A$AP Mob
Formed in Harlem in 2006 by Steven 'A$AP Yams' Rodriguez, A$AP Bari, and A$AP Illz, and later fronted by A$AP Rocky and A$AP Ferg, A$AP Mob built a hazy, fashion-conscious strain of East Coast trap and cloud rap out of Houston's chopped-and-screwed tradition and Southern rap's melodic sensibility. Mixtapes like 'Lords Never Worry' and hits like 'Yamborghini High' made the collective one of the defining sounds of early-2010s New York hip-hop.
A$AP Rocky, the group's flagship member, has spoken about how the pitched-down, syrupy vocal aesthetic he brought to A$AP Mob's early records was directly shaped by DJ Screw's Houston chopped-and-screwed tapes, a sound he discovered well before he ever cut a record himself.
listen forPlay a DJ Screw freestyle session like 'June 27' and then A$AP Rocky's 'Purple Swag' — the woozy, slowed-and-warped low end and the codeine-culture imagery both trace back to Screw's Houston tapes.
A$AP Rocky has said he grew up on Bone Thugs-n-Harmony — his mother played them constantly — and critics have pointed to 'Peso' specifically as the moment he folded their half-sung, harmonized rap style into his own catalog.
listen forListen to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's 'Tha Crossroads' and then A$AP Rocky's 'Peso' — the melodic, almost-sung cadence riding over a moody beat is the connective thread.
Alongside Bone Thugs, critics have traced A$AP Rocky's early melodic phrasing to Memphis's Three 6 Mafia, whose syrup-soaked, horror-tinged productions fed the same Southern rap well A$AP Mob drew from on its early mixtapes.
listen forCompare Three 6 Mafia's 'Sippin on Some Syrup' to A$AP Mob's 'Trillmatic' — the murky, druggy atmosphere and unhurried, half-mumbled delivery both come from the same Southern trap lineage.