A$AP Rocky on Borrowing Rihanna’s Clothes, Working with Denzel, and Fatherhood

0:28This is The Run Through. I'm Chloe Mao. From L.A.? From L.A., from L.A., from what we could tell. But he looked incredible. He was wearing very cool, what he called a dad fit. But I don't know any dads who dress like that, just for the record. And it was, yeah, it was a really fun time. I'm so excited. I love that. But before we get into that wonderful interview, there is a lot happening over here. Choma, happy birthday. Thank you. Beloved Choma. Many happy returns of the day. What? How did you celebrate? I went to Indochine with some friends. It's just really fun. Fab. What did you wear? What do you wear on your birthday?

1:11Oh, I wore something that I got from the Vogue vintage sale. Oh, which is what? I wore a Stella McCartney era top with the banana, the iconic bananas top that says, get your bananas off my melons on the back or something like that. That's actually perfect for Indosheen with the palm trees. It really is. I totally fit in with the scene there. Indosheen camo is a good look. Oh, yeah, it is. And then I went to see Sinners, which was amazing. IMAX. People are obsessed with it. I love movies that get people back in the theater like that. Me too. And Ryan Coogler is particularly good at that. He's so good at that.

1:46I'm not into, really, I'm not into horror, but I think, like Spike Lee said, He's kind of created his own genre with this. Okay. This sort of vampire, historical vampire movie. Wow. It was really fun. It was really, really fun. And you went to a 50 Cent concert? I did. I went, well, basically 50 Cent was performing on the roof of Soho House. Okay. So it was a very small audience around a pool, which was very, very apropos. No one fell in? No one fell in, although I was watching. That is crazy. like a hawk all night trying to see if somebody might but it was really fun I'd forgotten how many hits 50 has it just brought me back to a certain time in New York you know it was really fun wow that is such a different weekend than I had I went to the kindergarten prospective parents spring festival at our new school and I took Artie to an amazing circus at the new victory theater that was called the Moya Circus from South Africa, and they were so good.

2:52And on Sunday, we went to a baptist. Anyway, my weekend was much less glamorous than yours. But we are really in the Met countdown here. We really are. We have our annual pre-Met party happening this Friday, the last Friday in April, or in this case this year, the first Friday in May. It's at a great jazz club lounge in Harlem, and the dress code is Blue Notes as an allusion to the jazz age moment we're channeling. And also for people who don't like dress codes, they can just wear blue. Dochi is hosting along with Tyler Mitchell and Law Roach, who, as we've discussed at great length on this podcast, both Tyler and Law were great collaborators for our May Met issue.

3:42Choma, what Met Gala after parties are on your docket this year? What's your dance card look like? There are a few. I definitely would like to go to GQ's after party, which is being hosted by Andre 3000 and Will Welsh. And Rich Medina and A-Side are spinning and they're two DJs I really love. Then Pharrell is having an Uno party. What does that mean? Like the game Uno? The game. I think for Pharrell, make it more than just an after party. Wow. He likes to have fun with games. He likes to switch things up, which I think is very cool. ASAP Rocky is having an after party too. And Savannah James, who is LeBron James' wife, is hosting one.

4:30And now everybody seems to think that LeBron might come because it's looking like he may not make the playoffs, which is very sad for many basketball fans. but good for Met fans. They're good for Met Gala fans. So yeah, so there may be a LeBron James sighting at the Met, which is quite exciting. Very exciting. I have to say Lila Ramsey, who is our party czar, sent me the list of all the Met Gala after parties she's tracking thus far, and it's 13, which is the most I think it's ever been. That is ridiculous. And poor Elise Taylor, this is her third year in a row, writing about trying to go to every Met Gala after party, which those pieces are always so funny.

5:10and great, but I think the assignment is getting more and more ambitious as the party list grows and grows. I mean, how many minutes does she spend in each party? Well, you'll have to read to find out. I know. And this week was the week that Cowboy Carter officially took over my Instagram feed. We were just talking about that in stand-up. I know. So tell me what you have been responding to because we all liked Oprah singing along at the first concert. Yeah, I didn't see that. I kind I kind of cried when I saw Rumi with Beyonce's youngest daughter on stage with her and just how excited she was to be up there.

