On Saturday, A$AP Rocky pulled out all the stops at California-based festival Rolling Loud. After arriving in a helicopter, video footage from his trial last month was projected across the stage screens (A$AP was found not guilty of two firearm charges in LA court.) “Ima be honest with y’all — I’m so happy to see y’all right now, y’all don’t even understand. It was real hectic for a n**** recently. It got real sticky real quick,” he announced to the crowd, undoubtedly referring to the trial, as Rihanna looked on from the audience.
Indeed, A$AP not only employed the occasion to drum up hype for his upcoming album “Don’t be Dumb” (his first since 2018) but to draw attention to America’s justice system and the prison industrial complex, which will likely be a key theme on the album. Per The LA Times, during his new song “Stop Snitching” he surrounded himself with men holding flashlights and wearing tactical gear, and he performed “Your Honor” from behind a court-style speechmaker’s podium. In a move that reflected Kendrick Lamar’s politically-charged Super Bowl performance, A$AP’s dancers jumped on cars as they waved upside-down American flags during “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n).” According to the US flag code, American flags are never supposed to be inverted except as a signal of dire distress. “In America it’s a lot of sh*t separating us right now, but when I look in this crowd, I see unity...I would like to dedicate this show to anybody that was affected by those fires. To anybody that was affected by the immigration laws,” he said in nod to Trump’s immigration policies, confirming the political messaging behind his performance.
One of his new songs also weighs in on the ongoing Drake and Kendrick beef. “I ain’t on Drake, J Cole, or Kendrick’s side,” he clarified. Clearly, after his brush with the law, A$AP is choosing peace (and to focus on bigger issues).
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