The reason A$AP Rocky feels misunderstood: “I plan on not giving a fuck”
A$AP Rocky has remained true to himself since he broke onto the scene in the early 2010s. Passionate about fashion just as much as music, the Harlem rapper has never been afraid to wear feminine clothing or paint his nails, which the hip-hop landscape has slowly acclimatised to over the years.
During a 2013 interview, Rocky explained that he included the American flag on the cover of his Live. Love. ASAP mixtape and Long. Live. ASAP album as a representation of being misunderstood.
“That’s a political view,” he told Rolling Stone. “Society lives by rules and laws that are man-made, but anything man-made can be broken. When you break rules, sometimes it’s justified for the penalty. And there are always certain forces that are trying to restrict you. We’re all misunderstood, and the flag represents that. We’re trying to represent for the wars that our generation faces. I want us to all be united. It’s bigger than music, straight up.”
Rocky revealed that he felt misunderstood about his art and fashion sense. People believed he should look or sound a certain way from Harlem, New York City.
“I feel misunderstood about my art. I feel misunderstood about my fashion. Let’s start there,” he said. “I wore a long shirt in the ‘Fuckin’ Problem‘ video, and people were saying that I wore dresses. Then there’s my image: the gold teeth and the braids. People say he’s from Harlem, but he looks like he from Houston, or he looks like he’s from Cleveland, or from Cali.”
Speaking to Life+Times on another occasion, Rocky admitted he was done with people’s misconceptions about him. Instead of giving them the time of day, he ignored the haters and continued doing what felt organic.
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” he said. “Motherfuckers gonna say what they gonna say at this point. It’s too late for that now, we’re in the masses. I was going down the street and I saw a big ass billboard! If I keep worrying about what motherfuckers say I’d be fucked up.”
He continued, “I just did a song where I was like, ‘Motherfuckers accuse us of being f*ggots,’ and I used the F word. A few people was like, ‘Maybe people will take it wrong?’ We all thought about it and said, ‘Fuck it!’ I know what I meant, and it is what it is. People are gonna say what they’re gonna say. I plan on not giving a fuck at this point.”
Rocky has had another reason for people to have something against him in recent years after he was accused of shooting his former friend. However, he was acquitted of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and he’s been determined to rebuild his image since being found not guilty.
“Thank y’all for saving my life,” he said to the jurors in court before telling reporters outside the building, “This whole experience has been crazy for the past four years. I’m thankful, and it’s blessed to be here right now, to be a free man talking to y’all.”