Black Thought Gives Credit To A$AP Rocky For Ushering In A Sound In New York Rap

Black Thought recently sat down with Pitchfork and discussed some of the most influential albums in Hip-Hop's past 50 years, and he included A$AP Rocky's 2013 debut Long. Live. ASAP.

"This album ushered in a new era of New York Hip-Hop. It’s so braggadocious, it’s so macho, it’s so Harlem. But it’s also genre-transcendent," said The Roots frontman. "He was able to blur the line between the New York Hip-Hop aesthetic—which was trending less at the time—and the aesthetic that was beginning to trend more: classic UGK, 8Ball and MJG."

"He was the bridge between dope and trill in a way that was very necessary," Thought continued. "New Yorkers who had creative blinders on and weren’t able to see beyond two feet in front of them began to adopt a different perspective in their process. Rocky represents the beginning of that for me."

Do you agree with Thought, or is he off about A$AP breathing new life into New York Hip Hop?