ASAP Rocky

Rakim Athelston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( AY-sap; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, record producer, actor, fashion designer and model. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mob, from which he adopted his stage name. In August 2011, Mayers' single "Peso" was leaked online and began receiving radio airplay within weeks, propelling cloud rap into mainstream attention. He signed with Polo Grounds Music, an imprint of RCA Records, that October and released his debut mixtape, Live. Love. A$AP to widespread critical acclaim.

Mayers' 2012 single, "Fuckin' Problems" (featuring Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar), marked his first entry—at number eight—on the Billboard Hot 100, was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, and preceded his debut studio album, Long. Live. A$AP (2013). A critical and commercial success, it debuted atop the Billboard 200 and received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His second album, At. Long. Last. A$AP (2015), also debuted atop the chart and saw continued critical praise; its two lead singles, "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 (LPFJ2)" and "Everyday" (featuring Rod Stewart, Miguel and Mark Ronson), both received double platinum certifications by the RIAA, while its third, "L$D", was nominated for Best Music Video at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. His third album, Testing (2018), debuted within the Billboard 200's top five, while his fourth album, Don't Be Dumb (2026), debuted atop the chart.

Aside from his musical career, Mayers founded the creative agency and record label AWGE in 2014. AWGE launched partnerships with Marine Serre, Amina Muaddi, Moncler, JW Anderson, Under Armour, PacSun, Vans, Mercedes-Benz, Selfridges, as well as conceptual collaborations with MTV and Needles. Mayers co-launched cult fashion label VLONE, co-chaired the Met Gala in 2025 and spearheaded campaigns for DKNY, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Ferragamo, Beats by Dre, Dior Homme and more. As of 2025, he serves as the creative director for Puma F1 and Ray-Ban. As an actor, Mayers has had supporting roles in Dope (2015), Monster (2018), Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest (2025) alongside Denzel Washington, and If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025).

Mayers has received accolades such as a BET Award, two BET Hip Hop Awards, an MTV Video Music Award Japan and an MTVU Woodie Award. His creative entrepreneurship has been rewarded with the Global Style Icon Award, the Virgil Abloh award, the Cultural Innovator Award, the Collaboration Of The Year Award, and the Fashion Icon Award. He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards, six World Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards and two MTV Europe Music Awards. Furthermore, Mayers has co-directed most of his own music videos, as well as worked in production or co-writing for other artists, often under the pseudonym Lord Flacko.

Early life

Rakim Athelston Mayers was born on October 3, 1988, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, a borough of New York City. His father, Adrian "Duke" Athelston Mayers, was from Barbados and his mother, Rina "Renee" Black, is of African American and part Guyanese descent. The couple raised four children together; Ricky, Erika B., Rakim and Asia. Both Rakim and Erika's names are taken from the Eric B. & Rakim duo. Mayers has 10 other paternal siblings. His cousin is fellow ASAP Mob member ASAP Nast.

Mayers started rapping at age nine, when he moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He learned how to rap from his older brother, who also wore the cornrows hairdo that Mayers later adopted. When Mayers was 13, his brother Ricky was killed by gun violence in Harlem. The death inspired Mayers to take rapping more seriously. Mayers grew up admiring Harlem-based rap group the Diplomats. He was also influenced by Mobb Deep, Three 6 Mafia, UGK, Run DMC, Wu-Tang Clan, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

When Mayers was 12 years old, his father went to jail and he spent his teenage years moving around homeless shelters with his mother and sister. After living for a period in a shelter with his mother in New York City, he moved to Midtown Manhattan. His father died in 2012.

Career

2007–2011: Career beginnings

In 2007, Mayers joined the A$AP Mob crew, a Harlem-based collective of rappers, producers, music video directors, fashion designers, and bikers who shared similar interests in music, fashion, style, and art. It had been formed by A$AP Yams, A$AP Bari and A$AP Illz. In July 2011, Mayers released his single "Purple Swag" which quickly became a street anthem in New York City.

In August 2011, Mayers’ single "Peso", was leaked online and within weeks received airplay on the high-profile Hot 97 New York radio station. After he released a music video for his song "Purple Swag", he received attention from several record labels. In October, he released the mixtape Live. Love. A$AP to critical acclaim. Earlier that month, he signed a two-year, $3 million record deal with Bryan Leach's Polo Grounds Music, which at the time was distributed by Clive Davis' Sony Music division of J Records. Upon his record deal, Mayers started a label, A$AP Worldwide, with A$AP Yams. However, Mayers’ deal with J Records would be short-lived, when on October 7, RCA Music Group announced that it was merging J alongside Arista and Jive Records into RCA Records. With the shutdown, Mayers (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release future material under the RCA brand. On December 5, he was nominated for BBC's Sound of 2012 poll.

2012–2014: Touring and Long. Live. A$AP

In February 2012, Mayers joined Kendrick Lamar as the opening act for Drake's Club Paradise Tour. In June, SpaceGhostPurrp, founder of Miami-based collective Raider Klan and Mayers’ past collaborator, accused A$AP Twelvyy of jumping Raider Klan's Matt Stoops and subsequently disassociated himself from A$AP Mob and Mayers in a YouTube video. He and Raider Klan also accused ASAP Mob of copying their style, and Mayers of using lyrics from SpaceGhostPurrp's song "My Enemy" on "Goldie". Mayers responded in a July interview for MTV, saying that SpaceGhostPurrp is "try[ing] to build hype" and told him to "stick to makin' beats".

In July 2012, Mayers performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival. He was scheduled to make his network television debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on July 20, but he was then arrested the night before, after an alleged involvement in a brawl, with 21-year-old artist iRome. The scuffle took place in downtown Manhattan and the performance was canceled. After it was rescheduled for August 21, Mayers performed "Goldie" on the show. On September 6, he also performed a guest rap on Rihanna's "Cockiness (Love It)" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.

Mayers recorded his debut studio album Long. Live. A$AP, along with several producers, such as Clams Casino, Hit-Boy, Friendzone, A$AP Ty Beats, Soufien3000 and Joey Fat Beats. "Goldie" was released as the album's first single on April 27. On August 27, his crew A$AP Mob released the mixtape Lords Never Worry as a free download. During September through November, Mayers promoted the album with the 40-date national concert tour, the Long Live ASAP Tour, with opening acts ScHoolboy Q, Danny Brown, and A$AP Mob. Long. Live. A$AP was released on January 15, 2013, to mostly positive reviews from critics. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 139,000 copies in the United States. As of March 13, 2013, it has sold 284,000 copies. On March 16, 2015, Long. Live. A$AP was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for the shipment of 500,000 copies in the United States.

On April 12, 2013, in an interview at Wild 94.9 radio station, Mayers revealed that he was working on an instrumental album, which he plans on releasing without notice. He also discussed his favorite music videos and talked about his desire to collaborate with veteran rapper André 3000. On June 21, Mayers told MTV News that he had completed his debut instrumental album, which mostly consists of ambient oriented instrumental tracks, titled Beauty & The Beast: Slowed Down Sessions (Chapter 1) and was originally set to be released during the summer for free download. However, that album was delayed with no release date announced. Mayers previewed two snippets that would have made the Beauty & The Beast: Slowed Down Sessions (Chapter 1) compilation, titled "Riot Rave" and "Unicorn". The project has not been released as of 2025.