. Like, that's who, you know, who really is. Like, the umbrella to all of those aliases.
- [03:40]
Torre
Yeah. So this is more personal.
- [03:42]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. Personal album. Yes.
- [03:44]
Torre
Beautiful. Nice. You know, Allure just murdered you.
- [03:48]
A$AP Ferg
You love it. That was the first single. Yeah, Allure was the first single.
- [03:52]
Torre
Tell me about the story of that. Cause there's a story behind all the records.
- [03:56]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So with Allure, I went through, like, a whole process creating this album. Like, I went through a moment of, like. Well, I had to find my moment of clarity, so I had to. I had to do these different practices. Like, at first, I had got this book from my ex girl. At the time, it was called the Artist's Way, which is the spiritual guide for artists. I never went through it, and then it made it to me again through my cousin Hunt, and he put it on my bed stand, and I was like. It made it to me twice. So let me go through it. And I was going through a time where it was like, I was really, like, trying to figure out my voice. Like, I was evolving. I was growing. I wasn't really feeling the work that I was creating. Like, you know, it's the obvious slaps and everything, but, you know, when you grow out of a certain thing, it's like, all right, this is hot to y'all, but I'm not feeling it. Like. So I had to get back to, like, where I was feeling my art. And what I realized is I had to grow as a human. I had to evolve and learn how to articulate what I was going through or, like, what I was experiencing. New experiences, especially experiences being a grown man, because I didn't ever want to be one of those artists that, like, I'm stuck in an era and I'm only talking about this. And you don't grow with me because my music is not growing. So I had went through these exercises in the Artist's way. I had linked up with different musicians. Like, I linked up with Boogs, who was like, a producer for ye. I linked up with ye. I linked up with Jay Z, linked up with Sycamore, who was amazing A and R for Travis Scott and Don. So, yeah, I just, you know, just to get some insight, just to figure out my footing, you know, with Jay, he was like, I played a bunch of music for him. Like, in the middle of my music, he was just like, yo, I know exactly where you at. You're where I was at when I was making Beach Chair. And I'm like, what do you mean? He was like, you're trying to create the hook to satisfy everybody, but you also got something that you want to say. And he was like, you know, you as the anthem, man. You got to hit people with the anthems. He was like, so you do that, but at the same time, get your shit off. That was, boom. One thing he gave me then Boogs told me, rap on low five beats. You got a baritone voice like Biggie and keep people moving. Ye, he told me. We sat down, played him on my music. He was like, yo, this shit all sounds amazing. And we started working on Donda and then Sycamore. Sycamore told me my music sound tribal and spiritual from, like, three songs I had played them. And he gave me homework to listen to Soul. It was a song called Air by a group named Soul. Soul is basically like a mystery group of known, but they don't put their names as features. You just, like, hear it. And you gotta be able to hear the voice and know, oh, that's Cleo Soul, or that's Alicia Keys, or. So, yeah, it was like this super ambient, operatic music and tribal spiritual vibes. He gave me homework to listen to. And all of this basically helped me find my footing. By the time I did my homework myself, homework, I went to go to a studio session with E. Hudson. E. Hudson did Flashing Lights for Kanye. He also worked on my album. He did the French Tips joint. And we worked on a bunch of other joints together, too. Messi as well. He got easy beats to rap to. So I was just like. To gain my confidence back in the studio, like, let me just rap to stuff that, like, I could get off to. And he had some good beats for me to rap to. Yeah, so that was some of the. I would say that was some of the steps I had to go through and practices I had to go through for this album. But also, like, physically, you know, detoxing and drinking juices and doing 25 day juice detox, running, clearing my vessel, my mind just so I could receive the message. And then also like dirtying the vessel up. Like going out to the strip club, you know, throwing yacht parties. And that's how a law was made. And it's like really like, you know, this is a law was made off of like two weeks binging off of yacht parties in Miami. And like strip clubs and ATL and hanging out with Mike Willing and you know, the air drummers bumping into Lil Baby and Uzi. Cause I wanted to see artists in a moment. You know, I sat down for four years, so I just really wanted to be in the energy. So just hanging out, really getting all of that energy and putting it into allure shout outs to true. He played that beat and that was like the first beat out of the batch he played. I didn't record nothing for the whole week. Cause like I said, I was binging off of strip clubs and just hanging out. And then all my experience from that two weeks of being in Miami at ATL went into the song.
- [09:25]
Torre
That's amazing. Yeah, right. So the whole vibe of partying, of being with artists, of being in the culture, being in the south, being on a yacht flows into what we write, what we say, how we approach the.
- [09:40]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, we all vessels, like we sponges. So it's like whatever information is around us, it's just all vibes. So it's like, you know, I see a denim shirt, you got all denim on. You got like black denim top, blue denim bottom, you know, dunks. But like, I don't know subconsciously how that's gonna work its way into my life, but it's doing something. Everything around us is affecting us. Even like this backdrop. Like it's just.
- [10:07]
Torre
So do the clothes you wear while you're recording matter?
- [10:11]
A$AP Ferg
Yes, that affects you because it's information. So you could be conscious of it or you could be unconscious of it, but both works. It's like, you know, I was just super conscious of what I was doing. Like I said, I was having practices just so it could go into the music. It was times I had to detox and juice, detox and run to clear my mind. And you know, that was more of a light grabbing tool. But then it was like, sometimes you gotta be able to dirty it up so you could be able to talk to the other audience. You don't wanna leave like anybody alienated. So there was times I had to figure out how to like dirty the music up a little. Cause it couldn't be too much light because it was too much light. You'll blind em.
- [10:59]
Torre
So if Allure is a Miami yacht, strip club kind of record, is Thought I was Dead a Harlem record?
