Rihanna and A$AP Rocky aren’t doing a good job of convincing us that they aren’t dating. To be fair, our reluctance to believe there isn’t anything going on between them may partially stem from the fact that people have been rooting for them to link up for years now. Their bonding over designer goods in Rocky’s 2013 music video for “Fashion Killa” first planted the idea that they’re a good match. When they walked the red carpet together at the British Fashion Awards last year, this fantasy was further fueled. Most recently, they were seen hitting it off after the Yams Day concert and were rumored to have shared a hotel suite later that evening. Speculation started that RiRi had moved to dating the rapper shortly just after the end of her three-year relationship with Saudi billionaire, Hassan Jameel. However, a source told E! News that Rihanna is “single” and that her and Rocky are just “good friends.” 

Now that you’re all caught up, you’ll understand why Rihanna and Rocky being spotted at the same nightclub on Tuesday morning (Feb. 11) may raise some eyebrows. According to TMZ, the Barbadian babe stepped in to The Nice Guy in West Hollywood just before 1 AM, while the Babushka Boi showed up just after 2 AM. Footage shows Rocky sneaking in the club’s entrance with his head down. While he may have been hiding under his hood to avoid the blinding flash of cameras, an alternative explanation is that he was trying to prevent the dating rumors from reigniting. E! News‘ source did say that Ri’s “hanging out” with Rocky and “just having fun”, so there is still a possibility that these meetups escalate into something more.  

A$AP Rocky and Tyler, The Creator are best friends, collaborators, and frequent roast partners. The two love to get down to the nitty-gritty, unleashing their harshest insults on one another in a perpetual attempt to get the upper hand. Both rappers do it out of love, with absolutely no malice present in their words. Perhaps, if A$AP Rocky were insecure in his appearance, he would take some of Tyler’s jabs to heart. He always tends to brush them off though, rebutting with his own vicious remarks. Sometimes, they get their mutual friends, like ScHoolboy Q, involved in the fun but today, it was just Rocky and Tyler going at each other over a series of Yams Day 2020 photos.

Posting an account of his soirée celebrating the life and legacy of A$AP Yams, A$AP Rocky’s final image in the gallery shows him scrolling through his phone as he sits on the couch in his boxers. Tyler, The Creator peeped the pic and felt an urgent need to roast his friend and that’s exactly what happened.

“DAMN N***A DAS CRAZY THEM THIGHS ON TURKEY DAY YOU MUST BE FROM DALLAS,” wrote the IGOR artist in Flacko’s comments. The New York star was less than impressed with the remark, striking back by telling Tyler to “STFU” and leaving things at that.

It’s hard not to love the brotherly dynamic between A$AP Rocky and Tyler, The Creator. We all need someone like Tyler in our lives to keep us in check and, thankfully for him, Rocky can give his mans a call whenever he pleases.

Yams Day is damn near a Hip-Hop holiday at this point, with the entire A$AP Mob turning up for one night in celebration of the group’s late head honcho, A$AP Yams.

Credited with being the glue that brought the group together in the first place, Steven Rodriguez was a wildfire personality that unfortunately saw his flame put out due to an accidental death by overdose on January 18, 2015. Now, exactly five years after his death, it’s clear that the moniker “A$AP Yams” will only grow in notoriety as long as A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg and the entire Mob continue to keep his legacy alive like they successfully did last Friday (January 17) for Yams Day 2020.

The scene at Barclays Center was jaw-dropping, especially given how brick it was in New York City that evening. Every single entrance was packed, and being a fancy-ass (OK, far from fancy, but still!) writer for HNHH, I figured I could get in through the “artist” entrance. That was not the case — I had a ticket in a good seat, but a GA ticket nonetheless — and I ended up getting in through the VIP entrance. However, it was beyond interesting to watch some of the people getting in this door for the 20 minutes they had us waiting: Solange’s baby daddy was right behind me, notorious “anti-Supreme” bully YMBAPE had no problems getting in with an entourage of hood dudes and, of course, groupies galore! However, it wasn’t until 12-year-old “Clout” rapper Bouba Savage arrived — he became a viral meme later that night when Rocky literally tossed him off the stage into the mosh pit — and put all of us old heads to shame. Not only did this pre-teen emcee pull up with mad heads, but he also waiting zero time to get in and was screaming at the top of his lungs, “Let them in! Let all my people in!” I knew from there it was about to be one unforgettable night.

I got in just as Bun B was running through his set. Walking in to “Big Pimpin” blaring through Barclays was a vibe I can barely explain, but it was without a doubt what you’d want to be doing on a Friday evening in Brooklyn. The stage setup was insane: a bull head with glowing eyes in the middle of the main stage, which extended a runway-style platform into an actual wresting ring that had real wrestlers going at it in the middle of each performance. The people on the surrounding floor looked like a sea of talking heads, each filled with the excitement and vitality that comes with being surrounded by such energy. 

Pi’erre Bourne hit the stage soon after, who had just traveled from an in-store performance/fan signing in the Lower East Side at a clothing store called PRIVILEGE New York. The rock star life can see you moving from spot to spot in a matter of hours, and I gained a huge respect for Pi’erre seeing him kill it for an intimate crowd of diehard fans as comfortably as he did on a grand stage like the one at Barclays. His set was also particularly special because that’s when A$AP Rocky decided to make his entrance by crowd surfing his way to the ring. It goes without saying, but pandemonium ensued afterwards.