5:48And like how it just made me like, I'm such an emo person. Just like it was so sweet. Well, Burberry is making custom looks for Beyonce and Blue Ivy. Oh, my goodness. So the kids are really being incorporated in. So Burberry to be emo. I can't wait to go to the tour in London. I think I'm going to go when she comes in June. So I think I'm super excited to see her. I went to the Renaissance tour and definitely cried. Oh, my God. Laia Garcia-Furtado just wrote Bad Bunny on Bad Bunny. Yes, Vogue Latin America cover. He's just like the man of the moment. I was watching his tiny desk the other day.

6:33Oh, my God. And we had to have subtitles. and it just was so great. He's just one of the best. He's just like one of the most exciting artists right now. I love the shoot. Laia flew to Puerto Rico to interview him. She said it was so much fun. She's from Puerto Rico and so sort of having this homecoming with Bad Bunny who's like now a patron saint there is really fun and exciting. Yeah, the shoot's really fun. There's more exciting things coming up today, aren't there? What's happening today? We're doing a live taping in the office. Oh, my God. We are. And I can't wait to have Miles Pope, who is GQ's global fashion director on the show, because he's so funny.

7:16And obviously, by popular demand, we have Edie Kiernanbunzel, who is a very beloved Vogue contributor, who basically is the maestro behind the Met and the seating plan. Maestro behind the Met is exactly what we should intro her as today. Yes. She is the doodamel of the Met. Yes, she most certainly is. So I actually am really excited for that. So expect to hear that conversation in your ears very soon. And the run-through will be back with ASAP Rocky.

7:58You come to the New Yorker Radio Hour for conversations that go deeper with people you really want to hear from, whether it's Bruce Springsteen or Questlove or Olivia Rodrigo, Liz Cheney, or the godfather of artificial intelligence, Jeffrey Hinton, or some of my extraordinarily well-informed colleagues at The New Yorker. So join us every week on The New Yorker Radio Hour, wherever you listen to podcasts.

8:34And we're back. Okay, ASAP, we're so excited to have you on the show. I'm excited to be here. Last time I saw you, we went from Harlem to a Chelsea, to an art gallery, to Soho House, and we were playing pool and playing Crazy Eights. Thank you for teaching me. Remember I won the last round? You cheated, but we're not going to tell nobody. Oh, this is false. But now that your vote cover is out, how do you feel? Amazing. I think I'm more happy than, like, Lewis, Paul, and Pete put together. I'm happy. I think it was a beautiful cover. I'm glad with how everything turned out, you know? Amazing. And how is Grandma Kathy's reaction?

9:28What does she think? Oh, man. I know she's hype and stuff, but truthfully, I just want to give her the physical and go see her and get her reaction. You know, she was so happy. She was. That was a great day. That's such a charming picture with you and your grandma. It was one of my favorites in the entire story. Aside from the Cruella de Vil. The Cruella de Vil moment was definitely my fave, but that was the second fave. The Cruella de Vil was so good. And actually, I spent this morning at a high school in Brooklyn talking to some students about my career. And they all were like, tell me everything about this picture.

10:05Yellow car. And it was like half of them knew what 101 Dalmatians was. The other half were like, I think maybe I've heard of that before. That's so funny. Really? Yeah. Because they're like 18. I don't know. I mean, these kids probably didn't grow up on like the Disney cassette tapes. like we did. No, they did not. But they loved the pictures. They were so excited. They asked me a million questions. No, that's what's up, man. That's what's up. I'm so glad that I got to even just, you know, live that idea out and actually bring it to fruition because it was just a manifestation. I always wanted to buy Langston Hughes' house without jumping into anything too crazy.

10:46But I wanted to buy it so I could create and, you know, set up a studio there. And this marking 101 years of the Harlem Renaissance, everything just clicked together for me. I was like, oh, 101 Dalmatians, Lincoln Hughes' house, Harlem, here we come. And I just need to buy this vintage looking taxi and we were all good. I purchased the taxi and I was ready. Oh, my God. We loved it. We loved it. Well, I think everyone, now that the cover's out, I think everyone is now, all eyes are on that Met Red carpet. it and everyone is so so excited to know uh what you're going to wear i'm gonna be totally transparent and honest with you i don't even know what the hell i'm wearing yet that's just how i do oh my goodness you're giving me anxiety not at all nothing how do you work tell us your process i mean i got i got an idea of something but nah nah they're gonna be like it's not that easy but it's just not that easy guys getting dressed every time you need options and And usually the outfit picks you.

