[A]SAP Ferg is a true polymath: Pioneering member of the all-conquering ASAP Mob, designer, director, collaborator and visual artist. 2016’s reflective genre-defying record Always Strive and Prosper, written in the aftermath of the passing of influential ASAP Mob director ASAP Yams but also heavily imbued with Ferg’s ruminations on burgeoning success, the album was a rap stream of consciousness laid down over diverse, experimental beats and featuring guest spots for the likes of Rick Ross, Migos and Missy Elliott. This year’s follow up Still Striving is another Ferg opus, a conscious departure from the hip-hop tropes and trap hi-hats that have defined the genre in recent times.
- Still Striving is the second mixtape by American rapper ASAP Ferg. It was released on August 18, 2017, by ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds Music, and RCA Records. It is his fourth solo commercial project. The mixtape features guest appearances from Meek Mill, Cam'ron, Dave East, Lil Yachty, Nav, Famous Dex, Playboi Carti, Migos, ASAP Rocky.
- Listen free to A$AP Ferg – Still Striving (Trap And A Dream, Rubber Band Man and more). 14 tracks (47:10). Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with.
- Those who didn’t like that album will love the straightforward, all-in banger-status of Still Striving. No, Ferg doesn’t cover new ground, but throughout this album, it feels as if he’s in his lane. Gems: “Trap and a Dream,” “Rubberband Man,” “Olympian,” “Plain Jane,” “Nasty (Who Dat),” and “East Coast Remix”.
Fast-paced and broad-reaching, the record proved that Ferg as a conceptual artist, able to commit his state of mind to record but retain all the beats, hooks and rhymes that make people move. Listen up below and read Ferg’s thoughts on striving, positivity and fashion below.
Hi Ferg, You’ve spoken about your records as a way of describing your state of mind to your fans. How did your state of mind shift between 'Always Strive and Prosper' and 'Still Striving'?
A look at the career or ASAP Ferg leading up to the release of his third studio album 'Still Striving'. Ferg answers a few questions about the new album. ASAP Ferg is a true polymath: Pioneering member of the all-conquering ASAP Mob, designer, director, collaborator and visual artist. 2016’s reflective genre-defying record Always Strive and Prosper, written in the aftermath of the passing of influential ASAP Mob director ASAP Yams but also heavily imbued with Ferg’s ruminations on burgeoning success, the album was a rap stream of.
I’m not mentally in the same space as Always Strive and Prosper. I didn’t completely get it out of my system but I’m channeling a different part of myself on Still Striving. I feel like I’m proving myself again to the world, going back to who I was before I got signed, that is the vibe.
It’s a huge undertaking to make an album that goes deep into your own consciousness. How do you feel about committing your deepest thoughts onto record? Does it help you?
Making music is therapy for me. By helping others I help myself, it’s like when people say “to change the world, you must change yourself”. I pour my emotions and feelings out to strike a change in the listener so I’m cautious of what I say because things can come into fruition.
Can you talk to us a bit about the production on your records? It's so varied. Looking back at “Strive” for example, it felt like a dance record.
Yeah, I was intending to make a dance record with “Strive”. I’m a musician, not just a rapper who wants to make trap music. As an artist, I like to dive into different arenas, so if I have an idea for a house record I’m going to lay it down and that’s what I did.
My family keeps me striving, the fact that I’m not comfortable makes me strive and prosper. The fact that I want to keep proving myself time and time again makes me strive and prosper. I want to conquer it all.
You’ve said that both love and hate inspires you. What are you loving and hating at the moment? Are you seeing more love or hate in the world right now?
I am seeing a lot more love in the world right now, I see less hate and that’s because I’m not focusing on the hate. I’m my own competition, I don’t focus on negativity, I like to move forward, be positive, and surround myself with positive people.
You brought through multiple collaborators on 'Still Striving', is that testament to how strong hip-hop is as a genre right now? Which artists are you excited about?
I’m excited about ASAP Twelvyy and about a lot of the guys that are on the ASAP Mob roster because now they get their time to speak. With Addie’s project and the way he’s going to put his album together, I’m curious to know what the people will think about it or see what I see in him.
Your Trap Lord label has been a global success, who are your style inspirations?
My style inspirations would have to be my dad, Michael Jackson, DMX and Liberace.
My plans for the rest of the year is make more music, more visuals, go on tour with the mob and promote our projects. I also just dropped my second sneaker with Adidas on September 1st.
Asap Ferg Still Striving Albumin
Harlem's own A$AP Mob have been making waves for quite some time and have succeeded in cementing themselves as a solid movement out of New York. They've built a cult following, and one of the crew's most impactful members thus far is A$AP Ferg, who has become a budding star in his own right. Inspired by a creative, entrepreneurial father who owned a Harlem boutique and printed shirts and logos for record labels, the rapper was destined for a career path honed in on his creativity as well. Being a native of Harlem, which is notorious for its' glamour and glitz, Ferg's interest in fashion became apparent from an early age, launching a Devoni Clothing as a teenager.
However, it would be his close friend A$AP Rocky that would push him to pursue a career in music, with the pair eventually joining the A$AP Mob collective. The buzz generated from A$AP Rocky's debut mixtape, Live. Love. A$AP, would raise the profile of the whole crew, with Ferg fully capitalizing on the attention with standout verses on tracks alongside Rocky and his other A$AP brethren. Ferg's own debut single, 'Work,' helped earn him a record deal with RCA Records and Polo Grounds.
In 2013, A$AP Ferg's debut album, Trap Lord, was released, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and cementing his standing as one of New York City's rising stars. The project further stamped A$AP Mob as a viable crew with multiple members capable of moving the needle. In the time since the release of Trap Lord, A$AP Ferg's stock has only risen, with the rapper releasing his sophomore album, Always Strive and Prosper. Now he's hit a crescendo with the release of his latest project, Still Striving.
Featuring appearances from Meek Mill, Cam'ron, Dave East, Lil Yachty, Nav, Famous Dex, Playboi Carti, Migos, A$AP Rocky, MadeinTYO, Busta Rhymes, French Montana, Rick Ross and Snoop Dogg, Still Striving is a mixtape loaded with firepower and is further confirmation of Ferg's star turn.
Asap Ferg Still Striving Album Cover
XXL gave A$AP Ferg's new project a spin and picked out 20 of the best lyrics from Still Striving that were too good to ignore.
Asap Ferg Still Striving Album
'I'm fuckin' your bitch in a park/I bust in her mouth ’cause she parched/She throwin' it back with an arch/You cuffin' that bitch like a narc/Ooh boy I dont wanna start/Two birds on my boat I'ma start/I'm kinda like Noah's Ark' - A$AP Ferg