From there, tons of random moments started happening. Lil Yachty pulled up for DJ duties for a bit, Smoove L captivated the whole crowd with “OUU AHH”/”BIG MAD” and ICYTWAT and his crew had the entire building shaking with “THOTTWAT” just to name a few. The entire Mob filled the wrestling ring in between sets to keep the energy going, but the momentum was on such a high (literally!) that it was impossible to wane down the level of energy given off by the entire venue.

Top performers of the night included Nav, Young M.A., Casanova and even2 Chainz hitting the stage before a touching speech by Yams’ mom, Tatianna Paulino, to acknowledge those involved for keeping her son’s legacy alive and at the forefront of New York City’s biggest rap movement and collective in a very long time. It was, without getting too emotional or corny, one of the most beautiful examples of finding a silver lining in what has obviously been a dark cloud over her head for the past five years.

The biggest surprises of the night were reserved for the very end, even though Ferg debuting his new red hairdo and looking like a big pack of Now and Later candy was shocking in itself. After ending things with the posse cut we’d all been waiting to hear all night — the “Yamborghini High” turn-up was real! — Rocky brought out Tyler, The Creator in the very final moment of the show to do a closing encore that had fans screaming well after the “take your ass home” lights came on. Also, in a wild turn of events, both Drake and Rihanna (!!!) were backstage for the sole reason of honoring Yams and didn’t even touch the main stage. 

Overall, we can only hope that Yams Day 2021, 2022, 2023 and beyond continues to be as lit as it’s been annually for the past half a decade. Keep scrolling for a full photo recap of Yams Day 2020 below. Rest in peace forever, Yams.

All photos provided by @TimStype exclusively for HotNewHipHop.

The same day that it was reported that she and her Saudi billionaire boyfriend, Hassan Jameel, had called it quits, Rihanna hit up Yams Day 2020 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Rih was spotted backstage at the event, which is held every year to honour the late rapper and A$AP Mob founder, A$AP Yams, who died of an accidental overdose in 2015. Accompanying Rih was none other than fellow Mob member, A$AP Rocky, who has been romantically linked to Rih in the past. Rih and Rocky were spotted smiling and laughing together while posing in front of a graffitied wall.

Ahead of Yams Day 2020, A$AP Rocky got quite the thoughtful gift from his buddy, Drake. The annual music event, which the A$AP Mob started in honour of Mob founder, A$AP Yams, who died of an accidental overdose in 2015, kicked off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Friday night. Drizzy decided to pay tribute to the late rapper by having a special gift made for Yams’ fellow Mob member and friend, A$AP Rocky. The “Life Is Good” rapper presented Rocky with an iced out pendant that bears Yams’ likeness to a T. In a video captured by photographer Angel Rivera, Rocky is shown absolutely awestruck by the incredible gift.

“This is crazy, I just wanna look at it,” Rocky says in the clip. “Man, Drizzy a good dude, bro.” The video features some close-up shots of the pendant, and there’s no denying that the jeweller, Jason of Beverly Hills, has managed to capture Yams’ appearance in jewelry form perfectly. The detail and consideration that went into nailing all of the elements, from his braids and facial birthmark to his cheek tattoo and his affinity for Coogi sweaters, is impressive. It’s revealed in the video that they “went over all the details” and “made a ton of changes until it was perfect,” and it shows. The piece consists of 600 grams of gold and 15 carats of flawless diamonds, and reportedly took over three months to manufacture. Though the price of this piece has not yet been revealed, similar pendants are valued at around $150,000. Jason of Beverly Hills has been commissioned by Drake to design pieces for him in the past, most recently some matching $400,000 OVO eagle and owl chains for himself and his “Life Is Good” collaborator, Future.

Along with A$AP Mob, Yams Day 2020 featured performances by 2 Chainz, Bun B, Hoodrich Keem, Joey Bada$$, Kenny Beats, Metro Boomin‘, Nav, , Night Lovell, Pierre Bourne, Pop Smoke, Smooky Margiellaa, YG, and more.

With Yams Day 2020 just a few days away, many Hip-Hop fans attending will certainly want something to help them remember the occasion. Thankfully, AWGE has enlisted Cactus Plant Flea Market and Young Thug‘s SPIDER streetwear imprint to help put together some gear that honors the dearly missed homie A$AP Yams.

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With a selection of cool streetwear essentials, including a bandana that features a picture of Yams surrounded by his old Instagram handle “WAVY BONE” (seen above), Thugger and CPFM definitely gave us a nice selection of options that are simple, assorted and far from boring. Want to burn a candle in memory of Yams? You got it. Need a foam middle finger to wave in the air when they inevitably perform “Yamborghini High”? You can cop one of those, too! Also included in the set are a few crewnecks, a classic “In Memoriam” tribute tee by Cactus Plant, a long-sleeved T-shirt from SPIDER and a standout hoodie. that puts a Yams-centric spin on  Milton Glaser’s classic “I LOVE NY” motif. Overall, we think this would be a capsule collection that even Steven himself would probably rock with.

The Yams Day 2020 capsule collection will be sold exclusively at the venue this Friday (January 17). Grab your tickets right now over on Ticketmaster, and peep the full set below:

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