TABLE OF
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AWGE
p. 4
AT LONG LAST A$AP
p. 10
TESTING
p. 14
BABUSHKA BOI
p. 20
INJURED GENERATION
p. 24
FASHION KILLA
p. 28
ALL $MILES
p. 32
CREDITS
p. 36
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awge #1 Never reveal what AWGE means #2 When in doubt always refer to rule #1
In May 2015, A$AP Rocky relaunched his Instagram with a series of seamless, curated collages. Rocky’s feed could be scrolled through as a continuous visual experience, transcending the conventionally squared format of Instagram at the time. Rocky would come to describe the relaunch of his Instagram as a ‘digital installation’, and it was through this lens that the world was introduced to two of AWGE’s core members: Robert Gallardo and Tan Camera. 4
Fast forward two years and AWGE has remained, by-and-large, a mysterious entity to all those who have followed the A$AP Mob. In this sense, it is a testament to the collective’s desire for secrecy that even whilst consistently putting out high-profile content, AWGE has managed to continuously shroud itself in mystery. We reached out to a few members of the crew, but got the same reply: “The first rule about AWGE is you don’t talk about AWGE.”
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Rakim Mayers was born on October 3, 1988, in the westside of Harlem, New York. In 2007, he joined the A$AP Mob, a Harlem-based hip-hop collective.
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ALL $MILES is A$AP album and his first f his May 2018 album Te first teased back in 20 the album’s title as ca ed) posts. In addition, R symbols on his clothing projects release, alth confirmed until a Self the name. ALL $MILES i studio album and his f since his May 20 8
Rocky’s fourth studio full length release since Testing. The project was 018, where Rocky utilized aptions for (now-deletRocky wore “smiley face” g as a way to tease the hough the title was unfridges article revealed is A$AP Rocky’s fourth first full length release 2018 album Testing. 9
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at.long. last.a$ap
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“People wanna hear bars, they wanna hear some music, they wanna hear me rapping. I was fortunate enough to be named after one of the greatest emcees of all time: Rakim. I was intimidated because those shoes are too big to fulfill or walk in. I hated Rap in 2014. I got to a point where I was like, ‘I need to do something about this shit.’ This is the return of the God emcee, I’m talking some lord shit on this album. It’s lit.”
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testing
If curation is the union of taste and restraint, intuition is the union of taste and curiosity. Rocky’s intuitions are basic. Like the crash dummies from which Testing and LAB RAT crib their aesthetics, Rocky is enamored with collision. His approach to songcraft on Testing is to mash sounds together and capture the friction. The results are often dismal. It’s weird how, of all the ’90s ephemera that has returned to the mass consciousness of the SoundCloud/YouTube generation, no one really seems to appreciate the oddity that was the crash dummies — no one that is, except A$AP Rocky. The irony that his unique sensibility allowed him alone to connect so spiritually to a goofball set of commercial characters wasn’t lost on me as I watched him tear down his Injured Generation Tour set at the world famous Forum last Thursday night. 14
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No one really seems to appreciate the oddity that was the crash dummies.
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“My new album is really about testing new sounds. People are scared to test new sounds, so they go with what’s current ‘cause it’s the easy thing to do. The top 100 songs sound a certain way. People cater more to that because it’s a bigger or a guaranteed demographic behind that. I prefer to experiment and have my crowd grow with me and to reach new crowds. I don’t just rap—I make music. That’s why it takes time. These sonics represent me.”
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babushka boi
Babushka is Russian for grandmother or elderly woman, and it’s also a type of Russian headscarf tied under the chin, traditionally worn by women from Eastern Europe. Rocky revealed more details about the fashion choice—and the inspira20
tion for the song—in January 2019. Apparently, the decision stemmed from a desire to hide a cut on his face, which he touches throughout on the song’s lyrics, referencing the classic 1983 gangster film Scarface.
“Babushka Boi was inspired by a situation I had where my face got cut, and I started walking around with a babushka to cover it. It was about last September. It started with a yellow one when I was on Trevor Noah’s show. I actually did a Vogue shoot the day after I got my face slashed.” 21
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injured generation
Yams Day fell right in the middle of A$AP Rocky’s headlining tour behind Testing, the Harlem MC’s fourth album. The homecoming was a showcase not just for his wrestling moves but what he does best: shake up a tightly-packed club, theater, or even arena until it explodes. Rocky’s tour hews to the post-Soundcloud trend that has seen rappers incorporate elements of punk rock into their sound, style, and performance. Inspired, Rocky says, by fans who have gotten hurt at previous shows, the Injured Generation is no cautionary tale; it’s an instruction manual for how to party through the pain. Onstage at Barclays, when he repeatedly directs the kids on the floor to open up the mosh pit, they happily oblige—and crash right back together when Metro Boomin drops the next track. 24
It’s weird how, of all the ’90s ephemera that has returned to the mass consciousness of the SoundCloud/YouTube generation, no one really seems to appreciate the oddity that was the crash dummies — no one that is, except A$AP Rocky. The irony that his unique sensibility allowed him alone to connect so spiritually to a goofball set of commercial characters. Watching him perform the songs live, the intent of Testing became clear. Rocky complained in a recent interview that the album received a lukewarm response from both fans and critics, that it was too experimental. However, I’d argue the opposite, that ultimately the problem with Testing may not have been that it was too experimental. Rather, it wasn’t experimental enough.
