Harlem hip hop crew A$AP Mob started making waves in 2012 when lead artist A$AP Rocky burst on the scene with his Top 10 US single F**kin' Problems, but it was A$AP Ferg who stole the glory on the showcase mixtape Lord Never Worries when his track Work became the stand-out anthem and received over 2 million hits on YouTube. The son of a New York boutique owner who designed the logo for Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records label, Ferg (real name Donald Ferguson Jnr) originally joined the collective as a clothing designer and jewellery maker before featuring on his High School friend Rocky's tracks Kissin' Pink and Ghetto Sympathy. Signed up by RCA Records, his debut album Trap Lord (2013) featured Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Schoolboy Q, and Onyx and won praise for its return to the tough, street sound of 1990s hip hop and its nods to the influence and swaggering rhythms of Jamaican dancehall. Led by lead single Shabba, the album went on to reach Number 9 in the US charts, whilst Ferg was named Rookie of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards.
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