A$AP Rocky

American rapper from Manhattan, New York City. Rakim is a member of the hip hop collective A$AP Mob, from which he adopted his moniker. Rocky released his debut mix-tape Live. Love. A$AP, in 2011. The success of his mix-tape led to a record deal with Polo Grounds Music, RCA Records, and Sony Music Entertainment. He subsequently recorded his 2013 debut album Long. Live. A$AP His father was from Barbados. He also has a younger sister. Mayers was named after the hip hop legend Rakim, one half of the Eric B. & Rakim duo. His cousin is a fellow ASAP Mob member, ASAP Nast. Rocky started rapping at age eight. He learned how to rap from his older brother, who also wore the French braids hairdo that Mayers later adopted. When Mayers was 12 years old, his father went to jail in connection with selling drugs; he died in 2012. When Mayers was 13, his brother was killed in Harlem. The death inspired Rocky to take rapping more seriously.