A$AP Rocky Covers Complex Magazine (Dec/Jan)

A$AP Rocky is concerned. Moments before heading into New York City’s Roseland Ballroom, he spots a cluster of fans outside his tour bus. Rocky doesn’t want them to see his $6,000 leather Givenchy crewneck, or the Y-3 shorts he’ll be wearing for the sold-out show tonight. He asks his right-hand man, A$AP Lou, a stocky white dude with gold fronts and a Givenchy T-shirt, if there’s a robe he can put on for the 25-foot trek from the bus to the venue. He settles on a Public Enemy Supreme parka to preserve the element of surprise, an impulse that falls in line with his exploding career.

It’s been a little over a year since his “Peso” video went viral. He followed that with the acclaimed mixtapeLive.Love.A$AP. Now, Rocky’s highly anticipated debut album, Long.Live.A$AP, is being kept carefully under wraps until its planned December release. Until then, he’s holding his fans down with scene-stealing features on records by Schoolboy Q, Swizz Beatz, and Rihanna—and a legendary performance as President Kennedy in Lana del Rey’s “National Anthem” video. More than any of that, Rocky’s gravitas, charisma, and hustle have brought him this far—to the cusp of rap superstardom.

Continue reading on Complex Magazine.