11:48You get chosen by the white. It's like Harry Potter. The hat picks you. You know what I mean? That's how it is with the outfits. You can't just be like. This is true. You wake up. I tell people this. You have to wear what speaks to you. See, I grew up preparing my clothes the night before. And I remember growing up around Easter or Christmas and your birthday. You get a new outfit the whole day. You're just waiting. And you just got it on your bed, ready for the next morning. You lose sleep over that. I was tired of putting myself through that torment. So I made a decision in my teens, my late teens, to stop preparing.

12:24And I woke up every day letting fashion choose me, you know, because fashion is a statement. And depending on how you feel that day reflects your outfit, in my opinion. Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think obviously we just had Easter. Yes. And, you know, one of my favorite things is walking around Harlem on Easter because everybody gets so dressed up. I mean, I guess. What do you know about that? What are you talking about? Yeah. We did a street style story. We went and shot at Abyssinian. No. Yes. You can go see it on Vogue.com. So I'm wondering, yeah, I'm wondering, do you, did you, do you dress up, do you and Rihanna dress up the boys for Easter?

13:03Is it something you continue even in LA or do you have to be in Harlem to get that Easter look? Like what's the, tell us what happened. No, I mean, it's not tradition. So wherever we go, we're going to have like, you know, Easter, we're going to celebrate it. But we gave the boys Easter this year. They had, I dressed up as a bunny. Oh, my God. My boys, my boys was in their best Easter outfits, you know, buttoned down. They were sharp to a T. I love it. Now, those are the looks that we want to see. Aside from the mat, obviously. I know. Did the Easter bunny have on an AP watch or a grill? No, the Easter bunny had a companion and made a lot of other Easter bunnies.

13:48So that was. Okay. Okay. Happy holiday to you. You had said, you know, in our interview that being from Harlem gives you pizzazz. Pizzazz is a good word. It's a great word. It gives you pizzazz. It's a great word. So how influential is that in how you dress, being from Harlem? I'm going to break it down to you like this. Like, I just had a friend of mine. I was just shooting a commercial directing the other day, and my friend asked me, who's co-directing with me. Well, he actually produced it, excuse me. He was asking me, why is Harlem so cool, bro? Like, you know, for lack of better words, why are you guys so cool?

14:31Like, why has it always been like this? And I had to just give him a little history. I was like, you know, Harlem essentially was like Seneca Village, which we all know now today is Central Park. Around a time when, you know, I would say our country was just going through its adversity and diversity and just challenges and stuff. You know, a lot of black people didn't have a lot of rights, as we all know. Right. You know, and we created our own neighborhood, which was called Seneca Village Central Park. Now, I don't want to regurgitate, but, you know, from what I know and gather, everybody moved from, it was kicked out of Seneca Village.

15:09And the significance of Seneca Village was that everybody who lived in it was wealthy. So it was wealthy black people. Now that's where that ghetto fabulous, I guess, personality, I guess, style and culture was really derived from everybody who left Seneca Village and went to Harlem. They were all successful. They all had money. So you would see people in Rolls Royces. You would see people in fur coats. You would see people wearing the finest jewelry. You would see people with the nice appliances and new technology. That's what it was. And it was ironic that those people were considered to be living in the ghetto.

15:47So after generations and generations of that, you got these guys who think they the shit like myself. You get what I'm saying? In all fairness, we are. You shit me? I mean, is it fair to say Harlem is the best dressed neighborhood in the world? Come on now. Because I'm from London and I will say. You're from London, right? Yes. Okay. You know the answer to that question. Okay. We talked about this. My parents are both from Harlem. I'm outnumbered. This is not fair. Y 'all know what's up. This is not fair. I'm going to answer that for you. I do feel like that. And I'm sorry. Maybe I'm biased. but I truly strongly feel that way.

16:29I guess we also have to talk about your approach to getting dressed because I think everybody loved your life in looks. I think it was one of like a real crowd favorite. And I personally love the way you talk about the babushka look and like, you know, you talk about wearing masks and it feels like you're not confined by this idea of like masculinity. Like, can you tell us a bit about like, about how you see getting dressed in that sense? Man, part of my language, I do what the fuck I want, you know? Yeah, excuse my language. But in all fairness, like, man, I want to represent, like, I want to be a catalyst for like daring men, you know?

