S. Samuel
New York rapper A$AP Rocky is not satisfied with his placement on MTV's annual Hottest in the Game Top 10 list and explained why he deserves to snag that number one spot.
Speaking in his own defense, Rocky said his videos alone topple any other hip-hop visuals out right now.
“All my videos are sh*tting on any hip-hop video out there. Let’s be honest. The reason why everybody is wearing gold again is because of your boy,” Rocky said in an interview. “Everybody’s wearing diamonds. I’m the one who made the John Lennon shades with the glasses. Everybody wearing it now, you see what’s going on now. Come on, who brought gold teeth back? Let’s be honest. Honestly, I brought it back in a dramatic way. I made braids hot. Let’s get off trends.” (LA Leakers)
He also took things a step further by pointing out his unique flow and rap style.
“I’m the first artist who grew enough balls to say, ‘I listen to Geto Boys, Three 6 Mafia, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, N.W.A. and Wu-Tang at the same d*mn time, and what?’ And I’m influenced by all of them,” Rocky added. “But moving aside from the fact that I broke boundaries with not only that, but what other rapper is on the cover of Vogue? … Forget trends, let’s get off trends. Lets get back to the music. Who brought double time back? Who was rapping like Bone? Nobody. Who brought that flow out? I don’t even use it no more. Everybody using this. Everybody rapping like that now. … It’s frustrating when I’m number eight. Don’t put me at all. I need to be number one.” (LA Leakers)
A$AP’s positioning came down to his debut album’s chart performance and his music’s quality.
During the “Hottest MCs” debate, MTV’s Hip-Hop Brain Trust credited Rocky with landing a #1 album, even a month after his debut Long.Live.A$AP was leaked onto the Internet and just weeks after his father passed away. There were some detractors at the roundtable, however, who felt that even though Rocky was making strides musically, his lyrics left a little something to be desired, especially on the album’s collaborative cuts “F—in’ Problems” and “1 Train.” A$AP wants more credit for his perseverance and success. (MTV)
This week, rap star Kanye West also blasted MTV’s Hottest in the Game and his placement at number seven.
However, when it came to his spot on the list, Kanye said, “I feel like in order for them to put me at #7, they had to bring up things they didn’t like — like the Cruel Summer album.” He then suggested that his critics prefer the backpack-and-polo-era Kanye over his current career choices. “They don’t like Givenchy Kanye, they don’t like Kanye in a kilt, they don’t like Kanye in a relationship.” Kanye also boasted about the bar in “Cold” in which he raps about Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband, Kris Humphries. “I said, ‘Lucky I ain’t have Jay drop him from the team’ — ain’t no bar of the entire past 12 months hotter than that one bar.” (Consequence of Sound)
Check out A$AP Rocky’s interview:
