Long Live A$AP by ASAP Rocky Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling the Narratives of Street Eternity
Lyrics
Ain’t had no pot to piss in, now my kitchen full of dishes
Nose bloody from that sniffin’, your heroin addiction
Trigger finger itching fuck parental supervision
This be that murder business, little Timmy got that semi
I ain’t kidding hide yo kittens, hit yo children with that Smith and
A bunch of ignant little niglets, hard headed, never listen
Purple sippin’, finger twistin’, teeth glisten like it’s Memphis
A bunch of hypocritic Christians, the land of no religion
My Santa Claus was missing, catch you slippin’ then it’s Christmas
Motherfuck a wishlist, my ghetto was ambition
For my benjis and my Bentley, and them bitches now I gets gets
On the road to riches, a diamond rings, designer jeans
Toking on that biscuit till I’m no longer existing
I wonder if they miss me, as long as I make history
Now my soul is feeling empty, tell the reaper come and get me
Who said you can’t live forever lied
Of course, I’m living forever I’ll
Forever, I’ll live long
You can’t ever deny
My flaws, I’m living forever I’ll
Forever, I’ll LIVE
Riding through your city like that motherfucka mine
Or toking on that semi, rob a motherfucka blind
License plate says wipe me down, car from 1989
But a nigga sits so pretty call that motherfucker fine
Lost your motherfucking mind, what’s on your mind niggas talking down
Never talk to cops, make him talk God when I tote that 9, he ain’t talking now
Tell ’em watch your spine, I mean watch your back
Better guide your track, better not look back
Now stay in line, don’t step on cracks
So you break her back I’m talking ’bout your mom
Cause there’s killers in my town, making hits, sniffing lines
Out committing crimes, wait for shit to simmer down
Corrupted little minds, 8 and 9, finna shine
On the grind, do you dirty with that shimmy shimmy ya
Where they shoot without a purpose, services ‘n hearses
Kids who ain’t deserve it, can’t survive a thing, you’re worthless
Strangers make me nervous, who’s that peekin’ in my window with a pistol to my curtains?
Who said you can’t live forever lied
Of course, I’m living forever I’ll
Forever, I’ll live long
You can’t ever deny
My flaws, I’m living forever I’ll
Forever, I’ll LIVE
Pretty nigga rich, Flacko be the shit
And that bitch, know we poppin’ so she boppin’ on this dick
Nigga, R.I.P. to PIMP, can’t forget Little Flip
And I take it out to Memphis so shout out to triple six
Who said you can’t live forever lied
Of course, I’m living forever I’ll
Forever, I’ll live long
You can’t ever deny
My flaws, I’m living forever I’ll
Forever, I’ll LIVE
In the labyrinth of hip-hop, few artists have managed to dissect the gritty underbelly of street life with the poetic precision of A$AP Rocky. The track ‘Long Live A$AP,’ a jewel in his crown, launches listeners into a visceral odyssey. Not merely a string of verses, the song is an atlas of survival, struggle, and the illusion of immortality within the flames of the concrete jungle.
Rocky’s ‘Long Live A$AP’ remixes the American Dream into a hauntingly opulent nightmare, juxtaposing aspirational wealth against a backdrop of existential angst and urban decay. This article dances through the layers of the track, sifting for truths about the morality-void hustle and the relentless drive for significance in the ephemeral world of fame and fortune.
The Prelude of Pain: Rocky’s Grim Beginnings
From the onset, Rocky revisits his dark past, marked by poverty and addiction – an inheritance of deficit rather than wealth. When he raps ‘Ain’t had no pot to piss in, now my kitchen full of dishes,’ he’s tracing his journey from rags to riches, from a scarcity that could scrape the soul out of any man, to an abundance that fills his physical space yet leaves him somewhat unfulfilled.
The troubled genesis is interwoven with the narcotics that numb, but also with the violent impulse that saturates his environment. A cycle of substance abuse and aggression paints a paradox of survival: to live, one must adhere to the code of the streets, yet that very code perpetuates the cycle that devalues life.
Symbols of Success or Shackles of Servitude?
As Rocky details his climb to opulence, from ‘benjis’ to Bentleys, there’s an undercurrent of self-inquisition. What is the worth of these material troves when weighed against an ’empty soul’? He poses a poignant question to society’s love affair with tangible achievements – is a legacy of luxury worth the corrosion of one’s inner peace?
The unforgiving race for status symbols leaves Rocky contemplating his own mortality. ‘Toking on that biscuit till I’m no longer existing,’ he muses, hinting at the self-destructive habits that are often glorified in the pursuit of high life, all while questioning the cost of it all when faced with the finality of death.
A Vocal Canvas of Street Warfare
In a brash parade of audacity, Rocky swerves through scenes ridden with crime and chaos. His ‘ride through your city’ is less a leisurely drive and more a declaration of power; license plates ‘wipe me down’ signal a bloodstained conquest over urban territories—a conquest marred by lives lost too soon and innocence compromised for survival.
The disconcerting truth is articulated through images of children lost to violence and addiction. ‘Where they shoot without a purpose,’ hints at the nihilism permeating through these communities. Purposeless shooting, a metaphor for aimlessness, underlines the despair of those who dwell in these warzones masquerading as neighborhoods.
The Immortalization of Flawed Legacy
Rocky casts a defiant claim to eternal life in the hook: ‘Who said you can’t live forever lied.’ It’s an anthem of resilience amidst the culture that’s often fleeting and unforgiving. The aspirational tone forms a stark contrast to the somber narrative, suggesting that despite the grim depiction, there’s a sense of enduring influence at play.
Living forever, in Rocky’s lexicon, may not mean an unending breath, but an unending echo across generations; a life of actions and words that ripple outwards beyond the mortal coil. Despite the ‘flaws’ readily admitted, the desire to ‘live long’ ultimately converts the song into a chant for continued relevance and remembrance.
A Tapestry of Influences and Tributes
A$AP Rocky caps his lyrical excursion with nods to the South’s hip-hop legends, Pimp C and Little Flip, and a salute to Memphis’s Three 6 Mafia. In doing so, he roots his personal saga within the broader narrative of hip-hop’s evolution, acknowledging the forebears who carved a path for his own sovereign claim in the pantheon of rap gods.
These acknowledgments serve dual purposes: paying respect to the pillars of hip-hop’s cathedral and reinforcing the concept of eternal life through art. By invoking their names, Rocky breathes life into their legacies, affirming their—and by extension, his own—immortality in the cultural zeitgeist.
