A$AP Yams is one of the masterminds behind the A$AP empire, which also includes notable figures like current Complex cover star A$AP Rocky, and fashion maven A$AP Bari. One of Yams' most valued contributions to the clique is his input on their music, and with the type of knowledge and love for hip-hop that Yams has, it's easy to see why his opinion matters so much.
Last week, we spoke to Yams about his favorite albums. Over a two-hour conversation, his list ballooned to 42 significant rap releases, and he had epic stories to go with each assessment of every chosen record's impact on his life. From Ice Cube to Lil Boosie, these are the LPs that A$AP Yams considers the cream of the crop.
As told to Ernest Baker (@newbornrodeo)
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Ice Cube, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990)
Label:Ā Priority
A$AP Yams:Ā āIt really just opened my mind to the whole revolutionary rap. I wasnāt really big on that shit back in the day, but I really fuck with it, and the way Cube did it like with the gangster shit, and it sounded right, you feel me? It was just, like that shit make me want to go the police station after that, you feel me? It just gets you hyped up. It was really just going off on that whole album. Like, āFuck it. Iām young, Iām getting money, Iām out here. Fuck America.āĀ
āOn top of that, it really opens your eyes to the problems we really have in America with white folks and the minorities as well. All that shit. He was just touching on a lot of stuff motherfuckers werenāt touching at that time.ā
Mobb Deep, The Infamous (1995)
Label:Ā Loud/RCA/BMG Records
A$AP Yams:Ā āThat was just... It was dope to me, cause with Raekwon and Jay and AZ and Nas, they was giving you that mafioso music that you could bump in your Lexus, Mobb Deep was giving you that music that you could bump in your Saab. I mean that shit was stick up kid music for real, like when I first listened to it, I was dead broke. It made me appreciateāit makes you appreciate the little things in life, you know what Iām saying? You donāt have to drink a Cristal bottle to listen to this kind of music. You could get your little pint of Henny, you know what Iām saying? Get right with your little army jacket on, you know what Iām saying? The corner one time.
āThat type of shit, you feel me? The little hood shit that made New York itās culture. Like everything is rapped about, you know what Iām saying?Ā Motherfuckers aināt really know about, and Mobb Deep gave you that slang. Like early 2000s, like I was calling everybody āsonā back in the day. Like, āYo what up son, Ā what up kicko?ā Like, I really took a license to all the Queensbridge slang and shit. You know, everybody did at that time. Thatās what made The Infamous one of the dopest albums.ā
Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995)
Label:Ā Loud/RCA/BMG
A$AP Yams:Ā āI was too young to really appreciate that motherfuckerāthat was 95. I remember 36 Chambers in 95āthat shit scared the shit out of me. My perception of Wu-Tang at first, the motherfuckers that I looked up to, that was the stars to me, my personal favorites growing up, was Old Dirty and Meth. So I actually really studied the motherfucker, and went through the catalog, and found Ghost and Rae.
āOn Cuban Linx, Rae was just painting such a vivid picture of just whatever was going on in his head at the time. He was the first drug-lord rapper. He set the standard for guys like Rossānah, fuck Ross, fuck Ross. Nevermind that. He set the standard for Jay with Reasonable Doubt, for Big with Life After Death, and Nas It Was Written. Rae came out with that shit, and everybody was on their mafioso shit after that, and everybody was doing their little suits and shit like that. Rae was really the first one to really do it like that.
āThat whole album was just, you reallyāI still listen to that album to this day, and thereās shit that goes over my head, that I didnāt catch like the first 100 times I listen to it. Cause itās just like back-to-back. Jam after jam. You really got to sit down and play that motherfucker. You really have to sit down and grasp the shit. People think that Wu-Tang be talking this crazy slang, this crazy karate shit, with samurai warriors and all this shit, but theyāre talking that cold from church, that street shit! You know what Iām saying? Nah mean? This wasnāt some shit that scientists could figure out, you canāt sit there and try and decode the motherfucker. It was slang and street shit. Talking about ravioli bags and shit like that. It aināt that hard to figure out.
āHe just made it ill. That whole New York. To me, he gave New York that whole style as far as fashion shit. The rugged Timb boots and Carhart shit. The Wallabees with the Cuban on. He was a big dude walking around with a silk shirt on un-buttoned, with a headband on. With the windbreaker pants all the way up and shit. Like, āWoah, hold up. You out here doing it. Itās 88 right now, you gotta chill.ā That shit is just ill and shit.ā
Onyx, All We Got Iz Us (1995)
Label:Ā Def Jam,Ā Jam Master Jay
A$AP Yams: āThat album was like, every time I listen to that album I be getting so turnt up, it make me want to get a bally. I be wanting to get a bally after I listen to that album. It was just such aāsame thing applies to Flockaveliāit was just necessary at that time to have that. Like that aggressive content. Even during that time, if Iām being serious, everybody was on they smooth like, āOh, whatever, get money, we need elections and all that shit,ā and them motherfuckers coming through slam-dancing all crazy and all types of crazy shit. Feel me? That album was very important for that time, and I definitely put it up there.ā
UGK, Ridin' Dirty (1996)
Label:Ā Jive
A$AP Yams:Ā āRidin' Dirty made me fucking appreciate southern rap. Cause they was rapping about some real shit. And real shit, you know what I mean, no matter where you from, you always going to appreciate some real shit coming from somebodyās mouth, pause. You know what Iām saying? I think Jay-Z even made a reference to it on The Blueprint album. On top of that, he was the first motherfucker to throw them on a recordāa New York motherfuckerā that I know of. I may be wrong about that. If a motherfucker like Jay could appreciate what UGK did, then who is a serious rap to say different?
