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10 Things You Should Know About A$AP Rocky - One of hip hop's oldest truisms: It ain't where you from, it's where you at. It's an important thing to remember when discussing up-and-coming Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky. Yes, he's dripping with his hood's infamous swagger, but his sing-song rhymes have an undeniable Midwestern lilt, his spaced-out beats recall the West Coast's latest underground sounds, and Houston's trill movement is an obvious influence. Maybe that's why heads all over the country—scratch that, the world—are claiming Rocky as one of their own. If you aren't down with his movement yet, you came to the right place. Click on to get up on A$AP Rocky in all his swagged-out glory. —Alex Gale (Photo: Manuel Nauta /Landov)

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10 Things You Should Know About A$AP Rocky - A$AP Rocky was born Rakim Mayers on October 3, 1988. He was named after rap great Rakim—you could say he has big shoes to fill.(Photo: A$AP Worldwide)

Photo By A$AP Worldwide

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10 Things You Should Know About A$AP Rocky - "I be that pretty motherf--ker, Harlem's what I reppin'," Rocky raps on his breakout hit "Peso." A$AP was raised on the same Harlem block as Cam'Ron before moving to New Jersey. (Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images)

Photo By Roger Kisby/Getty Images

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10 Things You Should Know About A$AP Rocky - Rocky counts Harlem icons Dipset as a huge influence on his music, but also looks outside of the city for inspiration—to Bone Thug N Harmony's flow, to UGK's funk edge, and Three Six Mafia's syrupy sonics.   (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

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10 Things You Should Know About A$AP Rocky - A$AP Rocky is obsessed with the color purple. His first mixtape, titled Deep Purple, began to attract attention last year for the song "Purple Swag," which famously featured a white girl in gold fronts rapping along to his lyrics.(Photo: Courtesy RCA Records)

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10 Things You Should Know About A$AP Rocky - In the wake of his exponentially building buzz, Rocky dropped the mixtape LiveLoveA$AP last October, wowing critics and fans alike.(Photo: Jeremy Karelis) A$AP Rocky

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10 Things You Should KNow About A$AP Rocky - Rocky's bubbling fame led to an eye-popping $3 million deal with RCA/Sony last November. The deal encompasses both his music and that of his crew, A$AP Worldwide, which includes rappers A$AP Nast and A$AP Twelvy, production wunderkind A$AP Ty Beats, and others. (Photo: John Ricard / BET)

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10 Things You Should Know About A$AP Rocky - Speaking of Rocky's A$AP Worldwide crew, it's hard to argue they don't have his back. They've already landed in hot water twice for brawls that spilled off the stage, one at last October's CMJ festival and another at SXSW last week. (Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images)

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10 Things You Should Know About A$AP Rocky - A$AP Rocky's already become your favorite rapper's rapper. Just ask Drake, who recruited the young Harlem spitter to open for him and Kendrick Lamar on his Club Paradise Tour. Or Australian femcee Iggy Azalea—she and Rock are reportedly dating, and she even tattooed "LiveLoveA$AP" on her finger. (Photos from left:  C.Smith/ WENN.com,  John Ricard / BET)

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10 Things You Should Know About A$AP Rocky - Still aren't convinced? Don't worry, you still have four months to get onboard Rocky's purple bandwagon before everyone else: His major-label debut, LongLiveA$AP, isn't scheduled to drop till July. (Photo: Courtesy Facebook)