A$AP Rocky is prepping the release of his second proper album, but there’s no doubt he’ll be fielding questions about A$AP Yams’ death as much as about his music. The Harlem rapper recently discussed actually being one of the first people to find his late friend unconscious.
The “Wassup” rapper once confronted Yams about the drug use that would inevitably end his life (he died of an accidental drug overdose).
Say the New York Times:
In some ways Yams was open about taking drugs: He wrote about it on Twitter with wry comedic flair, and he and some friends called themselves Blackout Boyz. He was partial to Xanax and lean, the prescription-strength cough-syrup concoction.
Then, in 2011, Rocky recalled, he confronted Yams about the extent of his use and the damage it was causing. After that, “He went out of his way to hide it,” Rocky said. “I caught him a bunch of times, but he would still hide it. He was kind of private about it. He didn’t want his mom to know, he didn’t want me to know.”
Yams would enter rehab last summer. But unfortunately the drug used continued. Rocky detailed the night his dear friend passed away.
The night of Yams’s death, Rocky was one of several friends hanging out in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, apartment Yams shared with ASAP Lou, another member of the crew. At around 3 a.m., Lou pulled him aside and told him something was wrong.
Yams wouldn’t wake up, and there was vomit on the bed. They turned him over. “I just look at his face. I look at Lou. You could just tell. We knew,” Rocky said. “I was scared,” he said. “I was wilding on everybody, like, ‘Who let him do drugs?,’ even though you can’t blame nobody.”
Seriously, if you have friends that are doing themselves harm, at least try to help them remedy their situation. Yes, people ultimately have to make their own decisions, but how will you feel if you at least didn’t put in some effort?
Read the full story over at the New York Times.
Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Budweiser