āHe pays attention to lyrics, like one of Jay-Zās favorites is āOut of This Worldā. Which a lot of people, a lot of people, I think goes over their heads and shit like that, when it comes to Rocky. On, āRocky canāt rap.ā Listen to āOut of This World,ā cause Jay definitely appreciates that motherfucker too. Shout out to Pharrell too, thatās for real.
āUGK, that was definitely a dope ass album. I think Pimp C, one of the most greatest producers, but he could sing his ass off too. I think he can sing better than all of these motherfuckers out right now.ā
Makaveli, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)
Label:Ā Death Row,Ā Interscope
A$AP Yams:Ā āThat album was so ill cause everything on it, he wasnāt just rapping. He was making a point, and he was making a point at somebody, and he was rapping about real shit on it. Throwing shots. That shit was like, āOkay, this is no longer rap.ā You got to chill now. This is that real street shit you got going on. That whole album was a letterāa very angry letterāto a lot of people. I think Johnny Jin, from Death Row Records, to me is one of the dopest producers, like that whole album sounds timeless. You can throw that whole album on at any point in time, and itāll sound indistinguishable from whatās out at that point in time. Iāll definitely throw at up as my favorite Pac album.ā
Puff Daddy & the Family, No Way Out (1997)
Label:Ā Bad Boy
A$AP Yams: āIt took, you know, post-Bigās and post-Pacās death, it took everything to the next level as far as the east coast. It was kind of a void to be filled in and shit like that. And nobody knew where it was going, and nobody expected Puff to be the one to take it to the next level as well. Just the whole cohesiveness between Diddy, Black Robāpardon meāPuffy, Black Rob, The Lox, Ma$e and shit. It was just constantly coming right after the next one, and constant bangers, and it was always on the radio. It was all we heard on the radio. You know what Iām saying?
āAnd the fact that Puff took joints from the 80s, and made them super-flyāsome super-fly, ghetto fabulous shit out of it, where it wasnāt too pop, but it was good enough to be on the pop stations, but it was still some, you know, fly hard shit.ā
The Firm, The Album (1997)
Label:Ā Aftermath/Interscope/MCA
A$AP Yams: āOh man, Iām going to come clean. I love, even back then, I love the The Firm for some reason. That was my shit back in the day. Actually, it was what, November '97 or some shit like that. I remember that, you know I couldnāt buy parental advisory at the time. My momma was up on game and shit like that, she wasnāt playing with that shit.
āI used to be in after school back in the days, and for Christmas, my counselorāhe was a dope motherfucker, shout-out to the homie one timeāhe bought me The Firm album for Christmas. I used to hide that motherfucker under my bed and shit like that.
āThe Firm, to me, man they got so much swag back in the days man, itās so fucked up. Listening to it now, I think besides like two records: besides like the Foxy record and fucking somebody else, pause, and this other record, I think itās called āFirm All-Stars,ā every record on that album is raw as fuck. It was jiggy rapping, but they had motherfuckers really spitting they ass off. You had Nas, you had AZ, you had Half-A-Mill, you know what Iām saying? They was raw, you know, they was about dropping the fight on the tracks, and the fact that they mixed it up with the jiggy rap and you know what I mean, they gave you the fly music with Dreās beats and shit like that. I think it was a dope ass combination, and in retrospect, I think a lot of people be able to appreciate the album more than they did back in the day.ā
MJG, No More Glory (1997)
Label:Ā Draper Inc. Records
A$AP Yams:Ā āI think a slept on album that everybody should listen to is MJG debut solo album called No More Glory. It came out in 97. The only reason I remember that motherfucker is he had a video with Stacey Dash, and Stacey Dash was his love interest in that motherfucker. Iām like, āOh, MJG is out here!ā But that album is just so dope, cause he went away from his normal 808s and samples and soul music and 70s and some black exploitation films, and rapping about the pimp shit. That kind sits on the Organized Noize sound a little bit more, where he was a little more self-conscious and shit like that. I think MJG is one of the most slept on rappers of all time. For real, like.
āI didnāt listen to that album till like, I would say 2004, cause I still remember the songs from back in the day, he had that, he had the Stacey Dash video, and I think they remade the cameo joint, where they was riding around in the Cadillac, just like āCandyā joint. That was my early memories of 8Ball and MJG. But that was definitely a dope ass album as far as southern far albums are concerned.ā
Ma$e, Harlem World (1997)
Label:Ā Bad Boy Records
A$AP Yams:Ā āAs far as impact, yeah. But Harlem World, you know it has itās whole... Harlem World it has just as good bad records as it has good records. It wasnāt no balance in it. It was really cheesy fucking records or really, really good records.