- [11:09]
A$AP Ferg
Nah, Thought I was Dead. It's just an anthem.
- [11:12]
Torre
What's the inspiration and the story behind that?
- [11:15]
A$AP Ferg
So the inspiration before between. The inspiration for they Thought I Was Dead was I was gone for four years, and I was hearing, like, different little sly comments coming from my crew. You know what I'm saying? And they was outwardly putting it into social media and things like that and, like, dissing me and stuff like that. So I kind of, like, used that as a fuel to, like, create the record. And then also seeing Deion Sanders constantly lose, I wanted to create an anthem for them to win. It's like, come back like, oh, y'all thought I was dead. Like, it's like a comeback story. And, yeah, this is for anybody who's going through, like, a hi, haters. Or, like, you know, just getting better. Like, sometimes it's not even a hiatus. Sometimes you taking the time off. Because it wasn't like I was never recording. I was. For that four years I was creating with Pharrell. We got an album together. Like, we did two years of recording, and then, like, I had another two years of recording and working on this album. So, like, it wasn't like I was never recording. But for those who didn't see me, this was for them.
- [12:35]
Torre
You spent two years working on this album?
- [12:37]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. Well, I feel like this album took way longer than that. Cause there's a Songs that I took, like, eight years to write. Yeah, it had, like, three different versions. Like, Pool. Like, that song took me eight years to write that.
- [12:51]
Torre
Let's talk about Poole. A lot of people are talking about Pool. It's. I mean, when you talk about trying to be more personal and be more real, I mean, like, it doesn't get much realer than that. Like, can you go back to the original story that led to Pool and the verse everyone's talking about?
- [13:11]
A$AP Ferg
Well, the whole idea about Pool, like I said, is, like, bridging the gap between the four years I was gone. So, like, you'll hear, like, in the first verse, I basically explained, like, my hiatus and what I was going through and, like, putting you actually in Darrell's shoes as an artist. And then the second verse is, like, 10 years old. I was drowned in touch When I was in the pool all the breath left my body where I couldn't move Violated hand on my private By a bigger Dude, Seconds felt like forever really wasn't cool.
- [13:42]
Torre
A man you knew touched you under your shorts?
- [13:48]
A$AP Ferg
No, not under my shorts.
- [13:49]
Torre
Over your shorts?
- [13:50]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, over my shorts.
- [13:51]
Torre
In front of other people?
- [13:52]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [13:53]
Torre
But nobody noticed.
- [13:54]
A$AP Ferg
But I was like, he was dunking me. I lost my breath where I couldn't move. Violated hand on my private by a bigger dude. Seconds Felt like forever really wasn't cool. So it was like he groped me, you know what I'm saying? And I was just trying to understand why, like, how, like, where did this come from? There was no inkling in my mind of, like, I didn't see it coming.
- [14:17]
Torre
10?
- [14:18]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. 10 years old. Yup.
- [14:20]
Torre
What impact did that have on you?
- [14:24]
A$AP Ferg
For a long time, like, I would, like, see gay people and, like, be like, oh, he's gay. Let me go across the street. Or like, it created sort of like a phobia. And you know, in the hood it's already homophobia. And it's just like, that even, like, made it more of a thing. But then as I got older and me being in fashion and art and creative and all of that, I feel like I couldn't be like that, you know, because it's like, good people. Like, I got family members. That's gay. Like, I can't be like that towards people. So I had to seek therapy and just talk through things and do like, a lot of, like, unwinding just so I can get to a balanced place. Cause I don't wanna walk around. Like, sometimes you feel like you gotta walk around and be hyper masculine and all of these things, but that's a toxic way to be. I just wanna be normal. I just wanna be Daryl, whatever that means. But things that happen in your primal year shaken shapes and molds you into who you become. So it's just like a lot of rew. Rewiring.
- [15:37]
Torre
And you saw this dude.
- [15:39]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [15:41]
Torre
And you said you wanted to kill him. But even, like, just you have to see him. So you're re traumatized every time you see him around.
- [15:47]
A$AP Ferg
Every time you see him, you don't want to give him fives in the neighborhood because you like, yo, bro, I don't want to see you. I don't touch you. And then it's like, if you don't give him a five, people, like, yo, what's up with. Why you not dapping him up? Like, and then that makes that. And then you just want to avoid that whole situation. Like, you don't even wanna come around for, you know, a while. And, Yeah, I think part of my Growth was just like, you just get tired of running. Because, like, with fame, that was a way for me to stay away from those parts or the hood or whatever the case may be. And I could just use fame as an excuse. Like, oh, I just got super lit, so I don't even gotta. And that's all from a grope. Like, I could imagine, like, what other people, what they go through, but. And not to say, like, my situation is any less because it could have created a bigger chip in me than something worse could have created in them. But yeah, that's how it affected me. And yeah, that's how it affected me.
- [16:49]
Torre
Oh, such a clutch off season pickup Dave. I was worried we'd bring back the same team. I meant Those blackout motorized shades. Lines.com made it crazy affordable to replace our old blinds. Hard to install. No, it's easy. I installed these and then got some from my mom. She talked to a design consultant for free and scheduled a professional measure and install hall of fame. They're the number one online retailer of custom window coverings in the world. Blinds.com is the goat shop.
- [17:13]
A$AP Ferg
Blinds.com right now. And get up to 40% off select styles plus a free professional measure. Rules and restrictions may apply.
- [17:21]
Torre
So you said before that you had members of your crew sniping about you while you're recording.
- [17:29]
A$AP Ferg
Not while I'm recording.
- [17:30]
Torre
Well, you said you spent four years recording.
