Hip Hop/ Rap
A$AP Rocky Explains Origin of Drake Feud, Points to Yams Day 2020 as Turning Point
A$AP Rocky also admitted regret over dissing Drake on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Show of Hands,” calling it petty and “corny” for involving another woman. Still, the tension resurfaced on his latest album Don’t Be Dumb, particularly on the track “Stole Ya Flow,” where he raps about Rihanna and past grievances.
A$AP Rocky has offered his clearest account yet of how his once-close relationship with Drake unraveled, tracing the origins of their long-simmering feud back to events following Yams Day 2020. In a candid new interview with DJ Akademiks, the Harlem rapper reflected on what he describes as a sudden shift in tone from the Toronto superstar—one that eventually spilt into diss tracks, public jabs, and fan-fueled speculation.
“I thought [Drake] was my dude,” Rocky said. “I thought he was my mans.” According to A$AP Rocky, their relationship initially felt genuine and supportive, dating back to the early 2010s when Drake invited him on the Club Paradise Tour and later collaborated on the Billboard Hot 100 hit “Fkin’ Problems.”**
Charlamagne Tha God Questions A$AP Rocky’s Music Amid New Drake Diss
From Collaboration to Cold War
A$AP Rocky suggested that tensions began after he entered a relationship with Rihanna, whom Drake famously dated earlier in his career. He claimed that after they got together, Drake began “throwing shots out of nowhere,” catching him off guard. Akademiks raised the possibility that their beef stemmed from romantic history, which A$AP Rocky did not entirely dismiss—but he also rejected the idea of lingering resentment over past relationships.
“I’m not the first n—a that f—ked my girl or my baby mother or my wife,” Rocky said, brushing off rumors linking him to Sophie Brussaux, the mother of Drake’s son, Adonis. “That’s insecure s—t. We sound like females talking about females.”
Yams Day 2020: The Calm Before the Storm
Despite underlying tensions, A$AP Rocky recalled Yams Day 2020 as a moment of unity rather than conflict. Drake attended the memorial event honoring late A$AP Mob founder A$AP Yams, who died in 2015, and gifted Rocky a custom chain in A$AP Yams’ memory.
“I still got the chain. I still cherish it,” A$AP Rocky said. “That’s 2020. Everything was good. Everything after that? That’s where all the shots started happening.”
A$AP Rocky insisted that he did not take any musical shots at Drake prior to 2020, stating emphatically, “Never. I don’t move like that.”
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Rihanna, Regret, and ‘Don’t Be Dumb’
The feud escalated publicly in recent years, particularly during the Drake–Kendrick Lamar rivalry in 2024, when A$AP Rocky inserted himself after perceiving lyrical jabs aimed at Rihanna. “The only reason I said something was because he took a shot at my girl,” he explained.
A$AP Rocky also admitted regret over dissing Drake on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Show of Hands,” calling it petty and “corny” for involving another woman. Still, the tension resurfaced on his latest album Don’t Be Dumb, particularly on the track “Stole Ya Flow,” where he raps about Rihanna and past grievances.
A Feud That Still Resonates
Released on January 16, Don’t Be Dumb debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, narrowly edging out the competition with 123,000 equivalent album units. As fans dissect lyrics and interviews alike, Rocky’s comments add new context to one of hip-hop’s most talked-about rifts—one that evolved from brotherhood to rivalry in the spotlight.
