Stand down, Navy. It’s hard to see other people living the life you desire, but at least A$AP Rocky makes it look good. The 32-year-old rapper, style icon, and Rihanna’s current arm candy gave us a crumb of their romance in a new profile with GQ, breaking down his collaboration with French designer Marine Serre, which he conceptualized while in jail in Sweden in 2019, and discussing his upcoming album, tentatively titled All Smiles. Though they’ve been friends since 2013, the couple appeared to get serious in 2020, when he visited her home, Barbados, where Rocky’s father was born. “The love of my life,†he says, sounding just like her Instagram commenters. “My lady.†“She amounts to probably, like, a million of the other ones,†he tells GQ, locking her down in print. “I think when you know, you know. She’s the One.†Instead of a traditional quarantine, they road-tripped across the U.S. together in a massive tour bus, inspiring his highly anticipated fourth album.
All Smiles is “about the evolution,†he says, emphasizing that if fans want “the same shit,†it’s online. “You can go revisit that,†Rocky shrugs off expectations. What we do know is that All Smiles is a “ghetto love tale†that’s “way more mature†than his previous work. Currently 90 percent complete, All Smiles will feature lyrics, production, and vocals from Morrissey, as well as influence from Rihanna herself. “I think it’s important to have somebody that you can bounce those creative juices and ideas off of,†he teases, assuring that she “absolutely†had something to do with the album. “It’s just a different point of view.†Rihanna has A$AP Rocky out here writing love songs and we can’t even be mad that they’re not on her album.