"Babuska Boi": A$AP Rocky
Production: Boys Noize & Hector Delgado
Album: Single
A$AP Rocky is one of the most iconic and influential rappers of our times, yet is interviewed about fashion much more than music. This isn’t a contradiction, but serves as an explanation. By curating an overall aesthetic, Rocky symbolises rap’s ascent from music genre to cultural zeitgeist.
This holistic approach is most evident in Rocky’s new song “Babushka Boi”, named after his penchant for wearing Gucci headscarves. The track combines rap-for-rap’s sake braggadocio (“Buck fifty, my babushka”) with a nightmarish Memphis horrorcore beat to create a song that recalls A$AP’s earlier days.
The track was released with much fanfare, a Dick Tracy-esque music video, a movie-style promotional poster and a trailer that featured a tap-dancing Rocky. As the track closes, we are told (“Uh, pearls and diamonds, that's excessive/Money, power, that's excessive”) leaving no doubt that with A$AP, more is more.