āIt was everything. Not only that, but we used to see him around the way. Thatās whatās up about it. Heāll be at the park, or a BBQ or something like that, and then youāll see him on TV and shit like that, or the radio. It just molded the whole soundscape uptown. Uptown definitely had the sound back then, as far as like, digging in the crates and shit, you know what Iām saying? You was either in the buckwild beat, or some kind of new jack swing. It kind of really elevated the sound for what, you know, uptown, the Bronx, and Harlem was supposed to sound like. And it really broadened the jiggy era of rap music too.ā
The Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death (1997)
Label:Ā Bad Boy
A$AP Yams:Ā āI started getting into rap right after Life After Death came out. One of the first records I heard was on the radio was 112 āOnly Youā with Big, and āHypnotized.ā That motivated me to buy the album. It was cool when I first heard itāit was good, but then the retro standards years later, that album sounds so ill. It took him two discs to doāhe did two discsānot only that, but he was experimental with different producers, doing boom-bap.
āThe way you set trends, the trendsetter is always going to have a good quality product. When motherfuckers follow that product, they probably wonāt be as successful as the trendsetter, you feel me? Itās not going to work for them, but thankfully it worked for Big. The fact that he was rapping like Bone Thugs. I aināt going to say he smashed them, he did but on the low. It would be a lot of New York bias. A lot of motherfuckers say they cut the record off after Bigās verse and shit, but Iām like, āHold up, my man Bizzy went in too, chill.ā
āThe āGoing Back To Caliā record like, that album was just a really great body of work thatās timeless. Itās going to be just as timeless as any of Tupacās records and shit like that. I still listen to that shit to this day. Thereās a record on that album for every mood and every occasion, you feel me?ā
Busta Rhymes, When Disaster Strikes... (1997)
Label:Ā Flipmode Records/Elektra Records
A$AP Yams:Ā āWhen Disaster Strikes was ill because Busta was animated as fuck. You couldnāt hate Busta. All his videos are just entertaining as fuck. He dressed up as an old Asian dude or white dude. Anything to keep the crowdās attention, and keep them at awe. Nah saying? āWhere My Eyes Could Seeā and āDangerousā and shit like that, those were just all really dope singles and shit. Like Bustaās not only underappreciated albums, but I think he belongs there. He has enough quality albums and one of the best live shows in hip-hop ever.ā
Lil Wayne, Tha Block Is Hot (1998)
Label:Ā Cash Money
A$AP Yams:Ā āI think growing up, everybody fucked with Cash Money. Everybody especially in my age bracket, they fuck with Wayne the most, because he was the youngest, and they would relate to him the most. I remember he dropped this shit, and it was on some whole, like next level shit, cause aside from that, everybody knew him from his very on āBack That Ass Up.ā Like the general population, you know what Iām saying? Not the hardcore fans. They knew him for the, ādrop it like itās hot, drop it like itās hot.ā
āBut when he dropped his album, he dropped a full body of work, and it really just captivated a lot of people. It did itās numbers and got itās fans. Thatās one album that was definitely the best for a good five months. Straight, I was in 6th grade, and I jammed that motherfucker like a motherfucker.ā
Mac, Shell Shocked (1998)
Silkk The Shocker, Charge It 2 da Game (1998)
Label:Ā No Limit,Ā Priority
A$AP Yams:Ā āThat was really like my first introduction to like southern rap and shit like that. I thought it was just so dope. What really caught my attention was P, he remixed Aayliahās āIf Your Girl Only Knew,ā remade the beat, and had Mia x singing on that motherfucker on some gangsta shit. Like, that shit was so crazy to me like, youāre making R&B songs off some real dope-boy shit, and just hearing that was like, āWoah, hold up. This shit is crazy right now.ā That was the first No Limit album I ever listened to in my life, surprisingly not Ghetto D and shit like that.ā
Noreaga, N.O.R.E. (1998)
Label:Ā Def Jam
A$AP Yams:Ā āN.O.R.E. is probably my memory of the summer of '98. Cause it was the whole album was... Forget that, he was the first motherfucker fucking with The Neptunes. I heard stories about that whole situation, cause Rockyās manager, Geno Cash, used to actually work, work on that album. I know the whole story behind āSuperthug,ā I know all that shit. Itāll fuck your mind.
āThat album was the whole soundtrack in '98. Everybody fucked with that album. I think NoreĀ was soāto me, I look at Nore, as like the East Coast Young Jeezy, if that makes sense. He came at a time where motherfuckers were rapping they ass off, and Nore would just come and say some like, whatever, āI put a bogey out in your face.ā Nah mean? He rapping about selling drugs and shit like that, but from a more simple standpoint, where he wasnāt rapping his ass off or crazy, but it was still dope, cause he was saying some of the illest shit.
