asap rocky
Clams Casino doesn’t believe in the age-old adage of having to finish what you start — at least in a single recording session. Born Michael Volpe (no relation to the New York Yankees shortstop and fellow New Jersey native Anthony Volpe), he rose to prominence serving as the sonic architect behind a majority of A$AP Rocky’s seminal 2011 Live. Love. A$AP mixtape, which ushered in a new era of NYC rap and kicked off the A$AP Mob frontman’s Harlem Renaissance.
But nearly 15 years later, Volpe’s atmospheric beats has continue to leave an impact on the next generation of artists. Being a fan of his work with Rocky, Clams Casino was already on The Kid LAROI’s radar when a mutual collaborator, Billy Walsh, connected the producer to the Australian musician when he was just 17 years old. Though nothing came of the initial studio session link-up, a year-and-a-half later, Clams Casino cooked up another intoxicating beat that he felt matched the vibe LAROI was looking for, and he turned out to be right.
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“I hadn’t spoken to LAROI in a long time and I just had a feeling,” he tells Billboard. “I sent him that one and he immediately responded that he loved it and went right in, recorded it on his own and sent it back in like a day.
“He used the MP3 I sent him as-is,” he continues. What came out was pretty much the original demo, which is cool about.” That result is the euphoric “Nights Like This,” which ended up landing on The Kid LAROI‘s debut album, The First Time, last November. And while it didn’t take off immediately, the track would slow-burn to success with the help of TikTok and break through in July on the Billboard Hot 100, where it has remained for the summer and currently sits at No. 67 in its ninth week on the chart.
The 37-year-old producer and LAROI then continued their magic with “Nights Like This Pt 2,” a heart-racing second installment that on The First Time‘s deluxe edition, released in August.
Below, Clams Casino breaks down all things surrounding “Nights Like This,” what stood out to him about The Kid LAROI and working with A$AP Rocky throughout his career.
How did “Nights Like This” come together? How did you originally get onto The Kid LAROI’s radar?
Clams Casino: It was a few years in the making. LAROI first reached out to me online when he was like 17. He was in the studio working with a mutual collaborator, Billy Walsh — I think he played him some of my stuff, and they were brainstorming and brought me out to [Los Angeles]. LAROI knew a lot of the music that I had done. Later on, he told me he was a big fan of the [A$AP] Rocky stuff. I went out to L.A. and we met up in the studio and we talked and played some stuff, but nothing really came out of that first time we met up. I kept it in the back of my mind.
I think it was a year-and-a-half later, and I was at my own studio in New York making beats. That [beat] came up, and I just thought this was the one to send to him. This is kind of what they were talking about what they wanted [during the initial session] and the sound they were referencing. I just sent that one beat. He was excited about it. I had a feeling this was the one and it worked out. Once it happened, it was quick, but the roots were a long time in the making.
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Do you remember actually cooking up that specific beat before getting it into his hands?
I had the melodic stuff sitting around a little bit. I knew it was a special one. I didn’t really know what to do with it. I had half of the beat kind of put away. I was like, “When the time is right, I’ll come back to it.” I don’t do full things in one sitting. A lot of stuff, I’ll come back to it months or years later. I messed around trying to do a different arrangement, and I think he was just stuck on the original demo. There was something about it; he kept going back to that. He was right about it. I tried some other things out, but he just wanted that original version, which is cool looking back on it.
What stands out about his artistry?
What’s exciting for me when I hear his music is that he has a very unique sense of melody — his delivery and his vocals. There’s something melodically that just feels like he’s delivering in the tones of his voice [with] a genuine feeling and it connects with his music because of that.
“Nights Like This” was teased back in 2022 and released in November. What do you think about its slow burn onto the charts?
It spread around very organically and I think that’s the best way it could happen. There was like zero push from the label at the beginning — they thought, like, “This is a little interlude or something.” I don’t think anyone took it seriously. From the beginning, I knew it was a really special thing and he did too. He was really excited about it. We had the freedom to do exactly what me and him wanted to do. People really connected with that.
