A$AP Rocky was born Rakim Mayers in Harlem, New York. He was named after MC Rakim Allah, one half of the Eric B. & Rakim duo. They actually met in A$AP's very early days when his mom asked the hip-hop legend to sign her baby son's diaper.
Rocky, then known as Rakim Mayers, started rapping at the age of 8, inspired by local rap group The Diplomats.
When Rocky was 12 years old, his father went to jail in connection with selling drugs. A year later, his older brother, Ricky, was shot dead in Harlem by a rival drug dealer.
Rocky spent some time moving between homeless shelters with his mom and two sisters while selling weed himself. By the age 15, he was selling crack cocaine in the Bronx. "I wasn't no big-time hustler," Rocky told Billboard magazine. "I was one of those guys that would do well in the summer and save enough to support my studio time, buy clothes, pay the bills. That lifestyle's wack. I ain't got time for that petty s--t, man. I'm bigger than that."
Asked by The Guardian what school life was like for him, Rocky replied: "I was really smart. When I utilized my brain I would get good grades, but for the most part I was more concerned with rap songs, bitches, money, weed and selling crack. Those are stupid things that distract us in the urban community because those are the things that we praise. We don't know any better."
"Knowing what I know now, I don't think I would have changed anything, because it made me the man I am today, so I guess some people have to go through those trials and tribulations."
In 2007, when he was still known as Rakim Mayers, he joined the A$AP Mob, a Harlem-based hip-hop collective who shared similar interests in music, fashion, style, and art (ASAP is an acronym for "Always Strive and Prosper"). Mayers subsequently adopted the performing name of A$AP Rocky. He told Hypetrack: "At the time, A$AP was a crew out there that didn't get a lot of recognition but they caught my eye because real will always recognize the real, you know?"
"I felt we shared a lot in common, from our views and realizing we are outcasts," Rocky added, "and just say 'f--k it we're going to be ourselves.'"
Rocky's debut single "Peso," released in August 2011, received airplay on the high-profile Hot 97 New York radio station. In October, he released the critically acclaimed mixtape Live.Love.A$AP and signed a two-year, $3 million record deal with RCA Records and Polo Grounds Music. Upon his record deal, Rocky started his own label, A$AP Worldwide, with A$AP Mob co-founder A$AP Yams.
His cousin is fellow A$AP Mob member A$AP Nast.
Rocky's love life earned him headlines long before he took up with Rihanna. He dated the likes of Australian rapper Iggy Azalea and model Chanel Iman.
Rocky began a high-profile relationship with Rihanna in late 2020. Their romance blossomed after years of friendship, and Rihanna gave birth to their first child, a boy named RZA, in May 2022. They welcomed their second son, Riot Rose, the following year, and daughter Rocki arrived in 2025.
February 18, 2025, A$AP Rocky was acquitted of all charges stemming from a shooting incident involving former associate A$AP Relli. Rocky, who had pleaded not guilty in August 2022, faced two felony counts of assault with a firearm and a possible 24-year prison sentence. Following the verdict, he embraced his legal team and then paused in prayer.
A$AP Rocky had an encounter with Rihanna before he became famous. It happened when he was stuck outside a New York club with Virgil Abloh and Matthew Williams, and they were trying (and failing) to talk their way past security. Rihanna exited the club mid-standoff, locked eyes with Rocky, and left him embarrassed and star-struck, but still outside. "You gotta work for it," he joked, noting she didn't intervene.
He loves jazz music. Favorites include Miles Davis John and Alice Coltrane, and Charles Mingus.
Not only did he namecheck Rihanna in his 2013 song "
Fashion Killa" ("Her attitude Rihanna..."), he got her to star in the video, where they play lovers larking about a hotel in New York City. Later that year he was an opening act on her Diamonds tour, but they didn't get together romantically until 2020.