17:14I don't know who drew the line between like femininity or just being feminine and masculinity, excuse me. I don't know who drew that line, but I don't see any barriers. For me, it's not fair that, like, my girl could just go in my closet and just take anything from it and wear it. That goes both ways. Like, she has pieces she don't know that I actually stole. You get what I'm saying? Nice. I would wake up. She does it to me all the time. Sometimes you just see her on, like, an interview or just see a paparazzi photo. Like, wait, there goes my Mew Mew fucking jacket. Like, what the fuck? I was looking for that since 2021.

17:56You get what I'm saying? And it's just like, okay, I got you. So for me, it's just like, there's no barriers. There's no nothing. For me, I think like kilts and babushkas and all of that stuff, that's what the Moors wore. If you know anything about the Moors with pearls and stuff like that, and that's literally what the Moors had on. You know, and for me, kilts, pearls, T-shirts on the head. These are all things that were meant to be like emasculated and meant to look feminine. And they all started out with African men wearing them. Yes. Another fact. Yeah, it's very true. I love that you also stepped into the role of designing yourself.

18:40And I'm kind of curious to know what it was like designing your collection, American Sabotage, last year under the label Org. Like, tell us a bit about it. I've always been a designer. You know, I've just been ghost designing and trying to get my feet wet and learn things. So instead of just getting internships at certain houses, what I would do is if I'm friends with somebody, I would ask, can I come in? Can I give my opinion? Can I do a capsule collection with you? Can I do it? And that allowed me for the past 10 years to kind of like develop an understanding of how the fashion industry works, because I was always looking at it from a consumer perspective.

19:17so you know just trying to get into it and you know do the right things and you know just see what the the playing field was like was just my prerogative and I think that it was well overdue by the time I did this American Sabotage show it was really supposed to be political satire I think everything that I embedded into the show ended up I foreshadowed because it ended up happening you got these immigration laws that are going crazy see my whole thing was inspired by like immigrants and refugees and different people. I was chilling in the alleyway in Tribeca, and I would just watch different people walk by, and that's what inspired the beanbags full of trash.

19:54That's what inspired the clothes, the covering of the face coverings and everything. It was more of a political satire, so I just kind of wanted to manifest my observations into that collection. Nice. Great. Yeah. And as someone who is, I guess, like, you know, so deeply entrenched in this world of fashion and part of it. We're so curious to know your thoughts on all these creative director appointments and all the shuffling around that's happening. We know you've worked with Jonathan Anderson, who's now heading to Dior. You've worked with all the big people. All of them. Like Mathieu, Alessandro, everyone.

20:32So what are your thoughts about what's happening right now with all the creative director reshufflings? It's beautiful and it's healthy. It's what we need. I think they wait too long. Sometimes some people need to get the fuck out of there. Some people need to be moved to other places, in my opinion. Okay. A refresh. It's a refresh and a reset. All right. I think it's important. It's just like a basketball season. You know, they do trades every year, and, you know, you get new players sometimes, new coaches. I think it's all necessary. All right. And when you and Jonathan have chatted about fashion, what are some of the things you guys have discussed?

21:08or what is any, like, advice he's given you about, you know, your work as a designer? When I talk to Jonathan, it's mainly about us critiquing fashion. Like, we just like to, like, sit back and just talk about fashion from the 80s, 90s, and compare it to now. You know, we talk about different designers who we respect, different people who not so much. Like, you know, it's just typical fashion talk. Do you have an era that you really love? Do you have, like, a favorite fashion era? obviously Galeano had eras that you know were amazing uh Lee McQueen had he had his error I look at it from just the overall like package not just phenomenal designer but how was the designer shows how was his influence and his impact or her impact her influence on the culture on the industry and that's just for me it's just like people have their errors and stuff like that so I don't necessarily have like one specific, you know, time period.

22:06That was my, that's my favorite of all, you know, but if I had to, I would say eighties fashion is the shit. You know what I mean? Eighties Armani. Eighties Armani, American gigolo. that might be, is that a clue for the Met? Are we thinking that, is that the vibe? Oh, I don't know. Is it a little Richard Gere influence? I mean, you never know. You never know. Okay. Okay. Hi, I'm Rebecca Ford, senior awards correspondent at Vanity Fair and co-host of Little Gold Men. Oscar season is upon us. Little Gold Men takes you behind the scenes of the race for the biggest prize in Hollywood. There's a hundred wrestlers in the room, but only one can be Oscar nominated.

