For the latest Dazed cover story, I went to NYC to meet hip hop’s golden boy, A$AP Rocky and his A$AP Mob to get the low down on his overnight success and to take a tour of the crew’s favourite local spots. After a shopping spree in Soho, the fashion fanatics braved sub zero temperatures for a photo shoot on Harlem’s legendary Rucker Park basketball court with Ari Marcopoulos before heading home to 116th Street for a soul food banquet at Amy Ruth’s. They even squeezed in an impromptu house call on one of their grannies who hadn’t seen Rocky since his videos “Peso” and “Purple Swag” blew up and landed the 24-year-old rapper with a $3 million record deal. The next day I met them and a very large Rottweiler called Brody at a crumbling mansion in New Jersey as they filmed the final scene of Rocky’s “Wassup” video. It was a wild 24 hours… 

A$AP Rocky portrait shot by Ari Marcopoulos for Dazed & Confused