A$AP Rocky on Psychedelics, Sweden, and Sexuality At Summit Ideas Conference

The dimly lit historic Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles was one stop in the Summit campus, a recent ideas conference hosting TED Talk-style conversations and immersive activities with innovators across technology, wellness, culture, cannabis, finance, and music. With a highly curated lineup and event tagline “make no small plans”, 3,000 pre-approved attendees gathered for 3 days in a 4 block radius to soak up knowledge and inspiration from a host of guests including Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, actress and entrepreneur Tracee Ellis Ross, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell, Grandmaster Flash, critical thinker Ray Dalio, scent architect Sissel Tolaas, De La Soul’s Maseo, ClassPass Founder Payal Kakadia, A$AP Rocky and dozens more.

In his first public speaking forum since the rapper was arrested, charged for assault and spent a month in jail in Sweden, A$AP Rocky joined Summit co-founder Jeff Rosenthal on stage for a candid, comedic, [and at times slightly awkward] conversation titled “Culture, Clothes, and Cultivating Creative Legacy” in front of a room of nearly a thousand people including the Founder of Woodstock. Many attendees were intentional in their choice to join the talk while others, perusing the programming, were not familiar with hip hop or A$AP’s role in it. 

Throughout the conversation geared towards exploring the intersection of hip-hop and style, the audience learned Harlem-native A$AP Rocky was named after iconic rapper RAKIM, used to “rock skinny jeans because the women were digging it”, and that experimenting with psychedelics changed his life for the better.

“Authenticity is always first” said A$AP Rocky opening up about how his unique style has influenced his career, “everyone has a story, it’s all about how you tell it”. Known for his ability to transition between skater punk streetwear swag and seasoned high fashion, Rocky says he’s always been about mixing it up, “we’re versatile because I think that’s what style is,” he says, “when you wear tight jeans with rips in them, they are going to assume you’re a punk but that’s the common wardrobe/costume for the teenager who listens to hip-hop right now.’’

With popular music, specifically hip-hop, at the mercy of the industry’s hit making mechanisms [and impatient consumer listening habits], music has become very transactional in nature, making the ability for resonance and deeper, long-lasting connections few and far between. “The most important thing missing from music today is that emotional connection and I think a lot of people are lacking that,’ says Rocky. With social media, artists are adding a visual component to their musical identity allowing fans to connect more deeply through other forms of art like fashion. Early collaborations with Virgil Abloh well before Off-White, A$AP continues to drive his love for fashion through work with Dior, GUESS, and most recently his creative agency AWGE, which designed Kanye West’s Jesus Is King capsule collection.

While Rocky has seen much success in his career, he shares that he’s opened up a lot, especially after experimenting with hallucinogens, “psychedelics changed my life for the better, they opened my third eye and made me more attuned” he says, “it was a way to love more, it helped me open up my heart.’’

With an increasingly diverse catalog ranging from collaborations with Moby, Drake, Rod Stewart, and Skepta, Rocky drives towards diversity, “most people are mixed with something – most people are not just one thing” he says. His recent single “Babushka Boi”, which translates to “Grandma’s” Boi in Russian has that mixed up vibe and was inspired by his new love of the head handkerchief, “I had an unfortunate accident and I scarred my face so I started wearing a babushka to cover it up until the swelling went down from the surgery and I think it became a trend and I liked how it looked.’’ The video for “Babushka Boi” directed by Nadia Lee Cohen is equally as creative “playing off of a Dick Tracy mythical land with prosthetic pigs and cops”, A$AP says, “it was supposed to be funny and play off a modern perception of what the streets is like with police snitchin’ and bank robberies and stuff like that.’’

With an alternative lifestyle and mindset – one that growing up in Harlem may have catalyzed, Rocky is open-minded about not only music, fashion and drugs, but sexuailty and people’s right to express theirs freely. While Rocky identifies as a heterosexual black male, he says “do what the fuck you want. At this point, is it still a discussion? I don't even understand how it’s still a discussion.’’

A$AP Rocky returns to Sweden to perform in December. During his time locked up in Sweden he connected with some of the inmates – many of whom were young men and fans of hip hop. “When I was going through my whole situation, the whole time I used to look on television and see Swedish fans showing me so much love and I want to give it back,” he says, “most of the proceeds [from performances in Sweden] will go to inmates and prison reformation.’’ Rocky designed new wardrobe and uniforms for the facility he was in, “I’m trying to do what I can with what I can, I just want to keep creating and encouraging whoever is after me to do it better.’’