22:52Whether you're a movie lover or an industry buff, Little Gold Men from Vanity Fair has everything you need to know about this year's Oscar race. Follow and listen to Little Gold Men wherever you get your podcasts.

23:07You know, you and Rihanna do such a great job of championing new designers and putting us onto who's next. Are there any young designers, emerging labels that you're really into at the moment or feeling? Yeah, there's quite a few, but, you know, not to be biased, I really love what my boy Joshua Jamal is doing. I think as a young designer I think he's killing it Tell us more about his label He played Crazy 8s with us, correct? Yeah Is that the name of his brand? Is his name Joshua Jamal? Yeah, his name is Joshua Jamal That's his brand I think he does a great job He designs with me for my org stuff as well He collaborates with me on my org stuff So, you know, I fuck with him heavy How did you meet?

23:55I just reached out to him I was doing these like like that American sabotage kind of like a military kind of like swag for a little bit. And I was doing these videos and I would see like when I dropped my video, a lot of his posts look similar to it. And I was just like, yo, we on the same Bob. You know what I mean? Usually other people take it as like, you know, something that's like bumping heads or, you know, as a negative. Oh, you're taking my style. Oh, we can't exist in the same spot. Nah, for me, it's just like, oh, you get it. You tapped into the same thing I was saying. We should do more.

24:30You know what I mean? It's so nice when that happens, when there's like real synergy. Yeah, because this whole thing is egotistical and it's driven by ego. So it's nice when you could kind of put the ego in the backseat and just let creativity drop. Yeah. And speaking of creativity, you've got an album coming out, right? Yes, I do. Yeah, tell us everything. What is it? Like, it's been a minute. So I feel like everybody's super excited. Tell us how you're feeling in this moment. I feel great about it. I feel like I shouldn't speak on it because I spoke about it too much. And I promised my fans when I was going to drop it and stuff.

25:03And I just want to drop it, honestly. I'm tired of telling them, it's this, it's that, it's that, it's this. That's one of those things I need. It's just going to drop, you know. It's going to come out and people are going to love it. And, you know, they're going to see all the hard work that I put into it. And everything is going to be cohesive from like it's me. It's just, you know, the visual, the artwork, the creativity, the music. But sonically, everything is just going to be cohesive. It's going to be very ASAP Rocky in 2025. Nice. Well, one of your collaborators is Jessica Pratt. Yeah. Hi, Jack.

25:34I was bumping that the other day on the way to my workout. I said, Leah, you got to get there. She's so cool, man. I love her, like, monotone. Curious, are there other, like, artists who you listen to or who you're inspired by that may be surprising to people? There are, but if I give them away, then people might know my features and shit, you know? You gotta keep it under wraps. Okay, well, what about, was there anything you were listening to in high school that maybe, like, all of your friends weren't listening to? Yeah, I was listening to, like, Norse Barkley and shit like that. I was listening to a lot of Nirvana.

26:10I was listening to a lot of, I was listening to The Beatles, obviously. I liked rock. I was listening to a lot of underground Memphis rap. People didn't understand that. It was in Texas rap too. I used to love a lot of underground early 90s, late 80s Texas Memphis rap. It's crazy. It's nuts. Oh, nice. Yeah, underground hip hop too from New York in the 90s, 80s. Crazy. I feel like a lot of people have been inspired by how you've taken to the role of father. I think it's been so great. And I'm wondering how that is, if that's influenced your creative process. Oh, absolutely. I mean, being a father is my creative process now because I just embodied it as a whole.

26:58I never really had a role model or just an iconic figure that I sit that I'm like, you know what? When I become a dad, I'm going to. And I guess I'm that for people. And I didn't I didn't like purposely try to do that. But I take it as a badge of honor. I'm so flattered and you know just being me that it can inspire people to actually do something that is considered good being a present active father you know what I'm saying so you know I love that shit for me my dad was a proud dad he taught me everything I know especially how to be a gentleman and what not so I was prepared to be a dad my whole life man you know I'm ready and I'm 36 going on 37 man these clothes suit me well man You know what I mean?

27:48Your dad swag. Your dad swag. Yeah, I'm in my dad bag right now. For sure.