Meet A$AP Rocky. Harlem kid with a Houston sound. New York’s identity crisis lives on… Me and the fellas had a healthy debate on twitter as to the state of NY rap given AR’s unabashed “foreign” influence. Its clear that NY’s transition from the traditional gritty, lyric-centric style of the boom-bap era to the swagged-out fashion driven focus of the new youth movement has been an uneasy one. But Hov said it best, “you can’t stop it, when it’s hot, it’s hot.” And as much it pains me to say it, as impressed as I am with the kid’s wordplay, its his “and what?!” Harlem SWAG that won me over *hic-throws up in mouth* Although his style most closely resembles the LA youth movement on the surface, he goes out of his way to let you know he’s a NYC kid out the gate on his breakout record Peso, “I be that pretty muthafcuka, Harlem’s what I’m reppin!…” And for the old heads that still question his allegiance, the visuals for the record features those old NY staples we know and love – Tims, alley way dice games, street sign chin-ups and corner store crew shots, the whole 9. Standing on his own two for most of the album besides a few appearances from lesser talented A$AP bredren and the criminally slept on Schoolboy Q, LiveLoveA$AP is a great listen if you simply let it do what it dew.
