Per tradition, New York City’s famous Central Park plays host to a variety of live acts throughout the summer months, with A$AP Mob’s recent tour pitstop helping stretch the season a bit longer.
During the New York collective’s performance Monday night (Sept. 25), A$AP Rocky asked the crowd for five seconds of their attention, diving into a speech that was met (and often interrupted) with thundering applause.
“I need y’all to be quiet for like five seconds,” he begins, trying to get the audience gathered around the SummerStage to quiet down. “Real s–t, what’s going on right now, I’m not tryna preach to y’all motherf–kers, but I said this at my other show the other night, this s–t is crazy. I look around and it’s ethnic in this crowd right now. I see Blacks and whites and in-between and all that. It’s a lot of different colors in the crowd right now and I love that, y’all know what I’m saying.”
His commentary is sporadically cut off with applause, with many in support of the Rocky’s rare socially conscious commentary.
“But besides support, besides support, I want y’all to know that y’all in the best f–king state in this country right now,” Rocky continues, addressing the lively New York crowd. “Y’all motherf–kers, New York is the fashion mecca. Ya know what I’m saying, it’s the fashion capital. This is where music originated, this is where hip-hop started. This is where rap originated, right, but the issue is, our city always dealt with s–t like racism and diversity and s–t like that, right? F–k that shit, n—a. You feel me. All the time, they try to get me to come up there, they try to make me look like I’m a coon, like I’m for the white man. F–k that, I’m for everybody. I’m a Black man when I go to sleep. Listen, listen, nobody else gonna tell y’all this s–t. “
Rocky, who has faced criticism for avoiding topics such as police brutality and social injustice in the past, continued on with his message, presenting fans with a call-to-action not to discriminate or pre-judge anyone.
“It don’t matter if you Black, if you white, if you brown, if you yellow cuz we all purple people, remember that s–t man,” he says, being met with instant applause once again. “So all the racist n—-s can suck a d–k, f–k you don’t come to our shows n—a. I love y’all, and I want y’all to leave here with that message. I’m not tryna preach, I’m not your pastor, I’m not your teacher, I’m just up here with a platform and I wanna let y’all know that racist s–t is trash. That s–t is whack. Don’t discriminate or pre-judge nobody ’cause of their skin color or their sexual preference. F–k all that s-s–t, man.”
Take a listen to A$AP Rocky’s uncensored and unfiltered speech to his fans in the clip above.