A$AP Rocky has recalled a “crazy” lesson his father taught him when he was younger.
The rapper has revealed that his father Adrian Mayers, who died in 2012, and brother Ricky Mayers, who was killed when Rocky was 13, made him realise he could break the rules.
“I don’t know if you call ‘the rules’ the law, but they broke the law a bunch of times,” Rocky told W Magazine in a recent interview.
He explained that his father, who practised “principles and morals”, taught him from a young age to trust himself, which he believed would lead to personal and professional freedom.
The rapper quipped that this lesson from his father was “crazy”, but said it was the way he wanted to raise his two sons, two-year-old RZA and 14-month-old Riot, who he shares with partner Rihanna.
Rocky added that he also plans to teach his sons “a little bit of humility – and cockiness when it’s time. Yin and yang.”
He continued, “What I learned is, freedom is key, so I really want to support my boys and hope to be receptive to whoever and whatever they want to be in life.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Rocky reflected on becoming a dad after losing his own father.
“Once you a parent, you just embody that, no matter what,” he told the publication. “I’m so happy that I at least still got one parent. If I didn’t have the support of our (his and Rihanna’s) parents, I don’t know what we would be doing.”
Rocky and Rihanna have been dating since 2020.
