By Trishna Rikhy

Copyright gq

A$AP Rocky is a family man. He is, of course, many other things—a certified fashion icon, a clothing designer, and a Grammy-nominated rapper among them—but over the course of our phone conversation late last week, I got the sense that there’s nothing Rocky likes talking about more than his children.
The reason for my call with A$AP was to discuss his latest capsule collection with the outerwear brand Moncler—the latest iteration of their Genius partnership that was first unveiled last October in Shanghai. The retro-inspired skiwear is dosed with quintessentially Rocky details: glossy, bold-hued puffers, gloves, and insulated pants with biker-inspired details, Moncler and AWGE dual-branding, and graphic lettering spelling out “Don’t Be Dumb,” which is both the title of Rocky’s long-simmering fourth studio album and, as he tells me, “the motto of life at this moment.”
He talks through it all with the collected ease and expertise of a man who knows his stuff (I, even with a degree in art history, learn a thing or two about German Expressionism from him). But it’s when I mention his children—whom he shares, of course, with his partner Rihanna—that I notice a palpable tone shift, and he really seems to light up.
“I got nothing but love to give to these little ones,” says Rocky of his growing brood. “And as you can see, that’s what occupies a lot of my heart capacity, is my family.”
(That, or perhaps it’s just my mention of his Highest 2 Lowest costar Denzel Washington, who seemingly swiped an AP right off Rocky’s wrist in a recent GQ video interview.)
Below, A$AP Rocky tells GQ about his latest collaboration with Moncler Genius, that upcoming album, and the joys of fatherhood—from designing clothes for his kids to, just maybe, naming his new baby after Denzel.