- [17:32]
A$AP Ferg
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [17:33]
Torre
Because it's like, oh, yeah.
- [17:34]
A$AP Ferg
You just see stuff in the comments or you, you know, people, like, they came out and said I wasn't a part of ASAP no more.
- [17:42]
Torre
Are you in asap?
- [17:43]
A$AP Ferg
Well, I am asap. I made ASAP me along with Rocky and, you know, the founders who built it. Rest in peace. Asap. Yams. Yeah.
- [17:51]
Torre
But the news in the streets is you're not in A dollar ap, are you or are you not?
- [17:58]
A$AP Ferg
Well, I don't think there is ASAP anymore. It's like the whole collective has ended. Yeah, I don't. It's not a cozy tape out a new one or it's not an office. It's not a record label. Asap. Worldwide, it's not a record label. I think it's a thing of the past. I think people hold on to the legacy that we created and those things. But when you think about A$AP, I think from the music point, you think about, like, me and Rocky who, like, did the music and all of that. Of course, it was built off the backs of, like, Bari and Yams and all of that, but, like, we're the faces. So, like, I feel like if we not making no music and putting out no new timestamps, then there's no asap. So right now, it's Ferg, it's Ferg Apparel, it's the Ferg Empire. It's like, Daryl is everything dealing with this individual right here.
- [19:00]
Torre
So it's Ferg now. You're not A$AP Ferg anymore.
- [19:03]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [19:05]
Torre
Is it. Is there acrimony within that, or it just. Like, we grew up, and we kind.
- [19:12]
A$AP Ferg
Of like, it's growing up because I still talk to those guys. I still talk to Rocky E, I talk to 12e sometimes I speak to Nass. We bumping into each other in LA and parties and stuff like that. But we all got, like, different pockets and groups of friends.
- [19:29]
Torre
Yeah.
- [19:30]
A$AP Ferg
You know what I'm saying? We not like 20 years old sharing a bus and traveling for months at a time anymore. You know what I'm saying? This is exactly what it was intended to be. Asap. Worldwide is a label, and it's not like, Sony, don't expect SZA to hang out with Ferg every day or whatever the case may be. We came together as a collective, and we loved it, and we've grown into these different entities, but we came together as a collective to do something positive and create opportunity for ourselves and our family and our friends. So, like, we killed it. Like, we did that 12 years. You know what I'm saying?
- [20:17]
Torre
And now time to.
- [20:18]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. And when you say, like, oh, I'm not like, asap. I am asap, because I'm always striving and prospering, and I have ASAP tatted on me. And, like, when I see the guys, we throw it up, like. But at the same time, it's like, we not kids anymore. Like, I'm Ferg, and I've been Ferg before I became asap. So it's just basically going back to my roots, going back to what people know me and how I grew up for, which is Ferguson. Cause I gave people mobbing. I never gave them the artist and the individual of who I am.
- [20:55]
Torre
Do you understand what's going on with Rocky and why? Cause we thought he was coming out. Then he postponed.
- [21:02]
A$AP Ferg
Seemed postponed as far as music.
- [21:03]
Torre
Yeah.
- [21:05]
A$AP Ferg
Knowing Rocky, he just ain't ready to put it out for whatever reason. He's a true artist.
- [21:09]
Torre
Yeah, for sure.
- [21:12]
A$AP Ferg
So it take time.
- [21:17]
Torre
When you get a beat, are you first thinking about the flow or the lyrics that you want to write?
- [21:25]
A$AP Ferg
Before, I used to think about the flow, but now I think about the topic. I think about the type of songs I want to write. Like, so I journal a lot. I write a lot. I free write free thoughts, and I let the topic inspire all of that. Sometimes it may come as the flow first. After thinking about the topic, like, I had Dead Homies as a topic for my song on my album, and I just finished recording the song, Darrell, and I was like, hold up. Open up another session. I want to do this idea real quick. And then I'm like, yo, pull up that beat that we had. And then I just start, like, doing melodies and singing, like, the topic of the song, just so I could probably just have it to, like, you know, write to later or whatever the case may be. But, yeah, it usually starts with the topic and the idea first.
- [22:28]
Torre
I mean, your flows are always really interesting to me in, like, the way that you approach a beat. And I definitely get into the flows of it all before I can really get into the lyrics. But the way he's spitting, I'm like, so I could listen to that 10 times in a row the way he said it. So now I'm able to keep listening to it and get into, like, oh, wow, this is what he's talking about, right? But you think as a fan or as a listener, can you do any flow with any group of words? Or do the words suggest this is how you flow over this? Cause these are the words that we have.
- [23:10]
A$AP Ferg
Well, if I'm trying to, like, emulate a Big Pun flow, then maybe the words is inspiring the flow. Cause ditta. Bitterly bitter, bitter. Italy in the middle of Italy, like, that little bit of, like, that. It takes, like, these words with a lot of syllables to, like, land that type of flow. And, like, he must have, like, read the dictionary or something. But, like, if I have, like, a very wordy kind of, like, if I want to get. If I want to inspire a flow from words, then I'll go, like, a Big Pun route. But, like, if I want to do a flow where it's, like, less words, then that's just, like, a different thing. But usually, yeah, like, if I want to do, like, a wordy flow, I'll go to Big Pun route, and I'll, like, think of, like, a bunch of words that have, like, long, like, a lot of syllables in it. Just so it could be, like, more like, landings.
- [24:19]
Torre
But you're really good at creating that percussion from your mouth to where I'm like, this is another drum within the track. And I have no idea how you do. How do you do that.
- [24:33]
A$AP Ferg
Well, I think I rap like a drum.
- [24:35]
Torre
Yeah, for sure.