āThat was Noreās best quality, was he knew his style so well, he knew his style so personally well, that he didnāt have to worry about being the best rapper, you know what Iām saying? He chose the perfect beats, the perfect beat features to compliment his style the best, and make his product sound just great. To where nobody even complained about him not being the rapper out, or being super-lyrical, which was a really important quality to have back in the days of rapping.ā
Big Pun, Capital Punishment (1998)
Label:Ā Terror Squad/Loud Records
A$AP Yams: āCapital Punishment, aw man. I swear, that shit, Iāma come clean like. Iāma come so clean, I had never told nobody this shit. When Pun dropped, Iāma come clean, Iām half-Dominican and Puerto Rican. When Pun dropped, I was so proud to be Puerto Rican, I aināt even tell motherfuckers that I was Domincan. I would just come up, āYeah, Iām full Puerto Rican. For real, for real.ā
āWhat made Pun so ill was, I donāt give a fuck about what nobody say, every Pun recordāthis was 98, so everybody was on a record with each otherāevery Pun song, he shitted on everybody! Every great you could think of. Every great. Nah saying? Nas, Jadaāhe bodied everybody. He bodied everybody on records. This is just personal opinion. I aināt going nah mean, not trying to rattle the cage or nothing like that, but had Pun been on a track with Jay and Big, I put my money on Pun.
āHe definitely like wanted to get his point across. Iām not saying, people have twisted it sometimesāIām not saying that Pun wouldāve gotten as big. Motherfuckers try and move that side of me, like, āHold up. Nah, youāre wylinā right now.ā Pun was not fucking with Big. Iām not talking about who was fucking with who. I was just saying, Pun wouldāve got big on the record. Iām just saying that.ā
DMX, It's Dark and Hell is Hot (1998)
Label:Ā Ruff Ryders,Ā Def Jam
A$AP Yams:Ā āThat shitāas good as the jiggy era was, that shit came through and smashed all of that shit. Like, Iām out here, for real, with the hardcore street shit. Iāma come clean: when I heard that shit, I was like, 7, 8. Fucking āDamienā? That shit fucked my head up. I wasnāt deep to hearing shit like that, cause everything was so you know, happy sounding in my head. Everything was happy, you know? We out here having a good time and shit, and then you hear āDamien,ā and youāre like, āWhat the fuck is this shit?ā Like, that shit scared the shit out of middle America.
āIn fact, he was performing that shit in arenas, and they even scared. Bugged out arenas on that shit. Fucking crazy.ā
āWe always watched that. I used to watch that shit everyday, before anything ever happened. Thatās my motivation everyday. And fucking, that was really the inspiration for like whatās on with ASAP. We was on like coolest and most wittiest artists out right now. We want to put them on tour, and just fuck they head up off that.ā
Bizzy Bone, Heaven'z Movie (1998)
Ruff Ryders, Ryde or Die Vol. 1 (1999)
Label:Ā Ruff Ryders/Interscope
A$AP Yams:Ā āCause fucking it was just so crazy to hear, you know what I mean? Eve was the first female rapper I could listen to and not feel completely uncomfortable and questionable about. She was really just rapping. That shit was swag. She had theāwhatās that one joint where she was in the club with the spanish motherfucker getting crazy and all of that? On the four wheel, that was a crazy record. Even with Drag-On. When Drag-On was getting played on the radio, he didnāt even have a video out. Nobody knew what he looked like.
āSwizz is likeāI always say thisāthe only way artists, any artists is going to be timeless, and really stand the test of time, is not going on and paying producers and āLet me get this beat right here, let me get this beat right here.ā Like, you actually go to sit down with your producer, and build your entire sound from scratch. Like DMX with Swizz, or Dre with NWA. Fucking Jay with Kanye West and Just Blaze. Thatās the only way to me you can really prosper in the rap game. Is to develop your own sound from scratch with a brand new producer, instead of looking for whatās hot and shit like that. He did that for the entire Ruff Ryders camp.ā
Mobb Deep, Murda Muzik (1999)
Label:Ā Loud/Columbia
A$AP Yams:Ā āMurda Muzik, it was just... Shit. Like Murda Muzik was such a crazy record, cause it was like, it was all like hardcore shit. It was likeāmy pops was listening to āItās Mineā in the car, in the whip and all that. Even he was listening to that shit, and Murda Muzik was like, after I heard āQuiet Songā for the first time, back in 99, thatās when I was set on Prodigy being my favorite rapper, like, āThatās my Number One right there. Fuck everybody else. Thatās Number One right there. āQuiet Storm.āā And on that album, every P verse is just so memorable, and he was really in rare form on that album.
āIt was just so crazy. On top of that, it reminded me of The Tunnel. Just the whole coaster of 99, and The Tunnel of New York and all of that like, how New York sounded back in the day. Like I feel nostalgic listening to Murda Muzik. I be in the crib like fucking listening to like āQuiet Storm,ā like my cousins would come over, and they would be expecting to do it cause that shitās too hardcore. Like, āShorty, what you know about Mobb Deep? What you listening to right now? What is that?ā They probably listening to Jay-Zās girlās best friend or something like that, feel me?
āThat album really set the appreciation for hardcore, dark rap. That dark shit.ā
Jay-Z, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000)
Label:Ā Roc-A-Fella,Ā Def Jam
A$AP Yams: āIāll put The Dynasty over a few Hov albums a matter of fact. I would put The Dynasty over a lot of his albums a matter of fact, besides like The Blueprint, cause The Dynasty was really likeāit kind of, how can I put it? It kind of set the bar for how rap crews were supposed to look and sound like. You know. Everybody loved how the Roc was so together and shit like that, and that album proved it, you know what Iām saying?
