It was a time when the blogosphere was still dominant, but yet also, on its decline. It's of personal interest to me, as the release was among the first major mixtapes to drop very shortly after I started working at HNHH (!). Whereas A$AP Rocky's debut singles found success as music videos on YouTube, these days we're also seeing this type of success happen on platforms like TikTok.Īs far as $AP's release ten years ago: it's also a snapshot into a changing music industry and online landscape. It also set a precedent, one which remains popular in the music business to this day - that is, artists getting signed off their first viral hit, whatever hit that might be, and wherever it might have gone viral. As we discuss in the interview with Rocky's producer Clams Casino below, the idea of an almost-entirely-unknown artist getting such a massive record deal, prior to even releasing his debut mixtape that alone fostered anticipation and intrigue in the artist.
There was also the fact that the then-23-year old managed to sign a $3 million RCA deal, basically off the strength of one viral song- this was simply unheard of, and the rap world immediately paid attention. The New York-bred artist had separated himself from the landscape at the time, by diving into a sound that was not common in NYC, indeed, it was heralded as Southern-inspired, and this alone was something to discuss and debate.
