{"id":934581,"date":"2026-10-16T00:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T00:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/934581\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T00:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T00:52:09","slug":"aap-rocky-interview-grammys-playboi-carti-disc-2-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/934581\/","title":{"rendered":"A$AP Rocky Interview: Grammys, Playboi Carti & ‘Disc 2’ Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA$AP Rocky<\/a> doesn\u2019t shy away from growth; he acknowledges it. Nearly eight years passed between 2018\u2019s TESTING and the arrival of the much-delayed Don\u2019t Be Dumb<\/a>, an eternity in rapper terms. <\/p>\n

\n\tRocky was unsure of the ever-changing rap landscape he\u2019d be returning to as a father of three, and as one half of a reigning music power couple alongside Rihanna<\/a> \u2014 but his influence endured as a premier tastemaker in the zeitgeist. Released in January, Don\u2019t Be Dumb topped the Billboard 200,<\/a> which marked a triumph, and his first No. 1 album in over a decade.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s mind-boggling that after all these years, I still got this much influence on the culture, and I\u2019m still doing this same thing that I love to do \u2014 but even at a higher level,\u201d Rocky tells Billboard with a hoarse voice after wrapping up his European tour in Greece two nights prior. \u201cPeople like to pretend that they all buttoned up and figured [it] out. Nah, man, I still got some growing to do, even this late in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the first round of voting from the Recording Academy underway, the Harlem native has his sights set on winning his first Grammy Award<\/a>, after coming up empty in three previous nominations. \u201cI think it would solidify everything that I worked hard for,\u201d the 38-year-old says. \u201cI worked so hard on this, and I intentionally wanted to win one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRocky still has one more promise to deliver on, releasing his long-awaited Disc 2. He\u2019s kicking off the rollout for the deluxe edition on Friday (Oct. 16) with the streaming arrival of \u201cShroom Clouds,\u201d which the A$AP Mob frontman premiered live at a 420 Weedmaps show in 2021 and performed as part of his Amazon Music Live <\/a>set in 2022. \u201cI\u2019ma keep my promises this time,\u201d he vows. \u201cI just had to do these tours and give the people what they want.<\/p>\n

\n\tFind the rest of our interview with Rocky talking about his tour, signing Playboi Carti<\/a> to AWGE, 15 years of LIVE.LOVE.A$AP and what\u2019s making the cut for Disc 2. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s it like being back outside after being gone for years, and getting to perform and connect with the people again?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s been phenomenal for me. Just being away for a long time, eight years, and going back and still having that much influence, and still shaking the room, and still having fans \u2014 new fans, old fans, concurrent fans \u2014\u00a0just be so receptive to where I\u2019m going creatively is a f\u2013king blessing. I\u2019m probably the most thankful, hardworking person I know. I\u2019m dead serious. I was for real with that FKA Twigs song \u201cFukk Sleep.\u201d We outside, bro. It was amazing. The day before yesterday I just wrapped tour. I was just going hard, man. Every night, two hours and 15 minutes on that stage, carrying a 50-pound RPG microphone. Just insane, dude. The s\u2013t was lit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019re one of the last A-listers in rap to do press still. You\u2019ll go from Vogue to Billboard to sitting down with DJ Akademiks. Is that something you\u2019re cognizant of, while your peers shy away from it?<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, I think people shy away because they want to avoid certain questions. I\u2019m an open book, bro. I just wear my flaws on my sleeves, and I kind of think that\u2019s what just makes me, me. I\u2019m very aware. This is what I want to do. I want to talk to the people because I feel like journalism is a dying art. I\u2019m a man in the arts. Like real, authentic journalism, and I think these days you can just type in some ChatGPT s\u2013t.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not taking nothing away from ChatGPT, because that is a very reliable sourcing tool for myself. It\u2019s actually fun, for lack of better words. I really enjoy this s\u2013t, because a journalist is a very intricate kind of profession, because it takes some type of intelligence to convey something perfectly into some type of literature, and kind of color in the lines. In this day and age, that\u2019s phenomenal. I\u2019m old school too, bro. Like, I\u2019m the leader of the new school, but I\u2019m dead-ass old school. I got an old soul. I just sound 80 \u2019cause I f\u2013king just got off stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tHow has touring been with the family around? I\u2019m sure that has to be a lot different than when you were outside with the Mob a decade ago?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s way different. I put an Instagram clip <\/a>of how my backstage is like a castle. The reason why I travel like that is because some of those toys and belongings belong to my kids, my family, my girl. And what it does is it gives me a sense that I\u2019m still home. Get on a FaceTime call with them, if they\u2019re not there physically, and it kind of numbs the pain of being away from the little ones and s\u2013t like that. It just makes you forget that you\u2019re not even home. That\u2019s why I stay so busy and I do so much, so I don\u2019t really think about the things that will kind of make me a little sad \u2014\u00a0because it\u2019s almost like going on a tour in the Marine Corps or something like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYou gotta kind of have that trench mentality. We\u2019re in the trenches; we\u2019re in a battlefield. From a sports perspective, it\u2019s like, every night is a playoff game. You know, you\u2019re trying to win a championship. If the sound engineer messes up, that\u2019s somebody not putting numbers on the board, or passing the ball out of bounds. We\u2019re a team, and I think everything being cohesive and coordinated is what I look forward to every night, because I\u2019m not putting on a rap music concert. I\u2019m putting on performance art in a hip-hop formation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen you look back at your year, how do you feel about Don\u2019t Be Dumb compared to Testing and the rest of your discography? Do you think you delivered with it?<\/p>\n