āWhatās that one beat that Flex always played? That record right there, that makes you want to be a part of rap. That makes you think together and shit like that, you know what Iām saying? That makes the young motherfuckers be like, āDamn, I want rap to be what it once was.ā It was ill. That album right there was justāwhen that shit dropped, it was so dope. I remember he was going head-to-head with OutKast that week, and he beat OutKast, you know what Iām saying? That was a big record right there.ā
Cam'ron, S.D.E. (2000)
Label:Ā Epic
A$AP Yams: āS.D.E. is my favorite Cam album cause I think Dipset has a lot more fans now, especially with the internet and shit like that, and I think they all appreciate the Purple Haze and Come Home With Me, and the Diplomatic Immunity, but they never really appreciate S.D.E., cause Cam was really rapping on that motherfucker. People love the work he did with The Heatmakers, but I love what he did with Digga and Dame Grease. All them Dame Grease beats in the late-90s, with the violins and fucking the rocking horns and all that shit, like that was what Harlem sounded like in the late-90s. It was that whole streetness, you know what Iām saying? From T-Rex to Black Rob, you know what Iām saying? To Ma$e, even DMX. Cam was really, you could tell he was pissed off with what was going on with the ladies, and he rapped his ass off that whole fucking album.
Ā
Jay-Z, The Blueprint (2001)
Label:Ā Roc-A-Fella,Ā Def Jam
A$AP Yams: āMotherfucker I cut school to get The Blueprint. I cut school the day, September 11th, I cut school to go buy The Blueprint. Then the fucking Towers got hit, and my mama went to school, and I wasnāt there. She was flipping. That was my whole memory behind The Blueprint. I was grounded for a good three weeks and shit. I listened to that motherfucker the whole time. I knew every motherfucking word by time I was off punishment.
āIt made me appreciate music overall more. Cause kind of like before The Blueprint, Iām not going to lie, I was just listening to rap music. I was just listening, āOh this shit sounds good, this shit sounds crazy right there.ā I wasnāt like digesting them motherfuckers. Then when The Blueprint dropped, the one bar he said on āRenegadeā it was like, āDo yāall listen to music or do you just skim through it.ā I was like, āOh, shit.ā I started listening to lyrics more after it, and on top off that, I started an appreciation for soul samples more after that, cause I wasnāt really on it like that.
āWhatās crazy is, I went back to school after the whole shit dropped, and motherfuckers were like, āThe Blueprint was whack.ā Motherfuckers in my school like, āThe Blueprint whack.ā Ghetto Fabolous was hotter than that. They were fucking with Fabās shit. That shows you, you know what Iām saying? Motherfuckers in my school werenāt ready for that level for music yet. They were still on the whole shit from 2001. Whatever that shit was. That club shit with the jewelry, and the paper-towel bandana shit, you feel me? The Blueprint is definitely there for me.ā
Cormega, The Realness (2001)
Label:Ā Legal Hustle/LandSpeed Records
A$AP Yams:Ā āCormega to me, is likeāI remember it was one time, when I was like 13, I went QB and took the train out there, and I was just walking around and shit. I was ignorant to everything. Iām like, āFuck it, Iām out here. I donāt give a fuck.ā I know Iām a whole nother hood and shit, a whole nother borough. Cormega just painted such a vivid picture of Queensbridge and itās surroundings, that you felt like you lived there, you know what Iām saying? You knew everybody that he shouted out on records like Lil Spic and Yam-bo, nah saying? Killa Black. Like all these motherfuckers on records, and you feel like you knew these motherfuckers personally.
āHe paints such a vivid picture of not just his story, but their story, and the Queensbridge story. You feel like you really know what was going down in Queensbridge in the late 80s, early 90s and shit. I think heās definitely one of the most slept-on ever in my opinion, and he was giving Nas a run for his money at one point.ā
Nas, Stillmatic (2001)
Label:Ā Ill Will,Ā Columbia
A$AP Yams:Ā āThis is always my argument for people. I always argue this shit right here. I always prefer Stillmatic over Illmatic for one specific reason. I lived through Stillmatic. I lived through that era to actually appreciate it, as opposed to Illmatic, because I wasnāt able to feel the impact that it had, because I was in fucking kindergarten or 1st grade or some shit like that. I aināt know what was going on.
āStillmatic, that was right after the fucking Towers fell, the whole shit, the city was divided. You were either a Jay fan or you was a Nas fan, and like that time was so crazy. And when he dropped this shit, like I remember, it was December 17th. I got that shit for Christmas, with the Sean Jean velour and all of that. I remember that like a motherfucker. That shit changed my wholeāthat album made me appreciate lyrics more. That was the album that made me go back. Like I got Stillmatic, I got to buy Illmatic now. Okay, I got to buy, you know, all the other classic albums.
āThat was when I started listening to more conscious rappers like that, because I didnāt know nothing about that. A lot of people did drawback and start appreciate lyrics more for a like, a little short period of time that it was.. I definitely put Stillmatic over Illmatic any day. Oh, and thatās āEtherā over āTakeoverā any day.
āThe city made a decision, the fans put their vote into Hot 97. You canāt reverse a decision to fight five years later.
