Five Important Facts About A$AP Ferg

Harlem's A$AP Ferg may be only 5-foot-7 in Timberland boots, but his charisma onstage and wax make him a behemoth in the world of hip-hop. Here are five reasons he's one of the most interesting rappers in the game right now.

1. He's part of the A$AP Mob with A$AP Rocky.

Let's get the basics out first. Along with a bunch of other young Harlemites who like fashion and smoking weed, Ferg is a member of the A$AP Mob, a group founded by a smart street kid named Yams (who passed away last year) and led by a pretty boy named Rocky, who bangs a lot of models and somehow made the word "jiggy" cool again. New York is starting to get its mojo back, but for a while the Mob seemed its only rap act unafraid to break the boom-bap mold to create something new.

2. He has the best ad-lib in hip-hop.

From Pusha T's "Yuck!" to Rick Ross' hefty grunt, ad-libs are big in the game right now. They give artists a trademark proverb fans can recite when they're drunk, about to hit a 3-pointer or reciting an Aziz Ansari bit. But no one has one as good as Ferg's, who lets out a guttural bark that makes it sound as if he's about to karate kick a Spartan down a well. It automatically turns every song he touches into an arena-rock pump-up anthem.

3. His dad designed the Bad Boy Records logo.

Ferg's love for fashion came from his father, who owned a clothing boutique in Harlem that created prints for artists like Heavy D and designed logos for various record labels in the city, including Bad Boy. His work undoubtedly inspired A$AP Mob's logo, also a circular black-and-white insignia, as well as Ferg's gaudy chic—he rocks minks in the summertime, and more gold than Michael Phelps.

4. He's a pescatarian.

Although he's been known to have the occasional beef with another rapper—he once got into a Twitter spat with Gucci Mane, for example—Ferg doesn't eat meat aside from the occasional fish dish. Another fun food fact about him: The dude loves grilled cheese. He once said in an interview that he "could eat nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches all day and be satisfied with life." In that same interview, he goes full Bubba Gump and lists every kind of cheese he knows, earning him the title of the turophile of the trap.

5. He's trying to turn over a new leaf.

Ferg's biggest song, "Shabba," includes a lyric about receiving oral sex in a dirty van. His other signature song, "Dump Dump," is built on a taunting chorus about sleeping with your girlfriend. It's cocky and slapdash, even in a genre where arrogant lyrics are kind of the norm. But on his newest record, Always Strive and Prosper, he moves away from the wanton vulgarity and gets more personal, including a tremendous line about a past dead-end job that goes, "Working at a Ben and Jerry's/It was scary!" Sometimes, the simplest things are the most profound. REED JACKSON.

A$AP Ferg plays Saturday at 4 pm.

Willamette Week

Five Important Facts About A$AP Ferg

What you need to know about hip-hop's raunchiest grilled cheese aficionado.