Is A$AP Mob Overrated? By: Parufka

Is A$AP Mob Overrated? By: Parufka

If you’re a fan of New York Hip Hop, then you’ve probably heard of someone from the A$AP mob. Even though they’ve proven themselves to be one of the most successful creative groups in the modern era, many critics continue to claim that they’re overrated. I do agree with this to an extent, but to explain this, I took a deeper look at the recent works from members of the group.

The group was first formed in 2006 by Harlem natives, Yams, Bari, Kham and Illz who all rep the A$AP moniker along with everyone else in the Mob. The group was created to bring together rappers, record producers, music video directors and fashion designers who all shared similar interests in art and business. Our own Esoteric Records shares a similar view to the Mob in that regard but we’ll save that discussion for another day.

Their star players A$AP Rocky and A$AP Ferg have been prominent forces in both the music and fashion industry. Rocky was the first newcomer to the group and brought the Mob broad recognition after releasing his acclaimed mixtape Live. Love. ASAP following his debut singles Purple Swag and Peso. Rocky has sold out shows around the world and has released two commercial albums so far, which have received gold and platinum RIAA certifications. He continues to prove himself as more than just a successful rapper by releasing collaborations with Guess and his close friend Raf Simons, as well as becoming a front page GQ model. Ferg aka The Trap Lord, has also had huge success in hip hop. His debut album Trap Lord came through with banger after banger and the single Work became one of the hardest party bangers in all of hip hop when it was remixed to include A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, French Montana and Trinidad James. While Ferg continues to make hits like Shabba, Plain Jane, and Mattress, he also leaves room for a lot of filler tracks. His second album Always Strive and Prosper was one of the most forgettable projects of 2016 due to it’s abundance of weak bars and production. And while he did somewhat come back to his trap roots in his newest album Still Striving, the project still left me wanting more of the older, more ruthless Ferg and less of the mediocre lyrics and trash features.

The latest release from the A$AP Mob was in August of last year when they dropped Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy, their second studio album that followed up Cozy Tapes Vol. 1: Friends which dropped in late 2016. While I was an overall fan of Vol. 1 and what it had to offer, I found myself really disappointed with Vol. 2. The group has a lot of potential but the shabby features matched with lackluster bars and mixing left this project as one of the biggest flops of 2017, although I did still enjoy a few tracks from the tape: Bahamas, RAF, and their best song Feels So Good. Looking at the members’ works from the past few years left me to realize that Rocky and Ferg are pretty much the only notable people left in the group (RIP Yams). I still enjoy what Rocky and Ferg bring to the table but it’s not enough to hold the entire A$AP Mob on such a high pedestal. I’m looking forward to their next installment of Cozy Tapes along with Rocky’s new album but for a group with this many resources and this much recognition, they really shouldn’t be putting out so much mediocre content.