Live Review: A$AP Ferg At The Glasshouse In Los Angeles

Los Angeles – A$AP Ferg is under the weather. The Turnt x Burnt tour is Ferg’s first as a headliner. He’s brought his A$AP Mob cohorts (minus Rocky) with him on the road and tonight’s sell out at the Glasshouse is exactly the midway point of their cross-country trek. 14 shows remain and sold out houses have been the norm. Ferg’s tour manager tells me that our interview is going to have to be pushed till after the performance due to the Trap Lord’s condition. “Just wait for me here.” he says. “We’ll all walk [into the venue] together.”

Emerging from the gold and black tour bus Ferg steps onto the sidewalk wearing a black hoodie and torn jeans straight out of Kurt Cobain’s closet. As we walk down the street toward the back alley that leads us into the venue Ferg is stopped by some fans. “Yo, Ferg! You’re my idol.” Says one. Ferg, without hesitation, shakes his hand and thanks him for being a fan. Another offers Ferg a joint to which his entourage politely declines for him. He’s genuinely gracious to all who stop him. Why wouldn’t he be? He is living out his dreams.

From the looks of the evening’s set, Ferg shows no signs of fatigue. The excitable Harlem emcee rotates his lyrical content from ghetto prophet on “Hood Pope” to misogynistic terror on “Dump Dump.” Every step of the way though Ferg commands the crowd like a hip-hop veteran. Despite Trap Lord being Ferg’s only full-length release he looks poised to make the same jump Rocky made with 2011’s critically acclaimed Live. Love. ASAP.

After the show, Ferg sits backstage on a weathered leather couch. I remind him about all those who showed him love earlier in the night and him making time for each and every one of them. Asked why he’s so appreciative of those who support him he simply says, “Because they don’t have to.” He knows he’s lucky. “How many kids in America or in the world get a chance to live out their dreams?” He says. “I be in disbelief every night.”

Chasing his dream on his terms is what has made his rise so special to him. He never had to sacrifice his sense of self in order to get ahead and he never will. Being an individual is just too important. “I’m one of them people who is fighting for individuality.” He says. “I know so many kids that be so suppressed that they be depressed because they can’t be themselves.”

Ferg name checks Drake and Tyler, the Creator as artists who haven’t strayed from who they are as fame has entered their lives. He feels their artistry has flourished as result. It’s a good thing they stayed true to themselves. “It really bothers me when people try to be something they’re not. He says. “It’s my pet peeve…It bothers me when I feel the pressure to fit into society’s cool.”

For a guy who holds an impromptu ass-shaking contest while performing “Bangin’ on Waxx” to whipping the crowd into a moshing frenzy with his disjointed rhymes on “Work” Ferg won’t conform to what anybody else wants, but delivers in a way that will have audiences going back for seconds and thirds. He may be the newest member of the A$AP Mob to get some much deserved buzz, but something tells me he won’t be the last.

Photos By Erik Perkins

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Ian Joulain

Somewhere between Sublime’s 40oz. to Freedom and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic something clicked inside a young Ian Joulain’s mind. His love for music had taken root and the only way to satiate this newfound passion was mass consumption of any and all genres. While gravitating toward punk rock, hip-hop, and jazz he discovered his distaste for pop-country, but blames that mostly on the excess of tractor and NASCAR mentions in the genre’s lyrics. That said, Joulain has never met a drink that was too stiff or a beach that he didn't like. He hopes to one day hug a koala and would love to ask Greg Ginn why he’s such a dick.