A$AP Ferg: Ten Portrait
From 10 Men Australia, 2019
A$AP Ferg is falling backwards into a pool in Sydney, covered in Tiffany
& Co. jewels. Refrain from using the word drip, please – this is a waterfall. “Tiffany store on Fifth, I’m performin’ with the glist’, all the glist’ up on the wrist, waterfall not the drip,” he raps on his record Floor Seats. Yes, this is glitz and glamour at its finest. This is glowing up and growing up right here.
It’s the start of a new era for Harlem born and raised rapper Darold D Brown Ferguson Jr, better known by his stage name, A$AP Ferg. As part of the hip-hop collective A$AP Mob, Ferg became the second member of the group to sign a record deal in January 2013 and has continued to live up to his high-school nickname, Trap Lord, heavily influenced by the style and sonics of his birthplace.
“Growing up in Harlem, it’s a very stylish place,” he says. “From all the drug dealers that used to be in the neighbourhood, copping all the clothes and having the fancy cars, all the way down to the OGs, the original gangsters, mentors, the people who paved the way for us. They were always stylish. I got a lot of my style from my dad – he wore slacks and Coogi sweaters. My father always kept me fresh and my mum always had a great sense of style.”
Ferg’s father, Darold, owned a boutique in the city, printing shirts and logos for record labels. Inspired by him, Ferg launched clothing and jewellery lines before he pursued music and attended the High School for Art and Design in Manhattan, majoring in fine arts and fashion. An impressive amount of knowledge, interest and love for our holy trifecta that is fashion, music and art has seen Ferg create epic records and clever, abstract artworks, as well as break boundaries in business. The announcement that Ferg would be a brand ambassador for Tiffany & Co. felt
exciting, fresh, and has seen him collaborate with Elle Fanning, producing and adding a rap to a Moon River remix for the brand’s campaign. “I wanted to bring some ’hood to the Tiffany world,” he says. “They didn’t have any ’hood or urban flavour. They didn’t have any black people, kids, teenagers representing the brand. They didn’t have any edge.” So Ferg stepped into the building and rapped divinely over a trap beat: “Tiffany for the breakfast.” Flex.
“I used to design jewellery when I was younger and my school was across the street and down the block from the Tiffany Fifth Avenue flagship store,” he says. “I would have to walk past that store every day to take the train home. I would feel so intimidated to walk in because I knew I couldn’t afford anything in there. The reason why I really wanted to join the brand was because it’s part of the legacy – I wanted to bridge the gap between them and the world. I had never seen anybody who looked like me who was a part of that brand. So I wanted to be the first. Even if I wasn’t the first, I just wanted to show people that it’s possible.”
In 2019 it’s hard to come across a rap record that doesn’t brag and boast about being iced out and dripping in diamonds. To Ferg, the collaboration with Tiffany is more than a ex, it’s a lesson to the culture. “I think it’s important that rappers wear jewellery, because it just goes with the part of the rags-to-riches story. It just adds to the costume of the picture we’re painting,” he says. “But what’s cooler about me being a part of the Tiffany brand is that rappers aunt about spending millions of dollars on jewellery, and I don’t spend millions of dollars on jewellery because I get it from Tiffany. I’m showing people we can make business moves and align ourselves in partnerships with these brands and still be y. And at the same time save money.”
His outlook feels fresh. The alignment with such an iconic brand is another chapter in the story that sees fashion influenced by hip-hop artists, and hip-hop music heavily influenced by fashion, as brands continue to be constantly name-dropped. “Fashion has been a huge part of music because it’s our identity. Especially for hip-hop artists that come from urban communities where people can’t afford to live certain lifestyles, at least we can dress like we’re living the lifestyle. Fake it ’til you make it. Houdini used to wear feathers and leather pants and long hanging earrings – they were being rock stars and they probably didn’t even have the money, but they had enough to wear an out t to make them feel like they were part of that lifestyle. It’s very important because it allowed us to dream. Dressing the part allowed us to play the role in that part and become who we were aspiring to be.”
The people Ferg aspires to channel come in phases, always referencing fashion in music and pop culture. “I get inspired by Cash Money Records, when they were doing white tees and bandanas around their necks. Then I get inspired by Cooley High movies and the ’70s, and then I’ll get inspired by, like, Funkadelic and George Clinton and how they had a very bohemian, eccentric style. Very colourful, very hipster and a free way of dressing. I get inspired by so many different things on a normal basis, and when I dress certain ways it makes me into that character and I’m able to do different cadences by dressing that way.”
Ultimately and naturally, it all comes back to music. “I grew up listening to ’90s hip-hop and R&B, Mary J Blige, Jodeci, Usher, Puff Daddy, Lil’ Kim, Biggie, Mase, Cam’ron, Snoop Dogg, Tupac... All of those guys. Growing up in Harlem I would hear it in my dad’s car or at home. He got a lot of free CDs so we would listen to a lot of the music before it came out.” Those influences can be heard in his music – earlier this year, Ferg collaborated with fellow A$AP Mob member A$AP Rocky on the track Pups, which samples multiple elements of ’90s rapper DMX’s Get at Me Dog. The collaboration is one of many between the two crew members. In 2019 the importance of a crew in music feels stronger than ever. The members of the collective have grown up together in the industry and have become a hip-hop family.
“Having a family and crew in hip-hop is good because there’s so much gravitational pull in different directions and it’s cool to have your friends to keep you focused and remind you of your purpose and why you’re actually here, doing what you do.”
This year he continues to hustle, working on new music with a new sound and making rugs. Yes, Ferg is working on furniture and homeware. “Lifestyle things,” he says. “I’m more into lifestyle versus fashion,” he explains, noting his love for Ralph Lauren. “He’s number one because he’s into lifestyle. I believe fashion is more of a fad. He could dress a reman, or a cowboy, a businessman, someone going to play polo. He can dress everybody.” But back to the rugs. The endeavour goes back to Ferg’s brand, Devoni Clothing, which he started in 2005. “I used to design belts and stuff like that before I started rapping and making music. I’m basically upping the brand and starting to do custom rugs from Nepal. I haven’t got my rugs yet, but it’s in the making. I’m turning my paintings into rugs.” His style is abstract and he references “a lot of the masters” including Francis Bacon, George Condo and Picasso as artists whose works he would love to collect. We like his style. When he’s painting, Ferg listens to anthemic music from artists such as Chris Jones and Seal, “so I can think big and think about mountains and create something bigger than me. To me, those artists are larger than life.” If he were to paint someone’s portrait in his abstract style it would be Lil Uzi Vert. Why, I ask. “Lil Uzi is legendary,” he says, simply.
Ferg moves naturally in front of the lens that belongs to his girlfriend, photographer Renell Medrano, whose work has a real edge of fantasy. Together they work effortlessly, bouncing off each other and with full freedom in the suburban house that they chose to shoot in. We love a power couple. “I just think she has a great eye. She just knows how to shoot me well. I don’t trust a lot of photographers. I don’t trust the angles, or that they’re going to capture me in the best way possible. She actually captures me all the time in the best way possible. And she’s a female – if she says it’s nice, then it’s nice.” Ain’t that the truth? He’s in his element, waterfallin’ in Tiffany & Co., suited up, bossed up and ready to level up. “I’ve got new cadences, a new lifestyle and a new rack of music coming with different sonics. Nothing sounds the same or reminds you of any music I’ve done in the past. It’s better. Man, I’m levelling up because I’m just bringing more heat.”
Fired up with the right amount of ice to keep it cool and in charge, riding with the Mob every step of the way. Get on the winning team.