- [24:36]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, I think, like, I rap like a drum. Like, I feel like I can rap like a snare or like, I could rap heavy like a drum. Like, I feel like Biggie raps like a drum.
- [24:48]
Torre
Are you pretending to be a drum or are you following the drum?
- [24:52]
A$AP Ferg
I'm not even thinking about the drum. I'm just going, yeah, I'm not thinking about none of that. I'm just being taken away.
- [25:00]
Torre
You think about the flow or it just happens.
- [25:02]
A$AP Ferg
I don't think about the flow at all. I just. I'm literally a vessel. Like, sometimes I may, like, write a verse without a beat, but most of the times, like, I'll write to something that I love and then, like, I can then, like, create a new beat from that.
- [25:25]
Torre
Okay.
- [25:27]
A$AP Ferg
But, yeah, I don't think about me being an instrument. I just be.
- [25:31]
Torre
I just be. Yeah, but you are an instrument. And especially you be. And I'm like, yo, that's that Ferg shit right there. That's the shit that I really like. Yeah, you're MC2. You know how to have fun. Like, you could do a hard anthem record and then you could be a little more fun. Like, some people, like, this is my vibe. I'm hard or I'm fun. But like, you. You know what I mean? Like, you could be like, light and make a joke, but. Or also be hard at the same. Right?
- [26:08]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, I think that's like, from all my influences. Like, Biggie was like, a tough dude, but at the same time, he could crack jokes at himself. Fat, black and ugly. However, I stayed coogee down to the side, like, come on. He's laughing at himself. He's very self aware. But then he could create a song like Suicidal Thoughts and make that super entertaining as well, just as much. Busta was very theatrical and is theatrical. Who else? Jay Z. I feel like this album was like, all right, I'm getting on my business acumen. I'm talking about grown man stuff that could be a little bit of Sean, Shawn Carter. And then when I think about Wayne, I think about Wayne when it comes down to me, like, just annihilating beats, like, and going and freestyling and all of that. Like, I think about, like, you know, freestyle.
- [27:19]
Torre
Wayne, I haven't seen you in a minute. Floor seats. That was a fire. Fire joy.
- [27:27]
A$AP Ferg
Floor seats for the Knicks couple. Model Plug Kisses.
- [27:30]
Torre
And the track has this high energy, but you're being chill, right on, like a low tone, a low. Like, talk about that Record.
- [27:40]
A$AP Ferg
I'm gonna tell you something that I never told anybody. That Floor Seed's flow was inspired by Drake.
- [27:46]
Torre
Okay.
- [27:47]
A$AP Ferg
And you probably wouldn't even put that together.
- [27:49]
Torre
No.
- [27:50]
A$AP Ferg
So Drake, he did a song. I forget the song, but it's him and Thug, and he said, 40 got a lake. I didn't know he had a lake. And it's just his flow on that. I'm like, ooh. But just me, I'm like. More like turnt up. But I'm like, I'm gonna have this monotone kind of flow that he had on that song on this type of beat. Yeah. So I do that sometimes. Like, I can even. Like, where they thought I was dead. They thought I was dead. That was me listening to, like, UK Drill.
- [28:26]
Torre
Okay.
- [28:26]
A$AP Ferg
And, like, grime music. Like, that's like Central C. That's like Eddie one, that's Heddy One. That's like. You know, that's like skep. It's like when I. When I say way, way, way back in the day, that's like, some shit they would say, like, because of, like, their. Their accents and, you know, the Caribbean and the African and all of that mixed in in London, you know, taking, like, different things and different elements and curating it. That's all it is. Nothing is new under the sun.
- [29:06]
Torre
You know what I love is Boca Raton.
- [29:09]
A$AP Ferg
Wow.
- [29:10]
Torre
Why say wow?
- [29:11]
A$AP Ferg
Because I was not expecting that. I love that. You love that record.
- [29:15]
Torre
I love that record.
- [29:17]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [29:18]
Torre
Talk about making that record. Cause that's different. That's totally different. Totally different Feel.
- [29:22]
A$AP Ferg
I flew out the bucket had to be my nigga Byz Just got off the phone with J. Cole Decided to party with Clyde under the road I did that song. I did that verse in, like, 15 minutes.
- [29:36]
Torre
No, Cap, you wrote. Oh, really? You could do the notepad thing. Do you write?
- [29:41]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, I write. Usually you write. This whole album. This whole last album, I wrote, but it was songs that didn't make it that I didn't write to. But you could feel it. Like, it was like. It's a different energy. Like, everything that I put in Daryl was purposeful and intentional.
- [29:56]
Torre
Wait, you can feel the difference when you write versus when you don't write. Don't write.
- [30:01]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, well, actually, Messy, I didn't write.
- [30:05]
Torre
Okay.
- [30:06]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, there's a song called Messy that I didn't write. But you could hear, like, how unorthodox my flow is. I said, fuck it so hard that my chain broke Got a hand gripping the ankle that bitch. You love that bitch. I'm checking The Magnum for the hole I'm checking the Magnum Checking the Magnum for the hole I wanna record but my camera died killing that pussy this homicide and I go cheer Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit Hunt us on deck, hunters on deck do it like it was a brick Bitches just shaking that shit and I'm giving them half of my back with a tip Drinking mo wet all of these bitches is wet Smart water trip drip, drip Back then I was feening online for them sneakers Travis Scott left his cup Back then I was leaning purple drink had me stuck on the way home I was tweaking I ain't have to keep the hem a tuck they ain't known shit they vegan so like, you could just hear like that shit is like. That's why I understand when some people compare me to Old Dirty Bastard. Because it's like a unfathered flow. Like, it's just like fucking so hard that my chain broke. You start a song off like that.
