He didn't know if the discerning Parisian designer would agree to work with AWGE, Rocky's creative agency that functions as a platform for his fashion projects. However, he had nothing but time, so he sat in his cell and sketched away. At the age of 16, he spent two weeks in Rikers Island for firing a gun at a neighborhood bully in Harlem, where he grew up.
His professional career has also been marked by a mix of triumph and heartbreak. Rocky has learned to wear his scars well. In fact, he bears two actual scars on his otherwise flawless face: The tiny one on his left cheek is the result of a fight from when he was When asked how he got the scar, he often made up stories, like falling off his scooter or being slapped by an auntie with long nails, but in Swedish court, when explaining why he has a security detail, Rocky mentioned he had been slashed the previous year.
Sweden represented the pinnacle of shit happening, but Rocky took his overnight transformation from adored entertainer to prisoner with remarkable ease. After a three-day trial, he was released pending a verdict. He was eventually found guilty and given a two-year conditional sentence that imposed no further jail time. The trial featured an unlikely guest at the behest of Trump: one of the administration's top hostage envoys, who was otherwise tasked with freeing Americans held in places like Afghanistan and Syria.
But Rocky thinks Trump's involvement was a sideshow that could have easily become detrimental. He didn't help—he made efforts and he rooted for me to come home, but he didn't free me. In the ensuing weeks, allies of the president started complaining that Rocky didn't deliver a public statement of gratitude. Despite his perceived silence, and his fears that he'd be punished due to Trump's ham-fisted Twitter diplomacy, Rocky was indeed grateful.
He told the president so on a private phone call. You can get lost, and you feel soulless. Like, you feel low, bro. When Rocky got out, he flew home to L. So they got to work. The likes of Schoolboy Q and Lil Yachty agreed. Rocky, on the other hand, stayed away for all of four months after his release. In December he returned to Stockholm, intending to perform for the inmates at the jail he was previously housed in.
After being rebuffed by the authorities, he had to settle for an arena show that people from the city's immigrant neighborhoods could attend for free. When I ask if he'd be down to go back to Sweden on his next tour, Rocky scoffs.
When we meet at a rooftop bar in West Hollywood on a sunny afternoon in April, pandemic restrictions are starting to loosen and Rocky has just returned to L. He's spent the past year or so mostly out of the public eye, but his style—today he's in an AWGE x Needles track jacket, Kapital Kountry jeans, Nike Dunks, and a pearl-studded belt he found at a tiny shop on Ludlow Street in New York City—is as prominent as ever.
A vintage Esso trucker hat covers his short braids, and when he smiles, as he does often, he flashes a gold cap on a canine that's emblazoned with a tooth-size Mickey Mouse. A waiter, not recognizing Rocky, asks him if he's a rock star. He's had a place in L. He carried himself like a rock star back then too: He certainly partied like one, and he looked like one, with a Hendrix-like slinkiness and a taste for the avant-garde fashion worlds of Rick Owens and Raf Simons.
His musical output was similarly curated. Though today hip-hop is a post-regional genre, at the time Rocky was a radical and controversial artist for the way, under Yams's guidance, he mixed sounds and styles from New York and down south.
Atlanta and Houston were hot. New York's hip-hop scene was tepid. Rakim Mayers set things on fire. Even when he's in L. He has a Ferrari and two Mercedes, but he prefers walking, taking Ubers, and riding an e-bike. He spins around his neighborhood to relax, to clear his mind, to see what people are wearing. In NYC, all he has to do to see what styles are popping in the streets is step outside; in L.
Rocky's lockdown year was spent seeking out something even more important: himself. New-world shit. Yams had described Rocky as the Luke Skywalker to his Yoda. Featuring such collaborators as Kid Cudi, French Montana, Kodak Black and Frank Ocean , the album drew mixed reviews, with some critics questioning the cohesiveness of the music and ideas put forth, though most credited the rapper for his attempts at experimentation.
One of his two sisters is named Erika B. He started rapping at eight years old, but only became serious about his craft a decade later. Although a native New Yorker, Rocky was a fan of Southern hip hop when he was growing up, which explains the pronounced drawl in his rapping style.
When Rocky was 12, his father was jailed for drug dealing. A year later, his year-old brother, Ricky, was shot dead by a rival dealer. Rocky was 13 at the time, and on his way to school when his mum rushed over to tell him the tragic news.
With his father in jail and his brother passed away, Rocky, his mom and two sisters spent time living in shelters. This is not a criticism that could be easily leveled at Rocky.
Other cities have been playing that role for years. As New York classicists were holding their ground, the rest of hip-hop looked on, amused, and kept working, taking in outside influences and building their own sounds. In February , he joined Kendrick Lamar as opening act for Drake 's Club Paradise tour, cementing his status as a prominent hip-hop rising star. He later also performed at Pitchfork Music Festival. He later alleged that they were copying Raider's style and stole some of their lyrics.
Before an expected appearance on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon', he was arrested for fighting a year-old in Manhattan and subsequently didn't appear on the show until a month later.
Even without an official debut, the rapper rounded out the year with a nomination for BBC Radio's Sound of poll, playing Lana Del Rey's husband in the singer's "National Anthem" video, and landing a spot in a television commercial for the popular videogame FIFA Soccer He released his debut album 'Long.
In April 12, during an interview at Wild He was later charged with assault and robbery because he tried to snatch the photographers' cameras. His charges were later changed to the lesser crime of attempted grand larceny and the assault charge was dropped. Rocky dated Australian rapper Iggy Azalea in and In early , Rocky began dating model Chanel Iman. They broke up in Rocky first linked with Rihanna around after Rocky opened for Rihanna on the Grammy winner's Diamonds World Tour In early Rocky announced that he was in a relationship with singer Rihanna, the rapper described her as "the love of my life" in an interview with GQ.
Rocky was a pescatarian. In , he transitioned to a vegetarian diet with the help of his vegan manager after learning the horrors of the poultry industry. In his single "Babushka Boi", Rocky stated he is now a vegan. In December , an alleged sex tape featuring Rocky was leaked. Rocky has said that while he was raised in a Christian household, he does not like going to an organized church, and instead has "[his] own relationship with God I pray every day before I go to sleep.
During Rocky's incarceration in Sweden, he prayed to keep himself occupied. On March 16, , Rocky announced that he was working on his second studio album, entitled A. On October 3, , his 26th birthday, Rocky launched a short-lived music giveaway called Flacko Jodye Season, which first premiered with "Multiply", which featured additional vocals from Juicy J; later released on iTunes one week after its premiere.
Weeks after Yams' death, Rocky revealed that At. In , Rocky appeared in a cameo role in the indie comedy-drama, Dope. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, It opened in all movie theaters on June The album, however, did include a remixed version of the track that replaced Rocky's second verse with a guest verse from Lil Wayne. Rocky also announced that the release date for A.
Subsequently, Rocky tweeted to announce that the album will be released at midnight May 26 , changing the date a week early. Upon its release, At. In conclusion to this, it also gave Rocky his second consecutive number one album on the charts to date. The writer is Alamu Tosin. I have three strong passions in life — football, blogging and movies — in that order.
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