The Harlem rapper dropped by Fallon to chat Don’t Be Dumb, German design obsessions, and the morning ritual that convinced him Tim Burton was the one.
A$AP Rocky has officially entered his “art auteur” era, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten the days when he couldn’t even get past a doorman.
In a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the rapper peeled back the curtain on his new album, his deep-dive into German industrialism, and the surprisingly sweet artistic process behind Tim Burton’s genius.
While Rocky and Rihanna are now the definition of royalty, their first encounter wasn’t exactly a VIP experience for him. Rocky told Fallon that the first time he ever laid eyes on her, he wasn’t famous yet—and he was busy losing a fight with a bouncer.
“I was arguing with the bouncer because he wouldn’t let me in,” Rocky laughed, setting the record straight. He described the cinematic moment of seeing Rihanna walk out of the club while he was stuck on the sidewalk. And no, despite the meet-cute, she didn’t wave him through. “I didn’t even get in,” he admitted.
Beyond the romance lore, Rocky geeked out over the heavy visual influences behind his long-awaited record, Don’t Be Dumb. He’s been deep in a rabbit hole of German industrial design and Expressionism, a stark aesthetic that led him to the doorstep of Hollywood’s king of gothic whimsy, Tim Burton.
But the moment that truly sold Rocky on the collaboration wasn’t a movie set or a storyboard – it was a drawing on a table at Burton’s house.
Rocky described seeing a piece of art sitting on the table and asking about it. Burton revealed a daily ritual that is honestly wholesome AF: The director wakes up every morning and draws half a picture. Then, his kid wakes up, finds the drawing, and completes the other half.
That blend of seasoned genius and pure, childlike instinct is exactly the energy he wanted for the album cover.
With the artwork now confirmed to be a Burton original and the new video for “WHISKEY / BLACK DEMARCO” showcasing that dark, hand-drawn flair, Rocky is building his own distorted universe, one sketch at a time.