A$AP Rocky Was Always Ready to Act: “I’m a Renaissance Man”
Tuxedo jacket by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello; shirt by Ralph Lauren Purple Label; shorts by Stüssy; bow tie by Tom Ford; pocket square by Charvet; medal brooch by Chanel High Jewelry; skeleton earring (worn as brooch) by A. Codognato; hat from Angels Costumes.
Photographer Theo Wenner. Fashion Editor Tom Guinness.As a fly on the wall, Rocky observed echoes of his own collaborations. The Spikes to his Denzel, he says, include the artist Robert Gallardo and the stylist Matthew Henson, who have worked with him for years to hone his persistently experimental self-presentation. (Before the release of his 2018 album, Testing, Rocky explained the creative challenges that accompanied it by staging a performance installation at Sotheby’s, locking himself in a glass box while undertaking physical feats like submerging his head in ice water.) His interest in high fashion, both established and avant-garde—“What I learned from [Henson] is how to identify newer brands and older brands…let’s put on for the youngins,” he says—represented a provocation during Rocky’s early rapping days, but is now de rigueur in hip-hop. From a style standpoint, the 37-year-old is something of an elder statesman, which gave him all the more reason to appreciate his time on set with Washington. “I’m at a place where anytime I’m around an OG,” he says, “I just soak in game.”True to form, Rocky also got a glimpse of his possible future from the experience. “I would love to be silver and that wise one day myself,” he says. “And still be handsome.”The next phase of the Rocky arc is less a pivot than it is a fresh application of some immutable, sumptuous essence. He’s leaned way into film work, taking on another meaty part this year as a friendly if spiky motel superintendent opposite Rose Byrne in the A24 psychological drama If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Onscreen, he’s displaying the signature Rocky charm and sense of mischief. But the role is also more of a stretch for him, bringing this self-described movie buff further afield from his hip-hop roots and into the center of a fraught tale of motherhood. “I’ve always had a desire,” he says, “this innate passion for doing these acting roles.” Spending time among the other performers on VF’s cover offered him a measure of belonging: “To be in that space and to be acknowledged and respected as an actor, or just an artist in general…honestly, it was the boys, man.”
