[A]SAP Ferg is a true polymath: Pioneering member of the all-conquering ASAP Mob, designer, director, collaborator and visual artist. 2016’s reflective genre-defying record Always Strive and Prosper, written in the aftermath of the passing of influential ASAP Mob director ASAP Yams but also heavily imbued with Ferg’s ruminations on burgeoning success, the album was a rap stream of consciousness laid down over diverse, experimental beats and featuring guest spots for the likes of Rick Ross, Migos and Missy Elliott. This year’s follow up Still Striving is another Ferg opus, a conscious departure from the hip-hop tropes and trap hi-hats that have defined the genre in recent times.
- Asap Ferg Still Striving Album
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- Asap Ferg Still Striving Album Cover
- Asap Ferg Still Striving Album Download Zip
Fast-paced and broad-reaching, the record proved that Ferg as a conceptual artist, able to commit his state of mind to record but retain all the beats, hooks and rhymes that make people move. Listen up below and read Ferg’s thoughts on striving, positivity and fashion below.
Hi Ferg, You’ve spoken about your records as a way of describing your state of mind to your fans. How did your state of mind shift between 'Always Strive and Prosper' and 'Still Striving'?
Still Striving feels like not only an apology to loyal fans who hated his last album, but also like a Ferg that wanted to get back to the basics of what made him rap in the first place. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 and number four on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with first-week sales of 32,000 copies in the United States. In November 2013, ASAP Rocky announced that ASAP Mob's debut album would be titled Lords. On December 4, 2013, the album's first single, entitled 'Trillmatic.' Those who didn’t like that album will love the straightforward, all-in banger-status of Still Striving. No, Ferg doesn’t cover new ground, but throughout this album, it feels as if he’s in his lane. Gems: “Trap and a Dream,” “Rubberband Man,” “Olympian,” “Plain Jane,” “Nasty (Who Dat),” and “East Coast Remix”.
Asap Ferg Still Striving Album
I’m not mentally in the same space as Always Strive and Prosper. I didn’t completely get it out of my system but I’m channeling a different part of myself on Still Striving. I feel like I’m proving myself again to the world, going back to who I was before I got signed, that is the vibe.
Asap Ferg Still Striving Albumin
It’s a huge undertaking to make an album that goes deep into your own consciousness. How do you feel about committing your deepest thoughts onto record? Does it help you?
Making music is therapy for me. By helping others I help myself, it’s like when people say “to change the world, you must change yourself”. I pour my emotions and feelings out to strike a change in the listener so I’m cautious of what I say because things can come into fruition.
Can you talk to us a bit about the production on your records? It's so varied. Looking back at “Strive” for example, it felt like a dance record.
Asap Ferg Still Striving Album Cover
Yeah, I was intending to make a dance record with “Strive”. I’m a musician, not just a rapper who wants to make trap music. As an artist, I like to dive into different arenas, so if I have an idea for a house record I’m going to lay it down and that’s what I did.
My family keeps me striving, the fact that I’m not comfortable makes me strive and prosper. The fact that I want to keep proving myself time and time again makes me strive and prosper. I want to conquer it all.
You’ve said that both love and hate inspires you. What are you loving and hating at the moment? Are you seeing more love or hate in the world right now?
I am seeing a lot more love in the world right now, I see less hate and that’s because I’m not focusing on the hate. I’m my own competition, I don’t focus on negativity, I like to move forward, be positive, and surround myself with positive people.
You brought through multiple collaborators on 'Still Striving', is that testament to how strong hip-hop is as a genre right now? Which artists are you excited about?
Asap Ferg Still Striving Album Download Zip
I’m excited about ASAP Twelvyy and about a lot of the guys that are on the ASAP Mob roster because now they get their time to speak. With Addie’s project and the way he’s going to put his album together, I’m curious to know what the people will think about it or see what I see in him.
Your Trap Lord label has been a global success, who are your style inspirations?
My style inspirations would have to be my dad, Michael Jackson, DMX and Liberace.
My plans for the rest of the year is make more music, more visuals, go on tour with the mob and promote our projects. I also just dropped my second sneaker with Adidas on September 1st.