āHe was smart tooāhe did it right before his album dropped.ā
The Diplomats, Mixtape Volume 1 (2002)
State Property, State Property (Soundtrack) (2002)
Scarface, The Fix (2002)
Label:Ā Def Jam South,Ā Island Def Jam,Universal Records
A$AP Yams:Ā āThe Fix is just so dope to me cause it was the firstāthat was the first southern rap album I saw get Five Mics. At that time, I took Five Mics very seriously, you know what Iām saying? Like, yo, Nas didnāt even get Five Mics. Did Nas get Five Mics? Iām not sure if Nas got Five Mics. He got it for Stillmatic? You know what Iām saying?
āBut that was the first southern rap artist that they deemed Five Mics, and when I seen that shit, I went like, āYo, I got to buy this fucking album.ā The fact that he had both Nas and Jig on his album, during the whole mess of that shit. And not only that, he fucking, to me, I wish he wouldāve gotten fucking Jay, Beans, and Scarface album. Iād kill for that. I wouldāve definitely listened to a whole Jay, Beans, and fucking Face album. They wouldāve banged out so many classics together, itās incredible.ā
50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003)
Label:Ā Aftermath,Ā Interscope,Ā Shady
A$AP Yams: āMan, what can I say? I was so happy when that shit dropped. I was so happy. I was so happy just to see 50 winning, cause I was a 50 fan way before that. I listened to the Whoo Kid tapes. I was going to the Harlem Music Cutāthat was a little spot uptown that sold mixtapes and shit, that supplied mixtapes. That shit was the shit back in the day.
āI was just fucking tired of Ja Rule breh like. No offense to Ja Rule. Much respect to himāthat niggaās very experienced, very good, but back then? At 12, I did not fucking like Ja Rule breh. That shit was terrible. I was like, āAw, this shitās got to stop.āI wasnāt even a fan of Nelly either. I was definitely in KRS-Oneās corner when that whole shit went down. Like for real breh.
āThen when 50 dropped, I was like, āThank god, this shitās really about to change.ā I remember I couldnāt even get the album when it first dropped. That shit took me a good three weeks to find it, cause that shit was sold out everywhere. I was trying to get the one with the DVD and all that. I think it was a blizzard the day that shit dropped too. That shit, I couldnāt even find that motherfucker.
ā50 just definitely made one of the biggest impacts, and he was the one of the only artists to have a record label where everybody, everybody was exceptional for that time. Like everybody got a plaque off that shit. Aināt nobody was a shy kid. Yayo got his. For him to do that, that was a big look right there.ā
āThey was good albums, but I couldnāt say they were classics. I havenāt listened to Lloyd Banks in fucking five years breh. But it was good for that era though, it was definitely good for that era though.ā
The Diplomats, Diplomatic Immunity (2003)
Label:Ā Roc-A-Fella Records,Ā Diplomat Records,Ā Def Jam Recordings
A$AP Yams:Ā āFirst of all, for a good six months, I hated the motherfucker. I hated the motherfucker, cause I remember the day Diplomatic Immunity dropped, they had an in-store at I think a Power Records on 125thāit was some music shop on 125th. FYE or some shit. I literally skipped school, waited the whole fucking day, these motherfuckers ride by on top of the tour bus waving they arms like, āYo, whatās up?!ā and just completely passed by. Everybody in line like, āYo, so are they coming back? Are they chilling on the block right now? We just waited a fucking hour.ā Motherfuckers did not come back breh. I was broken on that shit for a good six months breh. I wouldnāt listen to the motherfuckers.
āBut Diplomatic Immunity man, Dipset just influenced this middle America and culture in so many ways. A lot of people donāt realize that a lot of those trends that people were rocking with at the time was influenced by Dipset. You know what Iām saying? Motherfuckers wear True Religions like Jim Jones wasnāt wearing that shit like seven years ago. In the āWe Fly Highā video I thinkāitās been a long timeābut they influenced everybody.
āFrom having earrings squared, to having grown men wear pink in public, and not being questioned about it at all, you know what Iām saying? Before, you wear a pink polo, and motherfuckers would be like, āFuck out of here with that shit.ā Cam wore a pink polo, and they were like, āOkay, I see you. Get me the good pink tee, and the pink fitted to go with it.ā
āThere was gangs called Dipset! There was dudes and crews calling themselves Dipset, acting like they were affiliated through Camās second brother uncleās father-in-law or some shit like that. They really thought like, and really wanted to be a part of that movement in anyway whatsoever. You see motherfuckers throwing up East Side. Not Young Money. You be like, āYou Young Money?ā and motherfuckers be throwing shit up like, āNah breh, thatās East Side.ā You feel me? Like what?
Ā āDipset, like cāmon, letās keep it real now. Wayne didnāt really across over all crazy until he started fucking with Harlem. The True Religions with the schooled jewelry on and all that shit, like...
āJim is one of my favorite rappers if Iām coming clean. Cause Jim, he knew he wasnāt the best rapper, but he had that drunken master flow, and then like he had the best verse on the album on āIām Ready.ā They all had a certain quality and connection. Like Cam was really on his Ghostface Supreme Clientele shit. He be rapping but you didnāt know what the fuck he was rapping about, but it made sense though, and was entertaining as fuck. Like his fucking pop culture references was off the charts. āCoke only thing whiter dog is Brooke Shields.ā He was rapping, talking about Brooke Shields and fucking Dale Earnhardt and shit like that. What? That shit is crazy.
