ACL Review: A$AP Ferg

Energy, sweat, and basketball jerseys were in abundance for Harlem rapper A$AP Ferg’s early, Saturday afternoon set.

Proud founding member of the A$AP Mob, he sported a blue “AWGE” cap – bandmate A$AP Rocky’s creative collective – and an orange-striped GUESS X Rocky collab shirt. Thus outfitted to do festival battle, the rapper’s hefty, dark bravado shook the masses and kept them vibrating with little rest alongside the help of his DJ, TJ.

The set explored his entire discography, “One Night Savage,” “Plain Jane,” and “East Coast” from his newest, Still Striving, and “Yamborghini High” and “Walk on Water” from the first and second Cozy Tapes volumes from A$AP Mob. Even so, songs from his solo studio debut, Traplord, hit the hardest.

“Dump Dump” opened up a mosh pit, but “Shabba” nearly incited a riot as he descended into the crowd. “Work” solidified his Top 40 status as the crowd lip-synced every word with a fist pump. His crowd work proved his biggest asset.

Stopping to hug and kiss seduced fans as he walked down the center aisle leading away from the mainstage, he invited a fan back onstage as a hype man. His constant crowd affirmations validated everyone.

“I wish I could go and hug each and everyone one of y’all,” he proclaimed.

Ferg (Darold Ferguson, Jr.) closed with “New Level” off of last year’s Always Strive and Prosper, charging the stage with reckless abandon and a gold-clad grin as he murmured its concluding words with a bow, “Love, peace, and A$AP.” He walked off to viral hit “Milly Rock” by 2 Milly.