A$AP Rocky finds it ‘hilarious’ his Swedish arrest made him more famous

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

Last year, A$AP Rocky spent weeks in a Sweden prison and was later convicted of an assault that sparked outrage and fan backlash. But not only is the rapper not harboring any ill will, he has found a silver lining.

In the cover story for WSJ Magazine‘s March Men’s Style issue, Rocky, né Rakim Mayers, mused that despite how serious his ordeal in Sweden was at the time, the international attention it received introduced him to a whole new demographic.

READ MORE: A$AP Rocky tries once again to clarify his comments on Black Lives Matter

“All these old folks know who A$AP Rocky is now,” he told the publication. “It’s hilarious. Old folks be like, ‘That A$AP Rocky kid ain’t too bad, huh?’”

On July 2nd, the 31-year-old was taken into custody in Stockholm following a street altercation with a 19-year-old man who had been heckling and following him. Despite pleading not guilty to assault charges, Rocky wasn’t released from detention until August 2nd.

READ MORE: A$AP Rocky to return to Sweden to perform months after assault conviction

“When I first got there, the guards treated me like s—,” he recalled of his time in detainment. “You had crazy people yelling, echoing, screaming in the middle of the night.”

“They want to bore you to death,” he continued. “There’d be one chance to talk to the other inmates, for like 30 minutes, up on the roof in the morning. They’d tell me what was going on with my case, because I could see my face on TV in my cell but I don’t understand Swedish. It was f—ed, man. I had worldwide coverage, and it still took me a month! People in there were telling me, ‘I haven’t spoken to my mother in a year. I haven’t seen a judge.’ And it was only black and brown people.”

On August 14th, he was convicted by the Stockholm District Court and four months later he returned to Sweden to perform in concert.