- [31:10]
Torre
How much do you practice emceeing?
- [31:15]
A$AP Ferg
A lot, I guess. Cause I write a lot. How do you practice writing songs?
- [31:21]
Torre
Like, if I don't see you, you're at home, you're writing, right? And you throw away some of that stuff, but you keep some of it.
- [31:29]
A$AP Ferg
I don't throw away nothing, really. It's just like some songs just don't make it. Because I got other strong songs. Cause I'm usually working on a project. So like, whatever songs don't fit the bill. Like, I might save it for a movie to get licensed. Or I might like give it to somebody to put it on they album feature.
- [31:49]
Torre
You can remember. And MCs. You remember a lot, right? Like I can remember a 64 bar rhyme. Like, that's a lot. Yeah, right. And I'm like, how much work did it take to get you to memorize a 64 or 32? Like a long stretch.
- [32:06]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, it's just my job. But before it was my job, like, I used to just write 100 bar verses and just. It was fun just to walk the street and just be rapping that shit. And then you going and battling people and you rapping that shit to them. And people know it like your homies know it. They screaming out like the different parts and the call and responses. I liken it to like, if you ever been around Chris Brown and this nigga just starts just like, as he's talking to you, he just like, any dancer is like, they just moving around. Or if you've been around a basketball player, they ain't Got no basketball in their hand, but they just like this all day. They practicing they moves they like. Or a boxer. They shadow boxing, or they just want to, like, box you up real quick. It's like a practice that it's a label of love that we don't stop. So, like, I might just, while I'm waiting for you to come in and, you know, sit down and get the cameras ready. I might fuck it so hard on my chain, bro. God. Gripping it so it's like a beat just running in our head that's just infectious. Like, it's just infectious.
- [33:22]
Torre
There's a line on here where you say you're unhappy about music's current state. Mm, really?
- [33:31]
A$AP Ferg
I'm happy about music in its current state. Yep.
- [33:35]
Torre
Why you think most rappers aren't really bringing it like they should?
- [33:42]
A$AP Ferg
I just feel like it could just be a much more fun and creative environment. Like, I feel like a long time we just been making money and just, like, doing what we know people would like. But whatever happened to, like, challenging a listener or, like, listening to the inner self, you know, doing things that's a little bit more, like, risky to, like, you know, make this shit fun. Like, it's not colorful the way I feel like it can be. Like, I mean, if you think of you was here for, like, the golden era of hip hop, I do believe that was the golden era. I hate to say you mean the 90s. The 90s, yeah. Like, you had, like, a young Nas that was talking like a prophet, you know, from the street corners. And then you had, like, a biggie who was, like, more shiny. Well, he didn't start off in a shiny place. Puff made him shiny, but it was like he's talking different, and it got a different flow. And you got Ice Cube, which came from, like, even the Ice Cube Jheri curl. Ice Cube nwa. And then, like, cutting the Jheri curls off and moving to New York and working with the bomb squad. Like, it was so many different flavors and so much different energies. And J Pac, Jae, you had az, who was, like, smooth and Devonaire, like, the Firm. They, like, rapped off, like, Anita Baker type beats and wore shoes and slacks. You feel me? Like, it was just. I'm a real student of this, and I know what it can be, and I know how we can influence a whole culture. And then to a world. Like, you think about KRS1 and you think about, like, him literally being a teacher that he is now and doing speaking engagements and how he was having that in the lyrics and how Like, Rakima. Allah was, like, bringing 5% of nation as well. Like, as the Wu Tang bringing, like, 5% of nation. And then, you know, practices from the clan. Like, we never seen 5% of nation. And a little bit of, like, you know, practices from the actual Wu Tang Clan. Where he went. Where RZA went to go sit with the monks and bringing that. And he bridged worlds. Like, we looking at these guys like superheroes. Like, literally. You know, I just would love to see more of that in hip hop. Cause I love it so much. Not saying that. Not saying that. I'm unhappy about all of it. Like, of course there's, like, some guys that I love and women that do amazing jobs. But it's like, as a whole, I do feel like we can. You know, I know every artist, like, have in the back of their mind, like, man, I really want to make this type of music. Or, like, they'll make the type of music that they making and then go back and listen to a whole different type of other music. Like, why not make or try to make the music that you're listening to all the time?
- [36:58]
Torre
I love the 90s, for sure. That's my era, for sure. But I feel like there may be more people who are trying to expand the boundaries of what is hip hop now. And look at Travis, future Kanye, Tyler, Rocky are out here saying, like, well, what about this? Can I do this? Is this hip hop? And you got. You know, as a fan, you gotta be fluid and like, yeah, okay, I'll fuck with that. Like, some of the Travis songs do not sound like traditional hip hop, but they slap.
- [37:38]
A$AP Ferg
It's not traditional hip hop because now you have branches of hip hop, which is like trap and drill and all of these different elements that go into hip hop. And when you think about hip hop in a traditional sense, you think backpack, boom, bap. And I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about period. Like, however you decide to rap off of a beat, whether it's a trap, it's still rap. It's still hip hop. It's still a part of. It's just a subculture in hip hop. It's a bunch of motherfuckers that came up with trap or drill. And, like, this is how they rap on it, which is fire. And I've done a bunch of it, too. But it's just like, all right, when are we gonna exercise what we can talk about? Like, how are we gonna see the whole world? And the conversation is not gon.
- [38:29]
Torre
Oh, well, for sure, for sure. I mean, I definitely feel that as.
- [38:33]
A$AP Ferg
A rich man, you done made so much money off of this industry and we still gonna keep rapping about like, rapping as if, like, I'm a poor man.
