How does A$AP Rocky feel about Ferg, formerly A$AP Ferg, changing his name professionally?
Both rappers came up in the music industry as members of the A$AP Mob collective, and Ferg, 37, chose to drop the “A$AP” from his name for solo endeavors starting in 2021. In a new interview with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden, Rocky, 37, admitted he felt “bothered” by the decision.
“I haven’t seen Ferg in a minute, man,” said Rocky. “I’mma be totally honest. I haven’t even been living in New York. I always love Ferg. Ferg, he got a good heart. I saw a couple interviews where he was just like, he ain’t A$AP and he dropped A$AP from his name. That s— bothered me, but I ain’t gon’ hold it against him, and I wish him the best.”
However, the “Fashion Killa” rapper explained their relationship is “for sure” fixable. “But I’m just really locked in and focused on me right now, as I should be,” he said.
“I’m trying to put out a great masterpiece, a body of work. The rollout has been amazing. The focus is there. It’s a very focused album and I want all components related to it to be cohesive,” continued Rocky. “So I feel like when I get some time, me and my brother, we could talk.”
He added, “Because that’s what we always been, we always been brothers. But Ferg ain’t never do no out-of-the-ordinary s— to me to where I would be like, nah, I can’t mess with this dude, unlike other people in ASAP.”
Ferg’s name change announcement came as he signed a deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation management company, which clarified in a statement at the time, per Variety, “Ferg is very much still part of the Mob, and is A$AP Ferg within A$AP Mob… Ferg as an individual artist and with his solo career is Ferg.”
In an interview with rap journalist Touré earlier this year, Ferg spoke about the current status of A$AP Mob. The collective previously released two Cozy Tapes mixtapes as a group in 2016 and 2017.
“Well, I don’t think there is A$AP anymore,” said Ferg at the time. “There’s not a Cozy Tape out; a new one. There’s not an office, there’s not a record label, A$AP Worldwide. I think it’s a thing of the past.”
He continued, “I think people hold onto the legacy that we created and those things, but when you think about A$AP — I think from the music point — you think about me and Rocky who did the music and all of that. Of course, it was built off the backs of Bari and Yams and all of that, but we’re the faces. I feel like if we’re not making no new music or putting out no new timestamps, then there’s no A$AP.”
