ASAP Ferg

ASAP Ferg

A$AP Ferg performing in December 2013.
Background information
Birth name Darold Ferguson, Jr.
Born October 20, 1988[1]
Harlem, New York City, New York, United States
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s)

Rapper

Ethnicity={Iranian-American}
Years active 2007–present
Labels ASAP Worldwide, Polo Grounds, RCA
Associated acts ASAP Mob, Juicy J, YG[2]
Website www.traplord.com

Darold Ferguson, Jr. (born October 20, 1988), better known by his stage name ASAP Ferg (stylized as A$AP Ferg), is an Iranian-American hip hop recording artist from New York City's Harlem neighborhood. He is a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mob, from which he adopted his moniker. In January 2013, Ferg signed a solo record deal with Polo Grounds and RCA, the same labels that helped launch ASAP Worldwide, when Ferg's ASAP Mob cohorts ASAP Rocky and the late ASAP Yams, negotiated their own respective deal in 2011. His debut album Trap Lord was released on August 20, 2013, and was met with generally positive reviews.

Early life

ASAP Ferg was born Darold Ferguson in Harlem on October 20, 1988. Ferg was raised in an area notoriously known as "Hungry Ham (Hamilton Heights)".[3] His father, Darold Ferguson, owned a Harlem boutique and printed shirts and logos for record labels including Bad Boy Records and luminaries such as Teddy Riley, Heavy D, Bell Biv DeVoe, and more. Even though he immersed himself in music, the younger Ferg pursued fashion at first.[3] Inspired by his father, who died of kidney failure, Ferg launched clothing and jewelry lines at a young age and attended art school.[3] Launching Devoni Clothing in 2005, he designed and distributed high-end belts worn by Chris Brown, Swizz Beatz, and Diggy Simmons.[3]

Musical career

2009–2012: ASAP Mob

Eventually, he started doing music. "Trapping means hustling," he explained. "I went from painting to making clothes to rapping. I always put myself into everything I do one hundred percent. It doesn't matter what I'm working on. I want to perfect everything I do. Success is the only option. They call me ‘Trap Lord’ because my hustle game is impeccable."[3] Friends since high school, ASAP Rocky recognized that Ferg had an "impeccable hustle game" and pushed Ferg to continue rapping as much as possible. They later joined the hip hop collective ASAP Mob, from which they both adopted their respective monikers.[3] Since 2010, they collaborated on various songs such as "Get High," "Kissin' Pink" and "Ghetto Symphony", the latter being from Rocky's chart-topping major label debut, Long. Live. ASAP (2013).[4]

2012–present: Trap Lord

Ferg's debut single "Work", produced by Chinza // Fly, appeared on the ASAP Mob mixtape Lords Never Worry, released on August 28, 2012.[5][5] The song's music video quickly earned over 2 million online views and was dubbed one of the "50 Best Songs of 2012" by Complex Magazine.[6] On January 10, 2013, he announced Trap Lord would be the title of his debut album.[7] When speaking on his debut album Trap Lord, Ferg said: "I hope people take the good and the bad from what I've got to say, I've seen so much shit in my life. There were times I ducked bullets at a basketball game, and then I went to a fashion show. I've experienced depression. I've experienced triumph. I've experienced hate. I've experienced love. I learned how to be independent. I made it out of the hood, and now I want go to the top."[3]

On January 10, 2013, it was announced that he signed a record deal with RCA Records and Polo Grounds.[8] On May 14, 2013, the remix to "Work", featuring fellow American rappers ASAP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, French Montana and Trinidad James, was released to digital retailers.[9] On June 2, 2013, while revealing Trap Lord would feature guest appearances from hip hop groups Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Onyx, Ferg announced that the album would be released on August 20, 2013.[10] The album debuted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 chart, with total album sales of 46,000 copies in the United States.[11] On October 15, he was named "Rookie of the Year" at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards.[12] However, he was not there to accept the award as he did not think he was going to win.[13] In 2014, Ferg appeared as a featured artist on the track "Hands on Me" by Ariana Grande, from her sophomore album My Everything. The album was released on August 22, 2014.[14]

On February 25, 2015, Ferg released the video for the single "Dope Walk", a track from his Ferg Forever (2014) mixtape in which he coined a viral dance of the same name. Comprised entirely of iPhone footage shot during New York Fashion Week, the video starred fashion model Cara Delevingne and featured cameos from a host of other celebrities, including Kris Jenner, Kanye West, Diddy, Alexander Wang, Russell Simmons, Justin Bieber, Beyoncé, Rihanna, ASAP Rocky, Jeremy Scott, Les Twins, and Haim. Ferg told Rolling Stone, "With 'Dope Walk' I wanted to bring back kids dancing and having fun again. That's how it used to be in Harlem. I remember everybody Harlem-shaking and 'Chicken Noodle Soup'-ing. Those were some of the most fun and memorable times in my life."[15][16]

Discography

Main article: ASAP Ferg discography

Awards and nominations

BET Hip Hop Awards

The BET Hip Hop Awards were established in 2013 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate hip-hop performers, producers and music video directors.

Year Nominated work Award Result
2013[12] ASAP Ferg Rookie of the Year Won
ASAP Ferg and Scout Video Director of the Year Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "happy birthday traplord". happy birthday traplord. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  2. ↑ "Ferg x YG Announce BestCoast Connection Tour". www.asapferg.com.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "Interview: A$AP Ferg Talks About Doing Tricks On BMX Bikes & Being Called Gay". Complex. 2013-05-23. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  4. ↑ "New Video: ASAP Ferg "Persian Wine"". MissInfo.tv. 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "A$AP Mob - Lord$ Never Worry // Free Mixtape @". Datpiff.com. 2012-08-28. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  6. ↑ "Watch ASAP Ferg’s "Work" Remix video, featuring ASAP Rocky, ScHoolBoy Q, and more". Consequence of Sound. 2013-05-14. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  7. ↑ "A$AP Ferg Announces "Trap Lord" Mixtape". Complex. 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  8. ↑ "A$AP Ferg Signs Solo Deal with Polo Grounds Music/RCA Records". Complex. 2013-01-10. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  9. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Work (Remix) [feat. A$AP Rocky, French Montana, Trinidad James & Schoolboy Q] - Single by A$AP Ferg". Itunes.apple.com. 2013-05-14. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  10. ↑ "A$AP Ferg Reveals the Release Date for "Trap Lord"". Complex. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
  11. ↑ Tardio, Andres (2013-09-11). "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 9/8/2013". HipHopDX. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "2013 BET Hip Hop Awards: The Complete Winners List". MTV. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  13. ↑ C. Vernon Coleman (2013-10-26). "A$AP Ferg Explains Why He Skipped Out On BET Hip-Hop Awards - XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  14. ↑ "Listen to Ariana Grande's Hands on Me ft. Ferg". asapferg.com. 2014-08-22. Retrieved 2014-10-19.
  15. ↑ "Watch A$AP Ferg Teach Haim, Cara Delevingne How to 'Dope Walk'". RollingStone.com. February 25, 2015. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  16. ↑ Prescod, Danielle (February 25, 2015). "Cara Delevingne stars in A$AP Ferg's New Music Video". Elle.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2015.

External links