A$AP Rocky’s Parents Inspired Busta Rhymes, Flavor Flav & Slick Rick Hip-Hop Super Collab
A$AP Rocky has revealed his own OG’s influenced his decision to recruit an assortment of rap’s legendary OG’s for a monumental track set for his upcoming album Don’t Be Dumb.
In a recent explosive interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, A$AP Rocky dropped the bombshell that he’s managed to bring together Busta Rhymes, Flavor Flav, Slick Rick, Fatman Scoop and Morrissey on one track. The Harlem rapper ID’d the title of the audacious new track as “Hood Happy,” while explaining how he assembled such an All-Star lineup that reads like a Hall of Fame roster.
“I literally tried to figure out how to get my parents’ favorite rappers, my favorite rappers, subsequently my favorite rappers of my parents, if I grew up on them,” Rocky said with a grin. “So I got a track with Fatman Scoop, Flavor Flav, Slick Rick, Morrissey and Busta Rhymes all on one. It’s kind of nuts. We call that one Hood Happy. That’s coming soon. Yeah. Shout-outs to the OGs too. I ain’t gonna hold you. Shout-outs to all the OGs, Zane.”
Rocky’s enthusiasm about the record was apparent as well, as he described the scene during the recording sessions.
“We was in that bag, man,” he said. “Busta and Slick was having an argument about whose chain is bigger and s##t like that. It’s fantastic.”
But “Hood Happy” is just a taste of what’s to come. Rocky also teased another new track, in which the rapper’s creative horizons extend beyond Hip-Hop. The Harlem-bred MC went on to reveal the album will also host collaborations with alternative artists Jessica Pratt and Jon Batiste.
“I just love alternative,” he confessed. “I love just different sounds and whatnot. [Jessica Pratt] kind of gave me this kind of Portishead meets Stevie Nicks vibe a little bit. Right. So I always f##### with her as an artist, and so I figured it was necessary to get her, Jon Batiste on this one and kind of make it feel soulful to bring it on home in the outro.”
Rocky went on to lay out how he has been meticulously crafting his upcoming album, which he believes marks the beginning of a “new saga.”
“I’ve been working on this stuff, this material for a while now, tweaking it and fixing it and whatnot,” he said. “So this was just one of the ones that we decided to, it was the summer and here we are. Shot a visual and yeah, this is part of the new saga.”
He added that his latest single “Hijack,” signals that bold pivot toward the new direction for his music and career.
“I feel like the real is back man, and it’s just like, this s### is for the taking,” he said. “It’s a hijack. Not only that, it’s just we coming with a whole new aesthetic on everything, especially with German expressionism and the whole ghetto futurism grim thing. So that’s just what the sound sounds like and whatnot. The sonics of it.”
Check out the clip from the interview above and watch the fill conversation below.