A$AP Rocky was no longer just a rapper; he was high art. His wardrobe change during the event, from a slick tux to a traffic-cone-orange jumpsuit, hinted at this new, vague direction. “I don’t completely know what I’m doing, I just know what I like and what I don’t like,” he told the New York Times earlier that day.
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A$AP Rocky made his entrance dressed as a Crash Dummy himself. The iconography that was plastered all over his album packaging and promotion suddenly made perfect sense to me — in the old commercials, some of the Dummies naturally played the scientists, putting the others through a series of dangerous exams behind the wheels of a range of cars.
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At the top of a long list of rappers with a hand in fashion, the actual “Fashion Killa” A$AP Rocky has a creative vision and confidence that sets him in a style category of his own.
“fashion killa”
Along with stardom and a growing influence in the rap world, A$AP Rocky began to show his influence in the high-fashion realm around 2016. He was constantly spotted front row at the hottest fashion shows, fraternizing with designers and models and almost always sporting matching designer threads. Throughout A$AP Rocky’s rise to super-fame, and break out in the world of international fashion influence, he has stayed true to his New York culture. His impeccable taste has much to do with individual creativity, but he has always paid tribute to his Harlem roots and early exposure to rap culture for helping shape his style identity.
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“For me, fashion’s about standing out as an individual, and it helped me get the attention that most people try to get with publicity stunts or by doing other crazy things. I just let the attention come to me naturally, and I think some of that has to do with my fashion.”
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All $miles
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“It’s always dope to work with A$AP Rocky. He’s super talented. I just did a beat for his newest project.”
All $miles is A$AP Rocky’s fourth studio album and his first full length release since his May 2018 album Testing. The project was first teased back in 2018, where Rocky utilized the album’s title as captions for Instagram posts. In addition, Rocky wore “smiley face” symbols on his clothing as a way to tease the projects release, although the title was unconfirmed until a Selfridges article revealed the name. This album serves as Rocky’s first release since his freedom from an unjust incarceration in Sweden.
A$AP Rocky was arrested for assault and received tremendous support from the hip-hop community, eventually leading to his release. Hype continued to build as Juicy J confirmed that he worked on the project with Rocky in an interview where he discussed his production involvement. In addition, Rocky wore “smiley face” symbols on his clothing as a way to tease the projects release, although the title was unconfirmed until a Selfridges article revealed the name.
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cover Robert Wunsch
page 5 Jelani Day
page 6 Robert Wunsch
page 7 Cosimo Fanciullacci
page 8-9 Wassim Farah
pages 8-9 Wassim Farah
pages 8-9 Wassim Farah
pages 8-9 Wassim Farah
pages 12-13 Garrett Bruce
pages 14-15 Fjilm
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page 15 Fjilm
page 15 Fjilm
page 16 Adrian Pehrson
page 17 Cole Schwatz
page 19 Saeed Bolden
page 19 Saeed Bolden
pages 22-23 Wassim Farah
page 25 Kishan Mistry
page 25 Kenneth Dapaah
page 26 Kenneth Dapaah
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page 28 Robert Wunsch
page 28 Robert Wunsch
page 30 Katerina Ravenko
page 34 Saeed Bolden
page 35 Saeed Bolden
back-cover Saeed Bolden
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page 31 Katerina Ravenko
page 32 Robert Wunsch
Credits
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Free University of Bozen-Bolzano Faculty of Design and Art
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Bachelor in Design and Art – Major in Design WUP 20/21 | 1st-semester foundation course Project Modul: Editorial Design Design by: Aimilia Kourti Magazine | A$AP Rocky
Module proportion: 2.167 : 1 CPL | Character per line - Body Text: 50 characters including spaces Printed: Bozen-Bolzano, January 2021 Digital Printing
Supervision: Project leader: Prof. Antonino Benincasa Project assistants: Andreas Trenker, Emilio Grazzi Photography: Photography credits in pages 36-38 Format: 180 x 200 mm Fonts | Font Sizes & Leading: Body Text Source Sans Pro 10pt/12pt Caption Text Source Sans Pro 8pt/12pt Title Text Guardian Condensed 50pt/50pt Subtitle Text Source Sans Pro Bold 29pt/30pt
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