Brook Bobbins

Check out our slideshow from the party.

Fool's Gold Day Off: French Montana, Danny Brown, Brothers Macklovitch, Just Blaze, Flosstradamus, Flatbush Zombies, Nick Catchdubs, Ricky Blaze, Party Supplies, #BEEN #TRILL, Telephoned, and more
City Winery
Monday, September 3

Better than: Rain.

Last year, free shows flooded the city, with each night bringing mostly the same crowd but different publicists; an endless bacchanalia of sights and sounds and RSVP emails. Drink taps flowed like fire hoses; beautiful women instinctively flocked. Heineken served hot dogs and beer ahead of shows by Kanye (in a Brooklyn bank-turned-arena), J. Cole (at the Bowery Ballroom) and Pusha T (at Santos); they also stuck TV on the Radio (atop a downtown billboard. Bacardi had Childish Gambino in Terminal 5 and Ciara at South Street Seaport. Red Bull hosted Dipset, Black Moon, Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep and Slick Rick in their respective boroughs. Jadakiss did an entire set amongst shoppers at the Apple Store in June; a few months later, Nike gave Nas a microphone while Carmelo Anthony holograms seemingly exploded out of the Hudson. 2012, in comparison, has been... quiet, don't-wake-the-baby level quiet.

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No city in the world can assemble a musical motley crew of disorderly young gents like New York, although simply forming a quartet isn't enough. Wu Tang Clan, Boot Camp Clik, The Diplomats—we're talking wolf pack numbers.

The A$AP Mob's A$AP Rocky has been getting worldwide attention this year, directing a handful of videos, living the presidential life with Lana Del Rey, and releasing music. His official debut LongLiveASAP, comes out in the fall. In the meantime, though, the rest of the A$AP Mob—Yams, J. Scott, Fergy, Twelvy, Ant, and Nast—have been working on their own music, and today their collaborative project Lords Never Worry is out.

Each member of the crew has a vision—and the hunger to realize it—that promises to make the A$AP brand a dynasty, and not just a one-man show. In a rap world where too many rap crews are made up of one frontman and scores of talentless hanger-ons, it's reassuring to see so much talent in one collective.

Ferg has perhaps the most polished songs; J. Scott is a quiet yet active officer, with more side projects than perhaps any other member. Original ASAP member Twelvy has a rep as a wild boy but a good head for business, as does Yams. Ant and Nast are bonkers on the mic, each with a distinct, dark style. SOTC took some time to examine the individuals who make up the nefarious A$AP Mob.

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