\n\tI think to take an eight-year hiatus and come back and go No. 1 \u2014 it\u2019s just unbelievable. I\u2019m doing the same amount of numbers I did when I left, and in comparison to all of them, obviously I love it, because it\u2019s more recent. So I\u2019m taking a liking to it because it kind of personifies who I am now, and that\u2019s why all those alter egos were on the cover. Shout out Tim Burton. Because between those eight years, I would drop loosie singles, movie soundtracks, and all this other stuff, and it was like those were the characters, the alter egos and the swagger that I was portraying at the time. Those guys never had the ability to have their own album, so you never knew what a full album from Mr. Mayers would sound like. You never knew Rocky when he wears a T-shirt on his head. What is that like? What is the Testing era with the dummy? Babushka Boy was right after Testing, so I just kind of wanted to pick up where I left off and tell a story in between.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDon\u2019t Be Dumb, for me \u2014 I don\u2019t want to say I left and it was a return, but it was just proof to myself that art still prevails no matter what, even when it\u2019s a bunch of noise and a bunch of just chaos and s\u2013t going on; art prevails, dude. I tapped into one of my favorite artists of all time, Tim Burton, and he allowed me to make a hybrid world, because I\u2019m a world-creator; I\u2019m a world-builder every time. And he allowed me to work with Danny Elfman, and man, he was so receptive. Winona Ryder showed love, and she was starring in the \u201cPunk Rocky\u201d f\u2013king music video. Danny Elfman was on the roof playing drums with her. They didn\u2019t connect for years. F\u2013king Danny Elfman doing SNL with me. That was my first SNL performance. Us just rocking that s\u2013t, like, it was just f\u2013king fun, bro. And I\u2019m blessed, dog, honestly. And I\u2019m grateful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis week starts the Grammy voting period. What would a win mean for you at this stage of your career?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt would be an honor. For me, I\u2019ve been doing this for 15 years. I\u2019ve had a lot of nominations, and I never won. So for me, man, it would be an honor and a blessing to be a part of the Academy and actually win an award from it. You know, I think I\u2019m at a place in my career, in my life, in my age where I put art first, and music was my main prerogative and priority for this year. <\/p>\n

\n\tUsually, it\u2019s other endeavors. Sometimes it might be films, me being an actor; it might be me being behind the camera directing music videos for myself or for other artists. I wear different hats, me being a designer. But this year my focus was really about the music. 60 dates sold out. It\u2019s people who won Grammys that can\u2019t even sell out arenas. These ideas, we\u2019re giving people performance art that has never been seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tLIVE.LOVE.A$AP turns 15 later this month. I think of \u201cPeso\u201d and \u201cPurple Swag\u201d taking off during summer 2011. What comes to mind when you think about that time?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt just feels like nostalgia. I was just thinking about earlier how it\u2019s funny that all those nostalgic songs are still bringing on new fans and current fans and just older fans is just still there to support it. They come to these concerts hoping to hear \u201cPurple Swag\u201d and \u201cPeso.\u201d When those songs come on, I\u2019m seeing the whole arena hugging, kissing and spreading love. During \u201cL$D,\u201d it\u2019s insane to witness. It\u2019s a privilege. It\u2019s a blessing. I\u2019m still evolving as an artist, and that\u2019s what I love. I don\u2019t shy away from the growth; I acknowledge it. I\u2019m ready and I think I should win these awards and solidify to kind of go on to the next chapter and s\u2013t like that.<\/p>\n

\n\tI think about you signing [Playboi] Carti to AWGE 10 years ago as a passing-of-the-torch moment in hip-hop. That set up the next generation. You deserve your flowers for that as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRight. I mean, yo, that\u2019s crazy that you even acknowledged that. That was just an honor for me to do too. We got a song together, \u201cNew Choppa,\u201d he\u2019s like, \u201cI signed to Flacko, Rocky, he passed me the beam\/ I shoot like the King, new choppa, new choppa.\u201d He\u2019s talking about LeBron. I\u2019m so proud of that guy for him to do what he saw me do with A$AP Mob and with AWGE, and now he has his own Opium thing, and now the whole industry sounds like an artist that derived from my nest. It\u2019s a blessing, and we\u2019re both simultaneously doing our thing. It\u2019s just f\u2013king weird, bro. It\u2019s f\u2013king dope as hell. I got mad love for that guy.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat\u2019s the update on Disc 2?<\/p>\n

\n\tYes sir, coming soon. \u201cShroom Clouds\u201d is dropping this Friday (Oct. 16). This music video \u2014 I don\u2019t know if you remember that \u2014 was a fan favorite. I performed it a few times, but now we gonna re-release it. Disc 2 is all of the songs that I dropped that those alter egos didn\u2019t get an album to live on, because the next chapter is right after that.<\/p>\n

\n\tA$AP Rocky 2027 Grammy Submissions:<\/p>\n

\n\tRecord of the Year, Best Music Video, Best Alternative Music Performance \u2013 \u201cPUNK ROCKY\u201d
Song of the Year, Best Melodic Rap Performance \u2013 \u201cSTAY HERE 4 LIFE\u201d (feat. Brent Faiyaz)
Best Rap Performance \u2013 \u201cHELICOPTER\u201d
Album of the Year, Best Rap Album, Best Album Cover, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, Best Recording Package, Group Cover Vinyl Package \u2013 Don\u2019t Be Dumb
Best Rap Song \u2013 \u201cSTOLE YA FLOW\u201d<\/p>\n