- [38:44]
Torre
Mm.
- [38:45]
A$AP Ferg
That's not gonna help us as a people.
- [38:47]
Torre
We also tend to rhyme. Like we're all young, right? And thinking about things that young men, mostly men, but some women, but mostly men think about.
- [38:56]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [38:56]
Torre
And I'm like, yo, I know that there's 40 year old MCs out here who got kids, wife, ex wife, mortgage, whatever. Like you could make a song that reflects the world that you are in as a parent with a wife or an ex wife or whatever the case may be, right? But I'm like, I'm 50 something and I don't see people talking about shit that like, you know what I mean, relates to my life. I relate to your music, you know, you being whoever.
- [39:25]
A$AP Ferg
And that's when you want to shut that shit off. Because it's not talking to you is literally not like feeding you. Like, come on. Like, we cannot. And kids is hip too. Like, the kids, yo, there's so much information coming at us. Google all these like different places. Like, the kids is hip, the kids is like, yo, this is not home cooked food. This is like the shit that like gonna kill us because we just run. We gonna burn ourself out.
- [39:55]
Torre
Like, you also said that I love you said I'm unhappy about my weight.
- [40:01]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [40:01]
Torre
Are you?
- [40:02]
A$AP Ferg
I mean, you gotta mind you about. I mean, you gotta think about this song. I wrote this song probably about a few months ago. So like, everything is not gonna be like, right this moment.
- [40:17]
Torre
That's how you felt then?
- [40:18]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, for sure, definitely. But like, yeah, I have ups and downs with weight. And like, that's something that we don't rap about. That we can rap about. So it's like we never really heard a man be vulnerable in that way. But I'm like, all right, what can I. Let me be what I wanna see. And this is what I wanna see. I wanna be able to have an open conversation about men and they weight. Because we think about that shit. We think about like, damn, we been traveling, we gotta actually sit down, work out. It's okay to be unhappy about it. Cause you can change that, right?
- [40:53]
Torre
I feel like the thesis of most rap songs is I'm the shit, right? Either I'm really smart, I'm really tough, I got a lot of money, I'm the shit, right? I can flip these words, I can flip these bricks, whatever the fuck that's toxic. There's. Right. Where is there a moment for vulnerability? I wish I was way less. I wish I was taller. I wish. Blah, blah, blah. I'm not making as much money as I insecurities.
- [41:20]
A$AP Ferg
I always love artists that was able to, like, straddle the fence on both sides. Like, you had Pac, who was super vulnerable, but you had a braggadocious Pac, too. Like, I'm just saying, give us both sides. I'm gonna give you. Like, we all know I'm flexed up. I've been flexed up for, what, 10, 11 years, my whole life. But behind this person is a person, and I'm just giving you who that person is. Some days, I don't feel like the shit. Some days I feel like, you know what? I don't wanna be in front of the camera. Some days I do feel like I could go to the gym a little extra, like, and that's okay.
- [42:07]
Torre
When you talk about taking Kendrick through Harlem, definitely a historic moment as far as the culture, explain that day to us and what it felt like to you.
- [42:19]
A$AP Ferg
I mean, taking Kendrick around Harlem, that was. That was super dope. Because, I mean, we ain't never seen that before from him. Like, I just thought that was, like, random one and two. I get a chance to show somebody that I admire and look up to in a lot of ways. When it comes down to, like, what he's done for culture and, like, how he's holding it down, for sure. I get to show him, like, where I come from and he cares to see, you know what I'm saying? And nothing happens to him on my town.
- [43:00]
Torre
Of course. Of course.
- [43:01]
A$AP Ferg
But not a lot of people can do that. See, some people can't even go back to their neighborhoods. Do you live in Harlem? I don't live in Harlem right now, but I grew up. I go to Harlem every other day.
- [43:14]
Torre
You're there all the time?
- [43:16]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [43:16]
Torre
Cause you seem like you are still Harlem, right? Like, you don't seem like, you know, now I live in Jersey.
- [43:23]
A$AP Ferg
It's purposely done.
- [43:24]
Torre
How's that?
- [43:25]
A$AP Ferg
Because I'm conscious of that. Like, I always wanted to be the Bun B of my town, my city. So, like, when you go to Houston, you think, who? Bun, baby. You think like, yo, let me call Unk real quick. Let me make sure I go tap in, get a Tril burger. Like, I always wanted to be that guy. Like, if you call. If you come to New York, like, let me tap in with Ferg. If you doing a garden or whatever, Barclays, it's like, I'm that guy to tap into. And you've seen it time and time again for years, that people come from.
- [43:55]
Torre
Out of town and tap in. Yeah, see, I love.
- [43:57]
A$AP Ferg
They don't have to.
- [43:59]
Torre
That's what I'm talking about.
- [44:00]
A$AP Ferg
You don't have to.
- [44:01]
Torre
That you should tap in. Like, be a friend. This is my town.
- [44:05]
A$AP Ferg
It's just like, you know, when I go to LA and I'm tapping in with yg, I just want to let them know, yo, I'm in your town. I hit push rod, yo, I'm here and. All right, bet. Say that. Let me know if you need anything. Blah, blah, blah.
- [44:18]
Torre
See, when guys talk about checking in, that's different. Yeah, right. That means. That means I have to give the gang a little bit of money so they don't fuck with me while I'm here. Right?
- [44:29]
A$AP Ferg
I mean, like, I understand what you saying, but checking in, tapping in for me is just like calling people that, you know in that area.
- [44:35]
Torre
No, tapping in is social.
- [44:37]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, right.
- [44:38]
Torre
Checking in is like protection.
