This Is How A$AP Rocky Became Unstoppable - Money Is Not Required

I'm in a room full of geniuses right now. You guys are telling me that you— these are the only artistic people? You know, I'm listening to people, you know, who still live at their mother's house and still trying to figure it out. I'm just trying to spread that peace and love. When I was poor, man, it's about these cool vibes. It's about this inspiration.

He's an American rapper, record producer, director, actor, and model. He's a member of the hip-hop group A$AP Mob. In 2011, he released his debut mixtape and signed a 2-year, $3 million record deal with RCA. He's ASAP Rocky, and here's my take on his top 10 rules for success. Rule number 1 is my personal favorite, and I'd love to know which one you guys like the best. And as always, guys, as you're watching the videos, if you hear something that really resonates with you, please leave it down in the comments below and put quotes around it so other people can be inspired as well. Also, as you are writing something down, it's much more likely to stick in your head too. Enjoy.

And you know, not to get into my hip-hop form, but that's just what it is, okay? And I'm just trying to set the bar that you could do what the fuck you want to do because the world is yours. Disregard the loud ladies walking past. I'm just playing, ladies. You can do whatever you want. The world is yours. And I'm telling the young cats of our generation Don't discriminate against anybody, 'cause we're all one generation. And that's some important shit, yo. I mean, who would've thought a ghetto kid with gold teeth and fringe braids from the hood would be in Vogue and GQ in the same month at the same time about the same shit? Who would've ever thought Interview Magazine would've did an 8-page spread? Who would've ever thought Complex Magazine would cover with a gay designer, Jeremy Scott, which was an idol of mine because I admired his fashion and I admired his art since late teens. Who would've thought I would've did that? You know why? Because I didn't let the negativity hold me back. And that's what's holding y'all back, negativity, man. Straight up.

That's real.

Don't give a fuck what nobody say. Do what feels right to you. You know who you are. Do you. Know who you are and be you. And I'm me. I'm happy being me. Feels good to be me right now, man. Straight up.

The question was when you sort of first knew that you had that moment, that confidence, when you felt it?

When I was poor, man. You know? It's just like, I don't think confidence is something that you could buy. It's something that's embedded in you, you know? And some people gain it with success. That's just like the icing on the cake. But a poor man with confidence is unstoppable, almost invincible. It made me look at you like, what do you mean? And it's just like, you know, well, I look at it like you should let the people choose. It's a day and age where everything is optional. You know, anything you need is at our fingertips, a click of a button. Yeah, man. You know what I'm saying? You should let the fans pick what they want as a single. You know, why should we drive like songs and program them into radio just to drive it into their heads? I mean, I think you should pick what people like and give it to them. Like give them the album and I got a single, he got a single, you got a single.

That's crazy.

'Cause that's what this is. I think each song, I mean, as a whole, it makes sense. They complement each other. It's like for me, I wanted to try to create a masterpiece just as much as possible the way I knew. But I feel like each of them, like, singly, individually, they stand on their own legs. And I think that a lot of individual people are gonna be like, "Well, you know, this one really spoke to me, but this one is cool. You know, I didn't really get that." That's what I wanted. I didn't expect— I didn't want to make everyone try to like everything. It's just I wanted to make art and hope everyone would like everything. It's all about inspiration right now. People neglect that so much, man. I think nowadays, I mean, it's the obvious. It's all about making a buck. And we all want to make money. I want to make money. Not gonna lie. But I would prefer to do it the right way. By making and producing art that I feel is the best I could do. Anybody could sell records today. Make a song about 10 bitches on you and it's gonna sell. All jokes aside, you know, you just gotta be catchy and, you know, get some bomb posts and you can do it. And that's not— I'm not knocking anybody for what they do. I'm just saying what I want to prefer. But I prefer to do what I want to do with my art and how I want it viewed and, you know, perceived. I want people to know that I put my everything into my art. You know, even I put it before myself. Not being seen in 2 years creating, you know, not putting out, you know, any projects. Like, this is just me creating and, you know, trying to evolve myself. Maybe you could talk about your, like, your name, why you stylized it like that, especially like the Pretty Flocco, and who that's in homage to. I felt like with the name Rakim, it's like being named after like Tupac Shakur or Michael Jordan, you know, it was, I mean, those shoes are too big to try to fulfill, and I wanted to kind of pioneer my own legacy, you know, I wanted to leave back my own path. I didn't want to be like, oh well, yeah, everybody knew about him because he came out and he had that famous rapper's name, and nah, man, I wanted to start respectfully. I wanted to earn my name, and that was the whole point of this last album, At Long Last ASAP, because it's basically, in abbreviations, it's ALLA, A-L-L-A, and it's like the return of the god MC. Rakim was the god MC, and I'm finally accepting that my name is Rakim, and I'm taking ownership of it, and I just want to make Rakim, my mother, my father, people, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, those kind of people. I want to make them proud.

