A Conversation with A$AP Rocky About Making ‘Cozy Tapes’ without A$AP Yams

A$AP Yams may no longer be here in a physical form, but his vision is still alive and well. The Harlem-born musical genius behind the success of A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg and A$AP Mob as a whole is seeing his passion project come to fruition with Cozy Tapes Vol. 1: Friends, the star-studded compilation project that Yammy always dreamed of. (His baby photo graces the album artwork).

The Mob—aforementioned breakout stars Rocky and Ferg, plus A$AP Nast, A$AP Twelvyy and A$AP Ant—banded together while mourning its visionary, who died of an accidental drug overdose in Jan. 2015. But the compilation album has been a long time coming. A$AP Mob dropped its freebie debut mixtape Lord$ Never Worry back in 2012, setting the stage for a proper studio project called L.O.R.D.. A$AP Nast led the way with the uber ‘90s nostalgia of “Trillmatic” in Dec. 2013, followed by A$AP Twelvyy’s “Xscape” and posse cut “Hella Hoes.” Yet after six months of album delays, Yams gave fans an update via his Tumblr account in Sept. 2014. “L.O.R.D. IS SCRAPPED,” he wrote, later citing “too many energies” and inability to “get everybody on the same page.”

But Yams had been filling his own pages with ideas for the project that would become A$AP Mob’s version of Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers—notes that are now in the possession of fashion-forward superstar and de facto leader A$AP Rocky.

Three days before the Halloween release of Cozy Tapes, Rocky sits back in a dark, smoky room at Hollywood’s famed Record Plant studio, rocking a black hoodie and ultra-wide black pants—a look he describes as “goth cozy.” He chats with Genius about the project’s recording process, eclectic influences, big-name guest list, and Yams’ guidance from beyond.

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