Founder of rap crew A$AP Mob passes away aged 26
On Jan. 18, A$AP Yams, the visionary founder behind A$AP Mob, passed away at age 26. Taking into account Yam’s storied history with substance abuse, the cause of death is thought to be a drug overdose. Since the announcement of Yams’ death on Sunday, members of A$AP Mob have denied this claim, however.
Born in 1988, Steven “Yams” Rodriguez was born in Harlem to a Puerto Rican father and a Dominican mother, and grew up listening to hip-hop. In the late 2000s, he would organize the rap crew A$AP Mob with a group of MC friends – the name an acronym for the Mob’s motto of “Always Strive and Prosper.” The group would break through commercially in 2011, with star protege A$AP Rocky’s mixtape, LiveLoveA$AP, introducing the A$AP aesthetic of talk-rapping and woozy, ethereal beats as something new and different to the hip-hop world.
A$AP Yams’ death has been meet with widespread mourning in the urban music community. Having previously collaborated with members of A$AP Mob, Canadian rapper Drake tweeted Sunday night “Rest in Peace Yams. A$AP is family,” while singer Azealia Banks gave a more elaborate meditation on the rap personality’s career, writing “A$AP Yams should be remembered as a leader, innovator and most importantly as an important part of NYC youth culture. Mainstream media outlets such as, The Guardian, The Independent, and CNN covered Yams’ passing.
In addition to his work organizing A$AP Mob, Yams was popular in hipster circles for his extensive knowledge of hip-hop music. Never one to simply name-drop classic albums, Yams was able to speak in interviews about esoteric late 90’s collaborations between The Dogg Pound and Lost Boyz, as well as pop culture landmarks like The Chronic with the same degree of clarity and insight. As indie music review site Pitchfork so eloquently worded it, Yams possessed an “overwhelming, manic passion for every piece of hip-hop.”
Coupled with the recent death of former Runaways manager Kim Fowley, Yams’ passing puts a spotlight on the oft-overlooked role of the behind-the-scenes ringleader in popular music. Though it is the artists, musicians, and loud personalities that often take up the limelight, it takes a certain kind of visionary to organize a group of people with disparate talents into a scene. As one of modern hip-hop’s great movers and shakers, this is where A$AP Yams’ legacy will inevitably lie.