Asap Rocky

A$AP Rocky (born Rakim Mayers, 03.10.1988)
A$AP Rocky is an American rapper.

A$AP Rocky: Childhood
A$AP Rocky was born in Harlem, New York City and brought up around Manhattan, including living in a shelter with his mother, before moving to Elmwood Park, New Jersey. His father was jailed for drug offences when he was 12.
His brother was killed near his apartment when he was 13. This experience and his growing up made him want to go into rapping as a career.
He started rapping at 8-years-old, inspired by the likes of The Diplomats, Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang Clan, Run DMC and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

A$AP Rocky: Musical career
A$AP Rocky was part of a hip hop collective in 2007 called the A$AP Mob. The acronym has a variety of meanings including 'Always Strive and Prosper', 'Assassinating Snitches and Police' and 'Acronym Symbolizing Any Purpose'.
In 2011, a compilation of his YouTube hits entitled 'Deep Purple' was released by a Parisian fan. Soon afterwards, his single 'Peso' was leaked and ended up hitting the Hot 97 New York radio station as well as charting on the US R&B chart.
He was approached by various record labels after unveiling a music video for his track 'Purple Swag' and soon released debut mixtape 'Live. Love. ASAP' which got him signed with RCA Records and Polo Grounds Music.
In December of that year, he became a nominee for the BBC's annual 'Sound of 2012' poll.
In 2012, he opened for Drake on his Club Paradise Tour alongside Kendrick Lamar. He later also performed at Pitchfork Music Festival.
In that year, his A$AP Mob associate A$AP Twelvyy was accused by Rocky's former collaborator SpaceGhostPurrp (of Raider Klan) of attacking Raider Klan's Matt Stoops and Space subsequently made a YouTube video to show he was severing ties with the A$AP collective. He later alleged that they were copying Raider's style and stole some of their lyrics.
Before an expected appearance on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon', he was arrested for fighting a 21-year-old in Manhattan and subsequently didn't appear on the show until a month later.
In September, he made a guest appearance at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards during Rihanna's song 'Cockiness (Love It)'.
He released his debut album 'Long. Live. ASAP' in 2013 with his UK charting track 'Goldie' as the lead single. The album reached number 1 on the US Album chart as well as the R&B and Rap charts and even the UK R&B chart.
His other works include the mixtape 'Lord$ Never Worry' which he worked on with A$AP Mob and released as a free download.

A$AP Rocky: Personal Life
A$AP Rocky was arrested in 2012 after attacking a man in a clothing store in New York as well as two members of the paparazzi who filmed the incident. He was later charged with assault and robbery because he tried to snatch the photographers' cameras. His charges were later changed to the lesser crime of attempted grand larceny and the assault charge was dropped.