- [44:41]
A$AP Ferg
Like, I get what you saying. I get what. The condensation that people use that in those terms. But, like, checking in to me is the same thing. Like, whether I say I'm tapping in or checking in is doing the same thing. You're calling your friend to let them know you're in the town.
- [45:00]
Capella University Representative
God.
- [45:00]
Torre
Who do you. Who do you wish you could have rapped with? Who, like, is dead or not doing it anymore? You're like, that. That would be the shit. That guy, that woman.
- [45:10]
A$AP Ferg
Who do I wish I could rap? Rap with, definitely. Biggie, Tupac. I'm not even just thinking about, like, old people. I mean, dead people. I'm thinking about, like, Eve is Super Fire. Like, I'm thinking about KRS1. Like, and I'm not only thinking about, like, rapping with them. I'm more thinking, so, like, being around that energy to understand what they did to. Yeah, I don't really think like that, like, to rap with people. I really want to be around the energy. It's like, the energy.
- [45:50]
Torre
Wait, explain to folks who have not been to Harlem. What is Harlem?
- [45:55]
A$AP Ferg
Harlem is the Mecca of fashion, culture, music. Harlem Renaissance. You think about Dizzy Gillespie. You think about Josephine Baker, Duke Ellington, Malcolm X, the Teresa Hotel, Link ups. You think about Nation of Islam. You think about Dipset. You think about asap. You think about so much. Think about the Rucker Park. There's a.
- [46:29]
Torre
There's braggadocious.
- [46:31]
A$AP Ferg
There's a lot of pride. It's a lot of. We have a Lot of pride. We are. We are a prideful people and we love color. We're a bunch of characters.
- [46:47]
Torre
Harlem's loud.
- [46:48]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, we're loud. And even if you're not loud in speaking or sonically, like, your clothes is loud, like, you making noise, you come here to be disruptive. And it's a culture of people that's born this way. We don't even understand what we doing.
- [47:06]
Torre
We just be in Harlem. The culture, the underworld is very much part of the culture. Right. Like, you see the guys, you see what they're doing, and, like, it feeds the style, it feeds the energy.
- [47:20]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. I mean, like, when you say the guys, like, who you talking about?
- [47:24]
Torre
Like, the guys who are doing it. You know, the guys who are pitching and hustling from Nicky Barnes to Rich Porter and Alpo, they are stars in that Harlem world.
- [47:36]
A$AP Ferg
Well, that's from a certain era.
- [47:39]
Torre
I mean, those are certain eras. I'm sure there's names now that I would know.
- [47:42]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. Because now those guys that's doing it may be rappers, it may be me. It may be like, Rocky, it may be like the Mob. Like, for us, it was Dipset. And they was rapping. They wasn't in the streets. They was just. They was rapping. So, yeah, I think from, like, I caught a little wind of, like, you know, the drug dealers and like, them being an inspiration as far as fashion and all of that stuff. But, yeah, some of my, like, it was like half and half. Like, some of my inspiration came from, like, the 80s and, you know, my pops and his friend group and then also, like, Dipset and like, what came after that. But I look even further back to, like, jazz musicians and Harlem Renaissance, and I dive all the way into, like, Harlem to draw inspiration from. And I feel like with the Internet, we're more prone to do that now. Like, a lot of kids can do that. Like, shout outs to Joe West. He's a up and coming rapper from Harlem and he has, like a very jazzy look. He reminds me of, like, ASAP and a Our future, baby. He's got a lot of character and charisma, but he knows his history and he's able to do his history because we have the Internet. He's an Internet baby.
- [49:10]
Torre
Are you gonna. Are we gonna wait another four years for another album?
- [49:14]
A$AP Ferg
Nah, not at all. Like, I'm already. I'm ready to wrap up the next one.
- [49:19]
Torre
You wanna do another one right away?
- [49:21]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, for sure. While I wait.
- [49:23]
Torre
Like next year?
- [49:24]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, definitely next year. Really? For sure.
- [49:27]
Torre
Have you started working on it.
- [49:29]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah, I started working. So just to give you insight about the process is, like, we turn the album in, but it takes months for clearances and all of that. So my album been done. So I was like, soon as I finish this album, it's gonna be like, time to shoot videos. But in between time, like, if I get a pocket, then I'm working on a whole nother album. So, like, I got pockets in between this album, like, waiting for clearances and all of that and shooting videos to create the next project.
- [50:01]
Torre
So you're working on the next project now?
- [50:03]
A$AP Ferg
Yes.
- [50:04]
Torre
Have you completed records?
- [50:06]
A$AP Ferg
Yes, I have, like, 10.
- [50:08]
Torre
You have 10 records done for the next album?
- [50:11]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. Doesn't mean that's gonna be the 10 that's gone on there, though, right? Yeah.
- [50:15]
Torre
Well, we'll make more.
- [50:16]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [50:17]
Torre
Maybe make another 10.
- [50:20]
A$AP Ferg
Maybe. I'm just going off the feeling, so whatever feels good.
- [50:24]
Torre
You got a beat? I got an idea. Let's make it.
- [50:28]
A$AP Ferg
Or this is an idea for a beat. Let's make this.
- [50:31]
Torre
But then later. Okay, we got these 10, these 20. Wait, we got these 30 songs, these 50 songs. How many make for this album?
- [50:38]
A$AP Ferg
50.
- [50:39]
Torre
Made 50. And you cut it down to 12. What about the other records? They're just.
- [50:45]
A$AP Ferg
Some of them came out as Lucy's. Like, Romelo, I dropped mdmx. I dropped. And I shot videos of both of those, and some of them go on other projects.
- [50:56]
Torre
Why would you put it out as a Lucy instead of on your album?