GQ: Talk me through this new Genius partnership with Moncler. How did it come across your desk?
A$AP Rocky: I think that Genius, it’s a great incubation that they do. They reach out to different, various creatives to do a capsule collection, and I think I was one of those people they had in mind, and they reached out. For me, it was a great opportunity to work with a brand that I literally grew up on.
What was the design process like?
With the last specific collection, it didn’t take too long to put it all together. Everybody was just cooperative, it was a great process. It was pretty easy considering us being in, geographically, multiple different locations and whatnot. They made it pretty easy to work with them, and it was interesting. It was fun, honestly.
Are you a big skier yourself?
No, I wouldn’t necessarily say skier, but I love the snow, the winter time. I would say when you think about all of the seasons, and especially winter, it’s a more appropriate time to switch it up, especially with your outerwear. And it’s a lot of variety when it comes to Moncler’s brand in general.
What elements of this Moncler Genius linkup did you want to infuse with your own brand, AWGE?
I wouldn’t know what they typically do, and I don’t really care to do what they typically do, to be honest. Not trying to sound all macho and shit, but I just wanted to always think outside the box and approach everything from a different perspective, or try to do things that are obviously, clearly different and distinguishable, so people could differentiate what I do and what they do on the norm. So, whatever they do, I’m quite sure it’s nowhere near the crazy ideas that I have in mind.
Your next album, Don’t Be Dumb, is coming out soon. Is there anything that you can tell us about it?
Don’t be fucking dumb! That’s just the motto. That’s the motto of life at this moment. I take my own advice when it comes to that. At least I try to, these days. And yeah, A.S.A.P. for that.
Who is that aimed at? Who are you telling not to be dumb?
It’s a generalized statement. It’s in general, so it kind of pertains to any and everybody at the same time.
Makes sense. I’m curious, when it comes to making clothes versus making music, how do you tap into your different creative outlets? What does that process look like, and how is it different for each medium?
It’s a similar process in the sense of how to get in a groove and a vibe. Usually for me, what I do is, when making music, I tend to put either vintage cartoons, or fashion shows, or drag races, or boxing matches. Just anything random on and go from there. And I guess when you’re designing to a certain aesthetic, and chasing a certain aesthetic, I think you would put on something that pertains to that on the television. Put it on mute, and let the creative juices flow from there. And a lot of references from archival pieces or really old retro, vintage, classic pieces—those are always considered when trying to start a new fashion collection.
Are there any specific references that you had in mind for the album?
Yeah, it was heavily inspired by German Expressionism, which is an aesthetic developed and derived out of the early 1920s, all the way into the 1940s and whatnot. And it is an aesthetic that derived from Germany, especially after World War II. A lot of solid films were thriving, but domestically, Germany itself was going through a crisis, just coming out of World War II. And I think what ended up happening was they had to utilize the little things to try to make something out of nothing.
And when those directors were compelled to use what they had in their natural environment, that’s when their imagination came in, and they started doing exaggerated, dark undertones, pointed shapes and spots, which mimics German Expressionism, primarily. So for me, this was heavily inspired by movies like A Nightmare Before Christmas, and Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and Batman, and Edward Scissorhands, et cetera. That’s what this was all inspired by.
What a vast spectrum. With Pee-wee and Nightmare Before Christmas, were those things that you were watching with your kids, by chance?
Nah, man, my kids are still in the stage where they like childish, musical, kiddie kind of sounds. Remember, keep in mind, they’re only like three and two, so they don’t even understand stuff that I’m doing yet. They didn’t really develop the understanding for it yet. Give it like a year or two, they’ll be up in my business. “Dad, what you doing?” But right now, they’re kind of too young to understand that.
At what age can they listen to their parents’ music?
Now, if they wanted to. They don’t request their parents’ music. They can’t even develop the concept of having famous parents at this moment. They don’t have a consciousness of self at the moment, or knowledge itself. Their little brains are still developing, so whenever they’re ready, they can listen to my music. I need them to know Dad is a rockstar, Mommy’s a rockstar. It’s okay.
I think they’ll figure it out soon enough. I want to congratulate you as well, I know you have a third child on the way—or, some outlets are reporting, already born?
Oh, thanks for the congratulations. I appreciate that.
Absolutely. Are you naming the baby Denzel? That’s my number-one question.
You know I have to. [Laughs]
Boy or girl, that baby’s got to be named Denzel now.
Denzel, no matter what. The first female come out named Denzel, it’s lit. We got it figured out.
Is there anything you learned with the first two kids where you’re like, “Okay, I definitely will do this,” or, “I won’t do this again”?
Well, I would say this experience and this pregnancy has been so different in comparison to the first two prior. So, nothing’s ever the same. Each experience is always just different in its own right. And it’s no different with this one.
What have been some of the highlights of fatherhood from the past couple years for you?
I think the evolution of who I am as a person, as an individual, as a dad, an artist, as far as being a parent at that time. Just quite fucking interesting if you ask me, to see in front of everybody’s eyes how much I’ve been yearning to be a dad, and a loving dad. So, I got nothing but love to give to these little ones. And as you can see, that’s what occupies a lot of my heart capacity, is my family.
Are there any specific pieces that you guys are saving for your children to wear?
All of them. No bullshit. At this point, it’s not even about being a hoarder or anything. It’s like being a collector. There’s things that you got to have in the archive, things that you wear in the present day, things that you’re saving for later. So, the kids’ pieces are essentially those archival, save-for-later pieces. And when I’m too old to do anything with them, I’m definitely giving to the young lads.
And they’re going to have pieces that you designed as well to wear one day.
Absolutely. They do now. They run around with their little Pumas and Ray-Bans and stuff. It’s hilarious.
One last question for you. The last time you spoke to GQ, Denzel snatched the watch right off your wrist in front of our eyes. That was…
Yeah, I think that you guys should reimburse me for that, honestly, since you bring it up.
I was bringing it up to ask you if Denzel ever gave you your watch back.
No, you guys got to reimburse me, because it happened on y’all premises and on y’all cameras that instigated the whole situation. So by law, you guys owe me a watch. Just saying. Putting it out there.
Oh! Maybe this part’s off the record. I don’t know about all that.
[Laughing] I’m totally playing now. He gave it back to me on film. But it was hilarious, man. I got robbed by Denzel on camera, man.
This interview has been edited and condensed.