ASAP Rocky is helping to pay rent for people living in his childhood building.
The 37-year-old music star has teamed up with Bilt, a payments and commerce network, to pay the January rent for people in his childhood building, and Rocky has made the donation to celebrate the release of Don’t Be Dumb, his long-awaited fourth studio album.
Rocky – who lived in Harlem in New York City during his teens – said in a statement: “For me, it’s always been about your community and neighbourhood.
“Harlem made me who I am, from uptown to downtown, and that connection to place is everything.
“When Bilt said they wanted to cover rent for everyone in the same building where I grew up, that hit different. That’s not just business, that’s understanding what community really means.”
Rocky also opened up about his new record, Don’t Be Dumb.
He shared: “This vinyl is my love letter to New York, and being able to give back to the exact place that raised me while helping people across the country with their rent is the kind of partnership that actually matters.”
Rocky previously explained that he had to “develop into the man that [he’s] become”.
The music star admits that he’s had to adjust to a totally different lifestyle, having grown up in modest surroundings.
He told The Gentleman’s Journal: “I’m not sure there’s much of a difference — 20 to 30, 30 to 40 — when you live a crazy lifestyle. You get accustomed to it, and it’s just the norm.
“Obviously I wasn’t born privileged or with success in easy reach. So I had to develop into the man that I’ve become and the man that I’m becoming.”
Rocky also admits that there are many different sides to his personality.
He said: “I don’t know what to tell anybody out there because it’ll sound like some corny motivational s***. But all I can do is be me the most, and hope they do the same.
“I got a goofy side, I got a cool side, I got a handsome side, I got a nerdy side, I got a ghetto side, I got an elegant side, I got an eloquent side, I speak in ebonics…
“There’s so many factors that make me as a whole, but I’m not afraid to express all the parts that make me who I am.”