Was there a moment you realized the record was taking off, and saw the fan reaction really moving?
I started seeing headlines, and all of a sudden, it was getting jumps in streams. I started seeing things online with people saying it was going crazy on TikTok. It just slowly started building. That’s how it really happened. I’m glad everyone’s hearing it now and they got around to it because that’s how I felt about it when it came out. I was happy and really excited and proud of that. Even just for it to come out in the first place I was happy, but I’m glad it got to that point. I always knew it was special. I’m glad it really connected with everybody else.
How did this lead into “Nights Like This Pt 2”?
The beginning of that idea came from something I made for myself. An instrumental solo project — that was the first thing when I was starting on my own new stuff. When I was listening back, I was going to save it for myself, and I was like, “Something about it feels like this should be the part two.” This was in March or earlier this year. So, a few months after the first was released. I sent LAROI not the full beat or anything, but melody stuff and it was a start.
He loved it, and he immediately started teasing it online. Ten minutes after I sent it to him, he was on Twitter saying, “Part two coming!” I was laughing about that — he was real excited about it. There was a little bit of back-and-forth after that. Him and [co-producer] Dopamine recorded it and did some other production and sent it back to me. We sent it back a few times. Dopamine did a lot of work on it and we went back a few times. We got it finished up.
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When did The First Time track “Strangers (Interlude)” come into play?
I actually didn’t know about that. I had no idea about that until the album came out. They had done that on their own. I felt like it set up [“Nights Like This”] really nicely. I love how it sounds sequenced on the album. It’s a clip from “Nights Like This” — just the intro to it and filtered out a little and a little skit on it.
Is there more to come from you guys?
Yeah, it feels like we’re just starting to figure it out. We’re both really excited. I’m like such a fan of his music and I’m happy that I’m able to bring what I bring to it. It just makes sense and it’s a beautiful thing. I’m always working on more that I want to send to him and we got some other stuff that we’re going to keep going [at] hopefully.
Outside of those collabs, what else are you working on?
I’ve been working on different stuff, like getting into scoring things. I worked on some original music for an independent movie that premiered at Cannes a few months ago. [It’s called] It Doesn’t Matter and the director is Josh Mond. I’ll definitely be doing more of that. In the meantime, I really have been having fun getting in with a lot of young producers and young people I’m inspired by. A lot of them have been inspired by me since they were younger, and now they’re coming up doing their own thing. It’s really crazy. I just been having fun getting in with all these new guys and seeing what happens. Producers [like] Evilgiane, who did the Earl Sweatshirt song recently. [I] been working with other guys like Ok. I did some stuff on the JT album with Aire Atlantica. I’m always experimenting and having fun doing stuff I haven’t done before. That’s what keeps me going.
Did you work on A$AP Rocky’s upcoming album?
We did work [on Don’t Be Dumb]. I don’t know what’s going to be used or not. It always seems up in the air until the last minute. We definitely had some things in the works. I don’t know what’s going to be released or not.
Can you speak to Rocky’s influence and his enduring legacy as a 2010s rap titan?
I’m just happy to be part of his story and the ride of his career. Seeing it from the beginning when we first met to where he’s at it now, it’s an amazing story. Remembering where it started and seeing where he’s at now, it’s awesome. I’m just happy to be able to see some of that and some of the behind-the-scenes things.
What do you think makes him special as an artist?
Overall, he has a clear sense of vision for everything. All aspects of it. The music, visuals and everything else. He’s always developing and sharpening that. I don’t really know what it is, but he’s got it.
Do you have a favorite collaboration over the years?
All of the first mixtape stuff [Live. Love. A$AP] is super important to me. That whole time, we weren’t really working in the studio. I was sending stuff, but then I’d come meet up with him every couple weeks and he’d play me what he did, but he was recording it [on his own]. The first song we officially did together was “Wassup.” Then we did “Bass” and “Palace” and all that stuff. It was happening one at a time over the spring and the summer leading up to the mixtape. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew something good was happening. Those songs are really special. There was an energy there that something was happening. For me, it was exciting and I didn’t know what was going to happen, and we just kept following it.
