A$AP Yams‘ fans and loved ones took time to recognized the nine-year anniversary of his passing this week, among them his mother, who commemorated the day with a heartfelt.
Taking to Instagram with a picture of Yams as a child on Thursday (January 18), Tatianna Paulino reflected on the near-decade she’s lived without her baby boy.
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“Dear son these 9 years have been devastating for me,” she wrote in a caption originally written in Spanish. “that terrible night my heart broke in half, how I would like to turn back time and see you again come home and hug you and tell you how much I love you, right now that is impossible, I love you take this moment to thank my family my friends and especially my son’s friends without any of you I don’t know what would have been of me in these 9 years.”
She continued: “My beloved son today I will do my best to celebrate your life, I know that someday I will kiss and hug you again, as long as I live I will continue your legacy. HAPPY YAMS DAY”
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In a second post, she shared a photo of Yams’ tombstone with a floral arrangement in the shape of an Air Jordan 1.
You can view them both below.
Steven “A$AP Yams” Rodriguez, the co-founder and visionary behind Harlem’s A$AP Mob collective, passed away at the tender age of 26 on January 18, 2015. His death was ruled an accidental overdose due to acute mixed drug intoxication, according to the New York City chief medical examiner.
In a 2022 conversation with Interview Magazine, A$AP Rocky opened up about discovering Yams’ unresponsive body in his Brooklyn apartment that fateful day.
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Prompted by a question from interviewer Jerrod Carmichael about finding humor in life’s low points, Rocky recalled an unintentionally funny moment that happened as he and fellow Mob member A$AP Lou attempted to revive their unconscious friend.
“Yo, no bullshit. The day Yams died, me and Lou found him and he wasn’t responsive,” he replied. “We ran to the kitchen to get water, ice, shit like that. I got to the kitchen first, and I could see into the hallway. I’m at the sink pouring water, and I look down the hall and see Lou running to help me grab some ice to wake Yams up.”
Rocky continued: “It was like a cartoon — my man tripped and slid down the hall on a carpet like Aladdin, bro. He went from the living room and slid all the way to the kitchen. I’m literally dying crying, but I’m crying from laughing, and I’m crying ’cause Yams is dead.”
That lighthearted story doesn’t take away from the horror that A$AP Rocky experienced when in that moment, though; nor the grief and sadness that he still carries in the wake of Yams’ death.
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“I just look at his face. I look at Lou. You could just tell. We knew,” Rocky told The New York Times in 2015 while reflecting on the tragedy. “I was scared. I was wilding on everybody, like, ‘Who let him do drugs?’ Even though you can’t blame nobody.”
He added in an MTV News interview that same month, “When it comes down to it, would I trade this music for Yams? Yes. Because in all reality, Yams is the only person that’s actually been through this shit with me and knows how I feel.”
