The 35-year-old New York City-born rapper A$AP Rocky is a fashion, music, and social icon. He is also the father of two children with musician, model, and businesswoman Rihanna.
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Given all these illustrious feathers in his proverbial cap, it’s safe to assume that the Grammy-nominated performer and lyricist has a lot to say about the world outside of his flashy songs. To find out what ASAP Rocky has to say about diamonds, driving, equality, and much more, read his best quotes below.
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1. “I strive for perfection, but I’m not perfect. But what I can say is my morals are totally different than any other 24-year-old rapper my age now. I look at life totally different. A whole other aspect. I have different views and morals on life in general.”
2. “I take cabs if I need to get somewhere or I take car service. I don’t drive, I wouldn’t mind riding a bike… People think that because you become an entertainer you gotta have this rock star thug image. I’m an artist, man. I’m going to live like an artist.”
3. “I have a Rolex, but no diamonds. Rappers wear diamonds to compensate for a lack of fashion sense. I don’t even have pierced ears—I’m not into that; it’s too much.
4. “I dress how I feel. I just go off emotion. I can’t prepare my outfit a day before. Everything I wear is spontaneous.”
5. “I’m here to break boundaries, man. That’s all. I’m here to be the first so that the people after me don’t have to think twice about expressing themselves and being free.”
6. “I represent the kids who come from nothing but who understand it all and love it all. That’s what I represent—those are the cool kids, you know, the kids of tomorrow, because who would’ve known that I’d be who I am today? We are the kids of tomorrow.”
7. “I’m not glorifying it at all, I’m just basically telling you that sometimes I have suicidal thoughts. And maybe I should seek help, or maybe it’s not that deep.”
8. “I treat everybody equal, and so I want to be sure that my listeners and my followers do the same if they’re gonna represent me. And if I’m gonna represent them, then I also want to do it in a good way.”
9. “There was a time when someone would get on a plane and request to move their seat just because the person sitting next to them was of a different ethnicity or religion or nationality. But I don’t think my generation wants that. That’s how it used to be.”
10. “It would be disrespectful to take my stardom and bully my way into the fashion industry.”
11. “Nowadays, everybody wanna be weird.”
12. “Everybody should be able to enjoy their life because you only live once. So I just want to get it all out there and be the best role model that I can be if people want to put me in that kind of predicament. I mean, I didn’t ask to be a role model, because I’m not perfect.”
13. “I used to be homophobic, but as I got older, I realized that wasn’t the way to do things. I don’t discriminate against anybody for their sexual preference, for their skin color… that’s immature.”
14. “So for me, fashion was about standing out as an individual—and it helped me get the attention that most people try to get with publicity stunts or by doing other crazy things. But I just let the attention come to me naturally, and I think some of that has to do with my fashion.”
15. “In Harlem, I got all my black friends. But when I go downtown, I got black, white, Asian, Indian friends. There’s no borders, no barriers.”
16. “I don’t wear diamond necklaces. I’m not against it but I never could afford it, so now I just wear gold. I wear bracelets, rings, anklets.”
17. “I’m starting to find out that a lot of people that you wouldn’t think listen to me really do.”
18. “I feel like everything I do in the hip-hop world has an influence. People don’t really notice what I did until somebody else does it. As far as hip-hop goes, I want to continue to make good music and good art. I don’t really follow the state of hip-hop.”
19. “Sometimes I forget that I’m supposed to keep people entertained because I’m just making music for my lifestyle and for the people who live my lifestyle. We forget that there’s a world waiting on us.”
20. “You ready? I have gold teeth, I have braids, I’m wearing Rick Owens moon boots, I have rips in my denim, a biker vest, I love artsy girls, my favorite artists are Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon. I’m obsessed with being different.”
Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