āThen you know Jim with his ad-libs. Jimās ad-libs, it makes you get hyped. That shit made it so dope, you know what Iām saying?
āAnd Juelz, Juelz was off the fucking charts breh. āYeah the whole Byrd gang's in here, like Kurt Cobainā breh. Like what? You feel me? Then the beats, the beats made it more infectious, cause they kind of took Jay-Zās blueprint with the soul samples, and took it to the next level, where they had the chipmunk soul samples, and it was just everybody was copying those beats at that time. Everybody wanted one. Man, The Heatmakers breh. Shout out to The Heatmakers. Thatās all Iām going to say breh. Shout out to The Heatmakers.ā
Lil Wayne, Tha Carter (2004)
Label:Ā Cash Money,Ā Universal
A$AP Yams:Ā āI was just listening to that shit this morning breh. Tha Carter, I was a fan of Wayne before that for his lyrics and shit like that, cause we have the Sqad Up mixtapes and shit like that. I had cousins in Miami, and they were putting me on to what they was listening to and what not. Thatās how I got put onto the whole screw shit and shit.
āBut Tha Carter, number one, I didnāt even buy that album cause of a single. I bought that album off word of mouth. When it first dropped, they were like, āYo, Wayne is on some Hov shit now. You got to listen to this shit.ā And I had dial-up at the time, so I couldnāt download albums or nothing like that. The struggle was very real for me back then. I had to still go buy albums and shit. I think the day I bought that album, I zoned out to that shit.
āWayne really just like, he had something to prove after everybody left Cash Money, and he really like showed off on that whole album. Thatās one album I could listen to front to back, no problem. The way he elevated his whole delivery, and rhyme scheme, and flowāof course it was Hovās doing, but he needed that. To be great, you got to take something from all the greats. Like, you know what Iām saying? He took something from fucking Hov, Pac, fucking, you know he matured from a fucking kid and all that shit. He emulsified all the greats, and thatās what caused Wayne being one of the greats as well.ā
T.I., Urban Legend (2004)
Label:Ā Grand Hustle,Ā Atlantic
A$AP Yams:Ā āYou know whatās funny about that, back in the days on the MySpace page, that was all of our MySpace. Our MySpace song was that āASAP.ā When we first started, Rocky came out to that instrumental, when we first started doing shows and shit.
āAt that time, T.I. came at a time where everybody was on they crunk shit, you know what Iām saying? It was all just real hype shit. Yelling, calling response records and shit like that. Our standard, it made people, it made it hard for the rest of the world to really appreciate southern rap. Not appreciate it, period, cause there was just too much party rap. And T.I. kind of just cameāthey crowned him Jay-Z of the south. He called himself the king, and Scarface, who was supposed to take offense to that, said, āNah, you can have that.ā On top of that, he killedāoh man I wish, I really fucked with, you know I fuck with the intro hardbody.
āT.I. really like, whatās that one record called? That one record on Urban Legend that was... It was a real serious record. I think itās called āTryin For Helpā or some shit like that... āPrayin For Help,ā there you go, āPrayin For Help.ā Thatās the record called, āPrayin For Help.ā Like, he was really providing real content in his music that people could relate to from all walks of life, and thatās what made it ill, and that album, that was really like The World Is Yours. That was his, you know what I mean, his holy grail right there.
āOn top of that, he was the one that started the wholeāI donāt want to say he started that, but he brought the whole trap music, he brought the whole trap reference to the spotlight. I think it kind of fucked it up, cause itās like, peopleās whole outlook on trap music is Young Jeezy over a Shawty Redd beat or Gucci Mane over a Zaytoven beat, and thatās not what trap music is. Trap music is like southern rap music that talks about the stuff about dopeboy shit, about hustling, you know what Iām saying? Thatās what his second album, Trap Muzik, you feel me?
āThat shit [techno trap remix DJs] I hope they all crawl up in a hole and die. Like the whole LA scene and shit needs to just die, please. That shit is just so insulting. All the records, I donāt care. All the trap beat days on soundcloud, they got to go. Theyāre really the worst. They took a music that was so beautiful and so great, and they just took that shit to hell. Trap is always going to be the trap, but that shit is justāthey making a mockery of that shit.ā
Jim Jones, Ghetto Advocate: On My Way to Church (2004)
Label:Ā Diplomat/Koch
A$AP Yams: āWhatās dope about Jim, is Jim was working with motherfuckers that a lot of motherfuckers wasnāt working with, just like us. He was the first motherfucking to fuck withāhe threw Bun B on his album at a time when people still really didnāt appreciate the whole UGK collection, their whole discography. He had Bun B, he had fucking Bizzy Bone on his album, and I think I read somewhere his main influence is Eazy-E and Bone Thugs. Thatās the same as us.