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For me, I think I gotta go “LVL.”
That was a little bit after the mixtape. That’s another special one doubling down on the sound that we started. That’s when it went from this internet mixtape thing to a major label and we were doubling down on the sound like, “This is what we’re doing.” That’s one of my favorites too.
A version of this story appears in the Aug. 24, 2024, issue of Billboard.
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A$AP Rocky fans will have to wait just a bit longer for the release of Don’t Be Dumb. The rapper has announced it is delayed to later this year.
As spotted on Hypebeast, the “Good for You” rapper recently responded to a post by NPR on X, formerly Twitter, where the publication reported the news. A$AP Rocky confirmed it saying, “LEAKS & SAMPLE CLEARANCES ARE DISRUPTING THE ALBUM. ITS BEEN 6 YEARS & I WANNA MAKE THE BEST ALBUM EVER. IM SORRY FOR THE WAIT.” Recently he spoke to Billboard, in an in depth interview where he revealed that he has been working on this project for the last couple of years. “At this point I’ve been working on music for six years, but they leak my music and I get over it and say, ‘F**k it,’ ” he explained. “They leak a lot of the music and it ruins it. Like my ‘Taylor Swift’ video. I was pissed off about it, so I never released it.”
Later on during the conversation he touches on his involvement in the Rap civil war that occurred earlier this year, specifically his back-and-forth with Drake. “You got to realize, certain ni***s was throwing shots for years. I ain’t in the middle of that sh*t,” he said. “That’s not how I retaliate right now. I got bigger fish to fry than some pu**y boys. It is real beef outside. It is real. Ni***s getting really clipped and blitzed every day. Ni***as sniping ni***s every day. That little kitty sh*t ain’t about nothing.”
You can watch A$AP Rocky’s newest video “HIGHJACK” below.
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A few weeks ago A$AP Rocky made waves when he seemed to have took some subliminal shots at Drake on his latest cut “HIGHJACK” and though the buzz has since died down, maybe a new video for the cut can get heads talking again.
Dropping off some new black-and-white visuals to “HIGHJACK,” A$AP Rocky gets his dapper don on as he styles in various spiffy suits as shadows play the walls in the background which show some thick women twerking to the beat and Rocky ducking Dracula’s hands?! Some pretty creep hand shadows, b.
Back in Detroit Big Sean goes the black-and-white route too and in his clip for “Yes,” Sean and his crew get turnt up in a warehouse where they smash TV’s, stomp the ground and lace the walls with cans of paint. Interestingly enough no one was smoking or drinking during this ruckus. Impressive. Just sayin.’
Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from Flee Lord, Tina, and more.
A$AP ROCKY – “HIGHJACK”
BIG SEAN – “YES”
FLEE LORD – “SNAKES IN DISGUISE”
TINA – “LOVER MAN”
ORION SUN – “SWEET”
NAPPY ROOTS FT. BENJI – “HOME FRIED”
JASONMARTIN & DJ QUIK – “FRESH WHITE T”
NIA SMITH & POPCAAN – “PERSONAL”
AUDREY NUNA – “SUCKIN UP”
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Rihanna put the father of her children and son in front of the camera to help her push her latest underwear campaign.
You could hear the collective aww throughout social media after Savage X Fenty, Rihanna’s popular lingerie brand, unveiled its new Classics campaign starring her boyfriend, Hip-Hop star and fashion killa ASAP Rocky, and her son RZA.
In the photo, the couple’s now 2-year-old firstborn child sits on the rapper’s shoulders, wearing black tank tops and matching boxer briefs.
We love to see Rocky in his dad element.
The power couple became first-time parents in May 2022 and welcomed their second child, Riot Rose, in August 2023.
While the Navy, Rihanna’s incredibly loyal fanbase, is clamoring for a new album from the Bajan mogul, she is taking her sweet time to pump it out while admitting she and Rocky are not done pumping out kids.