At a time when New York hip-hop was like not even being respected, how did you and your boys put this whole thing together, man? You was a leader of a movement. Like, you not only put yourself on, you put a whole movement together.

It's because like, you know, I had a support system. It wasn't just like, you know, the whole mob was with this shit. And not only that, man, like, Yams, man, you know, anything I ever wanted to do, he was supportive, you know? He got it. He got my vision. I think we was just a bunch of young visionaries that happened to get together, and that only happens every once in a few. That doesn't always happen often when everybody has an eclectic vision, an individual vision of their own, you know, all together with a collective.

Everybody knew each other's strengths and—

Exactly, and weaknesses and stuff, so it really helped. And I feel like when we came in, our concern wasn't being the dopest niggas out of New York or being the most successful, da da da. We just was on, just doing our own thing. And I think that's what helped because we wasn't trying to do what everybody else was doing. And now that we're still doing our own thing, we gonna give people a new lifestyle to adapt to. You get what I'm saying? 'Cause times change. I gave them a style 4 years ago. Here we are again at long last, you know?

And I know like 2014, like you've been on the record as saying, Yams did an interview with XXL and was saying how 2014 was a rough year in culture and you guys weren't really that inspired. And then you actually had tweeted out that you thought it was a terrible year in music, culture, and unity. And that 2015 is the rebirth of it all and the year of the underdogs.

Mark my words. Do y'all agree with me on that? This year alone, this is the 4th month, right? We already have releases from some of the greatest artists in hip-hop alone. I'm on the internet and I'm hearing these little kids that's coming out and these niggas is fresh. They way better than all these motherfuckers and old niggas that's in the game. Like, I'm telling you, man, it's all about the youth. It's all about tomorrow. And I don't think just 'cause a person has a million dollars in they bank account that that makes them a credible artist or not. You know, I'm listening to people, you know, who still live at they mother's house and still trying to figure it out. As long as you got some jiggy shit to say, I'ma listen. And if you got a dope visual to go with it, I'm bought. Well, I'm a kid too myself, so pardon my language, but you know, real life stuff with you guys, you know, and, I hope that you can respect that, and I hope you can feel that, you know, because we're all real people at the end of the day. You know, when all the lights are off, we're all real people. You got to be who you are, you know? And I'm quite sure you guys know this already, right? You're geniuses, right? Yeah. But let me get back to the topic at hand. I'm going all over the place. Did I say I was happy to be here? I feel like we're at a day and age where, well, I know we're at a day and age where these companies, the radio, the media, these markets, man, it's getting really, it's getting scary for them because a lot of independent companies or just personalities are coming and doing it the right way. Like people like Spotify, you know, coming and taking something like streaming YouTube and Vimeo were places that you would go to go see videos all day. You didn't think nothing of it. They found out how to monetize the streaming service. And now that's, they're bigger than the labels. So we're looking at iTunes and Spotify and all these other guys. Those are gonna be the biggest record labels within the next 2 years. You know? And people are not, they're not seeing that. What I noticed is, As a rapper or as an artist with the internet, I can make my own label. You can, you can do it yourself. I mean, obviously, you know, you can't, you might not have the money that those companies have, but trust me, there's a way. And I think it's obvious to them, I think it's obvious to the world that stuff like radio, stuff like, you know, The old marketing formulas, they don't apply to my generation, man. Our attention span, these kids nowadays, man, you got to entertain them really quick or they're going to click to something else, man, you know. I mean, I can admit it, I'll get online and I start, you know, looking at ads and whatever, and I'm just closing out things. I really, if it doesn't spark my interest, if it's not funny, if it's not ignorant half the time, I won't watch it, you know, and that's just me. If it's not something that's entertaining. And, you know, dealing with a record label and being an artist at this day and age and doing things from an independent standpoint, I get to see both sides of the grass. And, you know, I get to see the politics within it and the flaws, you know. And I think as far as people like you guys, geniuses, and my generation to come, I'm more scared of you guys because you guys are way more advanced, you know, and the kids after you are going to be twice as advanced as you guys are, man. You know how like they always used to say like, respect your elders, man, it's like the other way around now, man. Like, the tables have turned, man. These kids are geniuses, man, and you know, that's really, you know, that's what I'm basically up here trying to articulate, you know, without feeling like I'm talking I'm talking to myself, but yeah. When I started ASAP Pardon Me, I didn't start ASAP, I joined in 2007. It was a crew from Harlem. If you guys don't know about it, that's my crew. And it was a bunch of just teenage kids that just wanted to do teenage things. I don't think I have to specify at this point, right? Basically, you know, that leads to nothing because you just, you know, wake up and before you know it, you just spent all summer having fun. You don't have anything accomplished. You don't have any money. You don't have a job. Nothing, right? I looked around and I just said, man, we got to do something about this. We need to utilize each other because together we're all a collective. And that was the obvious. I think the main part in our day and age is just Identifying and stating the obvious, like common sense, you'd be surprised how many people lack it, you know? And I use my common sense and it led to me trying to use the internet as an outlet to market myself, to get my brand out there. Because nowadays, by a show of hands, how many people are aspiring artists out there? Rather it be music, you know, painting, or no, really? Thank you, we got one artist? I know it's more than that. Music, dance, theater, cinematography, it's art, you know, the arts. That's it? So, I'm in a room full of geniuses right now, you guys are telling me that these are the only artistic people? Yeah? Don't be shy, I came to talk to y'all today, what's up? How many people by show of hands have a a passion for art. Don't be ashamed. It doesn't mean you're a loser. You're going to be like Basquiat and do heroin. It's okay. All right, cool. I think we're finally getting to know one another today, you know? What I will say is I'm quite sure everything that I'm saying, you guys are so advanced, you know already. And it is— I'm just stating the obvious. It's common sense. And, um, for those of you who are trying to be artists or who have it in them, there's just so many different— the ways that you would market a brand as far as a company and incorporation is the same way you have to market yourself these days, because a brand is no longer like just a company. It could be an individual. For instance, if If ASAP Rocky goes out and, you know, which this would never happen, but shoots 100 people, it would mess up my brand. I did it as one person. No, but I mean, it's common sense, right? I'm just breaking it down to the basics for y'all right now, you know? But it's the truth. It would mess up my brand as a person. What about my friends who had nothing to do with it? What about my, you know, that's just, that's what I mean by that when I tell you guys that We're all a brand and I came here today. Fashion, just like in hip-hop, you can't only set the bar, you also have to raise it. Here's a look at some fashion dos and don'ts. Do, be unique and independent with your style and choices. Don't wear NFL jersey with your name in the back of it unless you're willing to take a hit for that team. When it comes to fashion, break out the box, take a risk. Don't literally wear a box. Yo, who thought of this? This is fucking sad. Do have a hairstyle that complements your overall style. Don't, don't shave your sideburns above your ears. You look like a damn narc or something. Do dress casually when the situation calls for it. For it. Don't dress like you're golfing even when you're golfing.