- [51:00]
A$AP Ferg
Because it doesn't fit the aesthetic of the project.
- [51:03]
Torre
Okay.
- [51:04]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. Like. Or like, it doesn't have that finite detail that I would need for it to have. Or sonically, doesn't fit the project.
- [51:14]
Torre
So you make 50, find a way to cut it down to a cohesive 12. Or so you said on the record. Did you say, I did my last record for Sony. It's time to renegotiate.
- [51:28]
A$AP Ferg
Nah. One more.
- [51:30]
Torre
The next one is the last one.
- [51:31]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [51:32]
Torre
So that's why you want to get to the next one quickly too, Right. Because this is the end of our deal. So now I can get a new deal.
- [51:38]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. I'm not really thinking. I never think in the terms of time and money and all of that. I just go with the flow. Like people would. I mean, my label and managers and all of that would love for me to think in that way, because it'll just be better for everybody to know when something is coming. But I just go when I'm inspired. And also too, like, you know, artists take a while to create sometimes because it's nothing for them to say. Sometimes it's like everybody's saying everything. Like, right now, music is the wild, wild west. Like, there's so much stuff coming out, like, to the point where it's just like, all right, I'm just trying to figure out where I'm gonna fit. And that's what happened with this album. It was like, shit that people wasn't talking about. So I'm like, hold up. I found my voice. I found the why, I found the purpose of creating a project. That way I'm not adding to the noise.
- [52:36]
Torre
I know what you're saying. Cause sometimes I wanna write an article, and I'm like, everybody's making this point. So what is the point? What's the point of me coming in saying, I agree with what all of y'all said if I don't have something different to say? And you gotta sometimes search for that other thing that's like, this is something different than what everyone is saying.
- [52:54]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. So you can join the bunch if you want to make money. Like, but that's called hustling. That's not creating art.
- [53:02]
Torre
And you're an artist. You're not a hustler. You are an artist.
- [53:06]
A$AP Ferg
But I know how to hustle, and I've definitely hustled. Yeah, but if you don't want to. If you don't want to get thrown in with that bunch, then you better start making some art. And that was what I had to be very disciplined about, was who I wanted to be and who I wanted to be looked at. Because what I was attracting was the things that a hustler would attract. And I wasn't attracting things that. Because I look at myself a certain type of way, but the appearance, it's not adding up. So I had to align myself with my true self, which is an artist.
- [53:43]
Torre
To be an artist. See, I think a lot of some of the troubles that we've seen artistically in the music business, there used to be a time when labels tended to be independent companies. And if an artist was like, I'm not done. I need another three months or six months or whatever. Like, fine, when you're done coming. And then there was a time when consolidation happened and lots of multinationals bought up the labels. So now you gotta produce a book that shows your money, your earning. What is your bottom line? Did you make money this quarter? Did you make money that quarter? And, like, we need Ferg to come out on January 1st, so second quarter will be profitable. So if you're like, I'm not done. They're like, we don't care. You gotta put it out right? And you start to see this happen. Artists getting rushed to put out right on a D. When I'm like, it's not art. I'm an artist.
- [54:38]
A$AP Ferg
It's a microwave, right? And it's not healthy, and it's not healthy for the artist, and it's not healthy for the people, because then it will be, like, a bunch of unaligned things happening. And, like, I come here to make things beautiful. I come here to decorate these songs and words, and so let me do what I do. Like. And the thing is, right, they made it to where? And I say they. I don't know, whoever created whatever, but they made it a thing to sell art, when art ain't even really supposed to be sold, to be honest. Art is just supposed to be made and supposed to be given. Now, we could do a bartering system towards, like, I create something, and then we. I.
- [55:27]
Torre
We're artists. We want art to be sold. This is good for us.
- [55:31]
A$AP Ferg
It's great for us. In this society and reality, like, we have to pay bills, but it's not divinely supposed to be like this. So that's why we always run into the problem of rush, Rush, Rush, Rush. Because we're trying to fit into an industry and a system, which it is the way it is and whatever. But when we go into, like, a place where we have writer's block or we can't think of something or whatever, it's just. It ain't divine. So it's no wonder why you can't think of something because you done put out five albums last year.
- [56:13]
Torre
Well, the relationship with the fans, it's tricky, right? Like, if you put out a so so album, people might be like, oh, I don't trust him anymore. He had two hot albums, so the money I spent was valuable. The third album was meh. Now I'm nervous if I spend money on his next album.
- [56:32]
A$AP Ferg
And that's the thing, too. Like, you trying to keep up with, like, the quota or, like, the schedule of dropping music to please whatever partners you have. And it ain't hitting because you're not taking the time to create a good plate of food.
- [56:52]
Torre
Are you happy?
- [56:53]
A$AP Ferg
Great. I'm amazing. Like, this is the best feeling and place, mentally, spiritually, physically, I've been ever, ever, ever.
- [57:07]
Torre
Wow.
- [57:08]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah. That's what growth would do.
- [57:10]
Torre
Good for you.
- [57:11]
A$AP Ferg
Yeah.
- [57:12]
Torre
Thank you.
- [57:13]
A$AP Ferg
Thank you.
- [57:21]
Torre
Thanks so much to my man Ferg for a great interview, and thanks to you for watching Torre's show gives you fuel to power your dreams. Because you can use your dreams like a rocket ship to blast you into a life you never imagined. You can make your dreams a reality. And maybe this show can help. Torre's show is written by me, Torre, and produced by Ashley Hobbs. Our editor is Ryan Woodhull, our booker is Ray Holiday, and our distributor is DCP Entertainment. And we will be back next week with more amazing guests because the man can't shut us down.