On April 20th, Grammy-nominated rapper A$AP Rocky found himself cornered by the Los Angeles Police Department, after exiting his private jet with partner Rihanna, following a trip to her native country Barbados.
In an NBC News report, the 33-year-old, whose legal name is Rakim Myers, was apprehended and arrested by LAPD with assistance from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations team, in connection to a 2021 shooting.
The incident in question happened in California last November, when the rapper and his associated allegedly approached the victim with two associates, brandishing a handgun. “Mayers shot at him three to four times and believed one of the bullets grazed his left hand,” according to the police report.
The shooting itself wasn’t public knowledge until this week’s arrest. The police were also spotted at A$AP’s L.A. address that same day, seemingly in search of evidence:
As A$AP posted a whopping $550K bail and left custody, teams of cops are currently sifting through boxes of the rapper’s documents and belongings.
This isn’t the rapper’s first run-in with the law. Let’s take a look.
A$AP’s Previous Legal Troubles
Long rap sheets aren’t an unusual thing in the world of rap, They’re something several rappers boast about in their lyrics. While A$AP does touch upon the subjects of gang violence in his songs, he usually stays away from directly naming or targeting rivals; the 2021 incident is the most intense one he’s been involved with so far
A$AP’s first run-in with the law took place back in 2006, when he spent two weeks in Rikers Island prison for dealing drugs. While this arrest passed without much incident, he did come to share a jail cell with rapper Casanova, who ended up being signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label.
The next charges came six years later, in 2012, just before the release of his hit debut album, Long Live A$AP. According to TMZ, the rapper was arrested after two bystanders began taking unsolicited photos of him arguing with a friend.
This quickly escalated in an all-out brawl, with both sides requiring treatment for cuts and bruises. While the ‘grand larceny’ (theft) charges puzzled the public, A$AP pleaded guilty in court, and was sentenced to three days of community service.
The pattern continued in 2013, when the rapper slapped a woman during the Budweiser ‘Made in America’ Festival. Charged with ‘misdemeanor simple assault,’ the case was dismissed when a witness failed to turn up. The following year, the woman filed a lawsuit asserting that she continued to suffer ‘certain conditions’ after the alleged assault.
Rocky denied all charges,stating that she “should have known that there could be trouble in a place with so many people.” The two settled the lawsuit privately in 2015. But that very year, A$AP’s ex-manager Geno Sims sued the rapper for an alleged breach of agreement. He sent back a countersuit, with the pair’s lawyers squabbling until the case was finally dropped in 2019.
A$AP had two more fistfights in 2016 and 2019 — the first one in Auckland, where he refused to let a man board the elevator he was in, and the latter was after a show in Toronto.
The Assault In Sweden
By far, the most high-profile case against Rocky happened in 2019, in Stockholm, Sweden.
The assault took place in July 2019, where A$AP and his bodyguards had an altercation with a man named Mustafa Jafari and another person. Jafari was beaten, kicked, and cut with broken bottles while on the ground.
According to the rapper, who posted videos of the incident online, Jafari was ‘suspiciously’ following the group despite being asked to stay away, and footage was obtained of the man hitting A$AP’s bodyguard with his headphones.” Henrik Olsson Lilja, the defense attorney for A$AP Rocky, maintained that his client acted in self-defense after being attacked by Jafari.
The subsequent trial and incarceration turned into a heated frenzy across the world – the rapper canceled his tour, rumors of jail mistreatment flared up, while Travis Scott, Tyler the Creator, G-Eazy, Kanye West and even US ex-President Donald Trump called for A$AP’s release. A woman was also apprehended in Washington for vandalizing and making bomb threats against the Swedish embassy.
Finally, on August 14th, Rocky was convicted of assault and charged $1,270 in damages, after spending a month in jail during the legal proceedings.
A$AP’s last release was the February 2022 track “Doja,” a single from fellow rapper $NOT’s album, Etherial. The rapper is also expecting a child with girlfriend Rihanna.
(Featured Image Credits: SME/A$AP Rocky)