Per Billboard:
Earlier this month, for a cover story with Interview magazine, RiRi opened up about the possibility of expanding her family even more. “As many as God wants me to have,” the nine-time Grammy winner told her former stylist Mel Ottenberg in their all-encompassing chat regarding having more children down the line. “I don’t know what God wants, but I would go for more than two. I would try for my girl. But of course, if it’s another boy, it’s another boy.”
We don’t blame Rihanna for dragging her feet regarding the music. She’s clearly enjoying being a mother, slinging panties, men’s underwear, makeup, and now hair care products with Fenty Hair.
Rihanna, take your time and continue living your best life with ASAP Rocky and your beautiful children.
The Navy and other fans are not going anywhere.
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A$AP Rocky is taking his talents back to the big screen. He has been confirmed to be in Spike Lee’s upcoming film High And Low.
As spotted on Hypebeast the Harlem, New York, native was recently spotted filming for a new project. Paparazzi captured photographs of Lord Flacko shooting a scene of his character Yung Felon in handcuffs being led by police into what seems to be a police station. Supporting him are crowds of his friends, family and fans holding up signs asking for proper justice to be served. He is wearing a navy blue baseball jersey, baggy fitting jeans and Timberland construction work boots. Earlier this year, it was announced that Ice Spice was also added to the cast.
High And Low is is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller of the same name. The movie stars Denzel Washington and marks his fifth movie with Spike Lee. According to Wikipedia, the original follows a high ranking executive who is presented the opportunity of either accumulating a massive amount of power and wealth or lending his employee money to free his child from kidnappers. High And Low was written by Spike Lee and Alan Fox. Production started back in March and is expected to be released in 2025.
In recent A$AP Rocky news, the “Fashion Killa” MC released his newest capsule collection with PUMA. You can read about it here.
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A$AP Rocky is staying active with his creative director role at PUMA. A new motorsport collection is on the way.
As reported by Hypebeast, the Harlem, New York, native is deep into his fashion bag this summer. This week, A$AP and Global Apparel announced a new drop that draws from racing but is just the right speed for everyday wear. Included in the collection is a two-piece sweatsuit, gloves, t-shirts and an update to the Inhale OG sneaker, which was originally released in 2000. The goal was to bring the flair of on-track performance, therefore, most of the pieces show some wear and tear. For instance the Padded Balaclava was designed to look like a standard racing helmet and features a removable visor and a bungee closure.
The self proclaimed Fashion Killa detailed his enthusiasm about the forthcoming drop in a formal statement. “This Miami collection aims to give fans the chance to have their own race suit from the helmet down to the shoes,“ said A$AP. “Other sports have uniforms available for the consumer and I wanted to bring that to the F1 category. For the visuals, I wanted to demonstrate how as adults we can lose sight of the dreams and imagination that we had as kids, and really love how it all came together.”
The collection is available beginning in the U.S. at 10 a.m. EST on May 3 on PUMA’s website. You can preview the collection here and view the promotional trailer below.
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A$AP Rocky continues to rep for Rihanna in grand fashion. He is the face of Fenty Skin’s newest lip balm.
Hypebeast is reporting that the Harlem, New York MC has lent his talents to RiRi’s beauty label. On Thursday, January 4 the brand debuted a 20 second clip featuring the Fashion Killa announcing the launch of their Lux Balm Ultra Lip Balm. As expected he is wearing a variety of outfits as he drops some quick bars about the moisturizing treatment. “Flossy, glossy, Nah, bi***, this ain’t lip gloss / Lux Balm up in my palm / New collab’ with my baby mom” he raps as he shows off the product and his photo ready smile. The track is produced by none other than Pharrell Williams.
According to the Fenty Skin website the Lux Balm is “brings dry, chapped lips back to life with instant hydration. Sleek and discreet, it’s mess-free and slips effortlessly into any pocket.” It is flavored with Barbados Cherry, a nod to Rihanna’s hometown, and includes vitamin E, and shea butter. The Lux Balm Ultra Lip Balm is available now and is priced at $16.00. It is available on Fenty Skin, and Sephora.
