The New York Times Reviews A$AP Ferg’s ‘Always Strive And Prosper’

It’s hard to think of a hip-hop album with more heart, one with a narrative more thoroughly interwoven with the love of family and friends, than “Always Strive and Prosper,” the second full-length by ASAP Ferg, the restless experimenter of the ASAP crew.

Here is Ferg, remembering his reckless uncle, on “Psycho”: “Wanted to be like you, jail tat on the chest/With the rugged cornrows and a stab on my neck.” And here, celebrating his tough grandmother, on “Let It Bang”: “Grandma hid that hammer in her mattress from my uncle/He would listen to Wu-Tang while walking in the jungle.” On “Beautiful People,” Ferg’s mother shows up for some spoken-word poetry, in between rhymes from Chuck D and Ferg proclaiming, “Watch what you put in your body, so we can live it long.”

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