Don't push me, Bob. Now's not the time.

I swear to God, I hate the way golfers dress. Do. Just like writing lyrics, sometimes just keep it simple. Don't over-accessorize, or else people are gonna end up pitying the fool. Hey, suck a dab turkey. I pity the fool. Do wear the Canadian tuxedo. No, don't wear the Canadian tuxedo ever.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Chad Britton asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, leave it down in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know what did ASAP Rocky say that had the biggest impact on you? What are you going to take from his message and immediately apply to your life or business somehow? Leave it down in the comments below and I'm gonna join in the discussion. I also wanna give a quick shout out to Tina Chang. Tina, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, "Your One Word," and making that fun YouTube video around it as well. I really, really, really appreciate the support.

This is my second piece of artwork. It means "ni de dai biao zi," "your one word" in Chinese.

So thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love. I'll see you soon.

Based on a movement that you guys started after Yams passed called Tweet Like Yams. Tweet Like Yams. And basically it's taking his funniest quotes and just, you know, showcasing them. I think his state of mind, it's just his personality. It was never broadcasted or just people didn't— You would have to be a true cult follower to really, while he was alive, to understand, you know, Yams, you know, Lil Newport. But I think now that he's gone, it's like one of those things. It's like awareness and it's just spreading. And his importance in hip-hop and how he— his contribution to hip-hop, people are starting to see his influence. And it's not just ASAP Rocky. Like, it's not just me influencing people and setting trends. It's like my crew was tight, but Most of all, like, my best friend, man, he had an ill vision, and I think, you know, a lot of people miss and love him for that, 'cause, you know, not only just music and stuff, people— he was a personal guy with a lot of people I didn't even know, you know what I'm saying? Like, he had personal relationships, so I think that's kind of tight. It's important, and I'm just trying to spread that peace and love amongst hip-hop and amongst the brothers and sisters, man, you know what I'm saying?