Black Thought has given his stamp of approval to A$AP Rocky and the individuality that he brought forth to Hip Hop during the early 2010s.
In a recent conversation with Pitchfork, The Roots frontman was tasked with picking specific Hip Hop albums that resonated with him over the last 50 years in honor of Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary.
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After handpicking classic albums such as, Big Daddy Kane’sLong Live The Kane, Lauryn Hill’sThe Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and Outkast’sSpeakerboxxx/The Love Below, he landed on A$AP Rocky’s LongLiveA$AP.
“This album ushered in a new era of New York hip-hop,” he said of A$AP’s 2013 debut project. “It’s so braggadocious, it’s so macho, it’s so Harlem. But it’s also genre-transcendent. He was able to blur the line between the New York hip-hop aesthetic—which was trending less at the time—and the aesthetic that was beginning to trend more: classic UGK, 8Ball and MJG. He was the bridge between dope and trill in a way that was very necessary.”
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He continued: “New Yorkers who had creative blinders on and weren’t able to see beyond two feet in front of them began to adopt a different perspective in their process. Rocky represents the beginning of that for me.”
Black Thought then explained how he got a chance to meet A$AP Rocky, “early on,” and that the, “A$AP crew were just good dudes.”
“I really rocked with their movement,” he stated. “I see elements of myself in A$AP Rocky, and later on I’d find out we share a birthday. He’s named after Rakim, who’s a huge influence of mine. He’s mellow. But he’s also one of those people I admire for his ability to continue to innovate.”
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During the same conversation, the legendary MC spoke about Kanye West’s 2008 album, 808s and Heartbreak and how he connects less with his music more than he used to.
While he had high praise for the album, which divided rap fans upon its release but has since proven to be one of the most influential records of the last 15 years, Black Thought said that frankly Kanye’s more recent material doesn’t resonate with himself in the same way.
“With 808s, it was the audacity. Like, ‘What the fuck?’” he said. “Here’s the thing — I spent so much time being too cool for school. That’s my default setting.”
“I’ve often thought of a musical idea, but the whole getting-out-of-my-head-ness of it all had me going through every possible outcome for such a long time that somebody else would have a similar idea and just do it. The level of bravery to destroy and build in the way Kanye did with that project, it’s admirable. That is the stuff of legend.”
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He added: “I connect with Kanye’s music less now. Maybe it’s because of the rate at which he’s been putting out art and having to keep up. I think his process has become more assembly-line, which in many ways is the Motown model. It works.”
“I don’t know if anything’s lost, but what is sometimes compromised is the personality. The main person it’s supposed to be about is sometimes overshadowed by all these other writers, producers, and people who are contributing. Kanye is less Kanye now than he was when I was a bigger Kanye fan.”