āOn top of that, Jim was really the first one that was really going down bottom with it. He was playing music from other regions. He remade āCertified Gangstas.ā He was playing with music from other regions, and he catching people flat-footed, just like we did. But he was cashing out on that motherfucker, and he made it sound good, cause he knew what the fuck he was doing. That album was the most slept on Dipset album to me. It was just a good body of work. Great body of work, from the beats to the features. Everything made sense on that album.ā
50 Cent, The Massacre (2005)
Label:Ā Aftermath,Ā Interscope,Ā Shady
āThe Massacre was a good album. It has some tracks on there, but I canāt really throw it up there. It was cool. The impactāwhat was really fucked up was āPiggy Bank.ā I remember Flex was on the radio, just gassing the shit up like he was about to play it, and not play it for a good two weeks. Building anticipation, and then when we heard it, it was like, āEh, Iām good.ā You know what Iām saying? Itās whatever.ā
Young Jeezy, Trap or Die (2005)
DJ Burn One & Gucci Mane, Chicken Talk (2006)
Lil Boosie, Bad Azz (2006)
Label:Ā Trill,Ā Asylum
A$AP Yams:Ā āThat was the album that really made it good for the south to me. If you listen to that album, you got to understand at that time, there was some bulllshit coming out. Iām going to come clean. It was a lot snapping and popping and a lot of that shit, but if you listen to Boosie, he really put his whole life on music. You could feel his words, you know what Iām saying? When I first listened to the album, I was fucked up at the time. I was really going through it, you know what Iām saying? I didnāt have no place to liveānone of that shit. That album I listened to it every night while drinking like a half pint of Georgi or something like that. Like real shit. We got some shit going through some real things, like thatās one of the realest songs I heard in my fucking life.
āHe gave you, and Ā the guys like fucking Jeezy, the other side of the south that Pimp C will flirt with his country rap tunes, as opposed to you know, the other shit that I think people really didnāt get to explore like that. Cause all they heard or see was what was on the radio. All that weird shit. It really gave you that other side that I think people needed to see at that time to really just appreciate southern rap in general.ā
Waka Flocka Flame, Flockaveli (2010)
Label:Ā 1017 Brick Squad,Ā Asylum,Ā Warner Bros.
A$AP Yams:Ā āFlockaveli is just to me, I look at it asāI got caught flat-footed too. I look at it as, I put it up there with DMXās Itās Dark and Hell Is Hot, because of the impact. Flockaveli I think is such an important album, I think the world needed that, cause it was just aggressive content, like the rap game wasnāt aggressive anymore. Like everything was just like, āYou know, weāre stoners, weāre high, you know?ā Everybody was a weed smoker now, and everybody was on their little shorty shit, rapping over chill beats and like that and not being fly. Flocka came out, like.
āWhatās that shit? He said with someone, was it, fuck. He said someone was talking about Eazy-E, heās like, āIām with Eazy, Iām bringing gangster rap back. I let the guns go.ā He really brought that aggressive content back in rap, and we really needed it, you know what Iām saying? And it was up there with Onyx, and fucking DMX, before everybody started to get off that soft shit, and really kind of like get a little more aggressive with it.
āOn top of that, he came in the game with a new sound as well. Thatās what makes him successful you know what I mean? He came through the south with a sound and a movement going on in his beats. He had his own, different style, you know what I mean? Motherfucker was all of the place, ad-libs like a motherfucker. On top of that, you listen to the motherfucker like heās really got confidence in that motherfucker. Like, āFuck this Industryā is some real shit.ā
ScHoolboy Q, Setbacks (2011)
Label:Ā Top Dawg Entertainment
A$AP Yams:Ā āThat shit, that was the first time I heard ScHoolboyĀ and shit. I actually saw the video, I heard it, and heās so dope to me. ScHoolboyās my favorite rapper right now. Hands down. Right now, my favorite rapper, honestly. I swear by that. I think ScHoolboy's so dope, cause heās the perfect mixture of the consciousness that Kendrick brings to the table, and that gangsta-ass LA shit, and you just put it in one melting pot, and created a whole new sound that works well for him.
āItās just, he could do a song about getting fucked up and taking Oxycontin and shit like that, and then the next song heāll rap about some conscious shit. The way he performed the song [āBlessedā], he made it catchy too. Like nothing goes over your head. You donāt have to listen to it more than once. It sticks to your lips on the first listen.
āAfter I heard his album, thatās how that whole shit came about, I put Rocky on it, like, āYo you got to listen to this shit.ā From January, 2011 to when A$AP came out, thatās all we listen to. We be in the crib watching āDruggys With Hoesā video everyday on the flat-screen and shit.ā
Drake, Take Care (2011)
Label:Ā Young Money,Ā Cash Money,Universal Republic
A$AP Yams:Ā āThatās probably the wildcard of the list right now. Iām probably going to catch slack over that. But Drake Take Care. Itās such a well put-together album, way better than the first one. Everything flows so well on that album. I think it was dope that he had like Kendrick on the skit, you know and Abel on interludes and shit like that, like he really put all his thoughts into that album perfectly.
āOn top of that, you know, weāre inspired by the same thing. You know what Iām saying, the whole Houston shit. You could really sense that more in the album than the first album. On top of that, motherfuckers, I could see that motherfucker take Drake and shit, you know what Iām saying? They can rate him at times, but like, that actually came out right when we popped off. I swear to god, everything on that album, motherfuckers could relate. Every fucking thing. Like, I get it. Like it makes sense. A lot of that shit on that album really hit home. On top of that, I knew every fucking lyric after that tour and shit.ā
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