5 Current Rappers To Watch (And 5 To Forget)

3. Worthy Of Your Attention: A$AP Rocky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLCf-URqIf0 For a while the shimmering golden child of the rap underground, Harlem-based Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky (and you know that dollar sign is hella important), gathered more heat with one full-length mixtape than most rappers do in their entire careers. After a childhood that reads like a "How To" guide to earning your gangster rap credentials - brother shot and killed; father locked up for drug offences; lived in a shelter; selling crack by 15 - this kid with his french braids and wicked grill dropped Live.Love.ASAP in 2011 and just exploded. There were fears that by the time his major label debut showed up, Rocky would have had his fangs removed by the suits who sign the cheques, but Long.Live.A$AP proved to be just as inventive and forward-thinking as the mixtape which preceded it. Massive bass drones, obscure samples fed through layers of filters, and an astoundingly diverse set of guest artists made for a challenging album. Amazingly, the experimental sensibilities of the independent artist survived the transition to the big time, just with superior production values to match his ambitions. A sprawling album of dark, smouldering beats and layered textures, Long.Live.A$AP had little in terms of club bangers and heavy rotation hit singles - lead tracks Goldie, F*cking Problems and Wild For The Night were just about the only songs prepped for mass appeal - but instantly cemented A$AP Rocky's place in the new breed of the hip hop elite.