A$AP Ferg Interview with Empire Taste

On a late summer day, the air humid and muggy, I boarded the 1 Train to East Harlem with Thomas. We were about to meet up with Ferg, who had just finished touring the world, only to be getting ready to do it again. He’s been extremely busy, constantly pushing himself, but for this quick two week stint in New York, he was able to refocus and relax more or less. On tour, in the studio, designing clothes, and shooting videos he’s known as A$AP Ferg; but for this moment as we came upon him sitting on a stoop around the block from where he grew up, he was Darold Ferguson Jr.

With a slice of pizza in one hand, he greeted us nonchalantly and then continued eating while asking us how we were. He was accompanied only by his longtime friend and assistant Demetrius. Here sat the guy who had just came back from touring and working with some of the biggest names in music encompassing at least four different genres, but you wouldn’t know it if you were just walking by; several people walked by en masse, unaware of the interview going on. Only at one point did a slightly older gentleman whom Ferg knew stop by to dap him up before coolly leaving when he learned of what was taking place (“Okay, don’t let me interrupt!”)

As he spoke, he carried with him an aura of easygoingness and humility. Though modest, especially on his old stomping grounds, he was still able to exhibit glimpses of his more hedonistic, flashy side. Dressed in his clothing brand, Trap Lord, with bright camo on his shorts and bucket hat, and giving answers walking the line of self-indulgence, it’s apparent he knows he is larger than life. But even through this self-awareness of opulence, that inner humble kid from Harlem shone through, as he’s far from finished puttin’ in work.

Continue reading the full spread on Empire Taste.