A$AP Rocky and Rihanna have two children together, RZA and Riot Rose. You can view the Fenty Skin launch campaign for the Lux Balm Ultra Lip Balm below.
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A$AP Rocky has a new set of legal problems to deal with. Pretty Flacko will have to stand trial for allegedly shooting at A$AP Relli.
TMZ is reporting that the Harlem, New York native will have to defend his name in a court of law for discharging a firearm at his former A$AP MOB collaborator. On Monday afternoon Pretty Flacko attended a hearing at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles where prosecutors played what seems to be a pretty damning video. The surveillance footage shows what appears to be Rocky holding a black gun during an altercation with Relli back in 2021. Although there is no footage of the “Pesos” MC using the weapon the prosecution went on to play a second video where two gun shots can be heard.
Rocky’s lawyer questioned LAPD Detective Frank Flores and confirmed he no gun was found at the scene of the crime. The legal eagle went on to suggest that the police could not confirm what the rapper was actually holding in his hand and if it. “That gun or whatever it was was not tested, right?” Tacopina asked to which Flores responded “No, it was never recovered”. Tacopina added “you’re not sure if it’s an operable gun or a non-operable gun or whatever?” Flores confirmed saying “Without having it, I can’t tell you whether it’s operable”.
Relli claims A$AP Rocky pointed a gun to his stomach on November 6, 2021 during a tense confrontation but later on actually shot at him which resulted in the bullets grazing his knuckles. As per CBS News a judge has ruled that Rocky will have to stand trial for the crime. A$AP Rocky has pled not guilty to the charges.
You can see the footage of the altercation below.
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When Rihanna and A$AP Rocky step out they do it in style. The two were spotted out to celebrate his birthday.
Bossip is reporting that the celebrities were outside this week. On Tuesday, October 4 the duo publicly hit the streets of Manhattan for a very special occasion. The “Good For You” MC turned 35 and they went to celebrate the day by eating out at Carbone. Getting a table at the popular Italian hotspot can be very difficult but the two were given the VIP treatment as soon as they walked in.
As expected the power couple did not disappoint when it came to their clothing selections. A$AP Rocky wore a white button-up shirt under a grey crewneck sweater. Layered on top was a tartan suit jacket that was paired with some light jeans and black chunky boots. Pretty Flacko also has held on to the pearl hair clips he originally debuted at Rolling Loud in July. RiRi was fashion forward as ever with an all black ensemble featuring a cropped leather bomber jacket, a tulle top and shiny pantaboots. She completed the fit with black Gucci sunglasses and what seems to be a diamond necklace.
The Hollywood Fix reports that Rihanna and A$AP Rocky were at the restaurant for roughly two hours. You can see them exiting to their car below.
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The culture continues to learn how deep Virgil Abloh’s influence goes. A$AP Rocky reveals that the late great discovered A$AP MOB.
As spotted on HipHopDX the Harlem, New York native recently was honored at Harlem’s Fashion Row (HFR) 16th Annual Fashion Show & Style Awards the world famous Apollo Theatre. The “Wild for the Night” rapper received the Virgil Abloh Award and recalled how the creative was one of the collective’s earliest fans. “Virgil discovered A$AP as a bunch of kids before I got my record deal and any of that. We wasn’t old enough to get into this club called Le Bain. We were sneaking in type sh*t,” he explained.
“Virgil peeped us and unbeknownst to us, he was like, ‘Wait, y’all are those Harlem kids. The trendy ones.’ We was tripping like, ‘Wait, Virgil know about us. The fashion world know about us.’ A year later, I become A$AP Rocky.” He went on to further detail Virgil’s contribution to his solo career. “Virgil went on to design my first album cover and my first tour. It’s crazy because to be a trendsetter, it takes a lot of balls… The reason I can talk in front of y’all today is because of Harlem. Thank you Harlem fashion, bro.”
You can see A$AP Rocky’s discuss Virgil Abloh below.
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