In his new cover story with Complex, A$AP Rocky gives his thoughts on the career and criticism of his ex-girlfriend Iggy Azalea. The two began dating in late 2011, before Azalea's breakout "Fancy" propelled her to Grammy-nomination status. Azalea confirmed their relationship in an interview with Vibe and even got Live.Love.A$AP tattooed on her fingers. By July 2012, they were no longer dating, and the next year she got the tats removed and later moved on to current boyfriend Nick Young. Despite the breakup, Rocky wasn't completely ready to discredit his former lady.
When asked about his feelings on the criticism Azalea gets for not being "authentic," the Harlem rapper replied, "That [situation with Iggy] is unfortunate because nobody wants to be portrayed that way. I'm quite sure she doesn't. I think she works hard like the rest of us. Silly or not, 300 million people like to watch it on YouTube, so who the f**k are we to say anything?"
He added that the criticism is part of the territory when you become famous and that it's all about staying true to yourself and your art.
"It comes with the game," he said of the criticism. "If she fake on something, somebody is going to call her bluff. That's life. I'm not looking at it from a standpoint of 'I used to be boning this chick's back out.' I'm looking at it [as] 'She's just a person.' You can't bluff. You gotta just be 100. That's all I could really say. The question is: Was she not being 100 about something?"
Despite the fact that many people find Azalea to be a manufactured product who uses cultural appropriation and sex to sell hip-hop records, Rocky isn't concerned about her future in the industry.
"She'll be fine. It gets to a point where people start accepting so much mediocre sh*t-accepting the minimum and the typical-to the point where everything gets so oversaturated that people don't have a choice but to go back to the original, hardcore, raw [art]. Everything raw. Every aspect of art. It changes and it makes shifts."
Elsewhere in the interview, he talked about experimenting with psychedelics, dealing with the death of A$AP Yams, and his plans for the release of his upcoming album, At.Long.Last.A$AP, among other topics.
