Rakim Mayers, known by his stage name ASAP Rocky, has been undoubtedly on the most popular upcoming artists of the recent years. His fame was almost immediate after signing a three million dollar deal with Sony. In his music, Rocky often dwells on his exotic lifestyle in close partner to death in many of his songs. However, in the song “Phoenix”, he addresses the effects of his hip-hop career on himself, the mental annihilation of many other artists as a result of increasing criticism, as well as, how he plans to continue his efforts in spite of threatening obstacles.
ASAP Rocky titled his song “Phoenix” to convey a message about his own personality reconstruction. Phoenix’s are mythical bird-like creatures that burst into a fiery ball of fire upon their death and rise from their ashes into a rebirth. Most obvious instances of Phoenix’s being used as a symbolic tool representing life’s beauty is in the film industry. For example, in the Harry Potter series, a Phoenix combusts in front Harry. Despite the gruesome scene, Dumbledore reassures him that despite its death, the Phoenix will rise again from the ashes ever more beautiful than before.
Rocky uses this common representation to illustrate how despite his drug addictions and common bashes with fans, he will attempt to reconstruct himself. He’ll attempt to become a better person despite how outsiders view him currently. He acknowledges that the process may not be pretty, but to the truthful eye, it’s beautiful. He is a good man who has done bad things but at the end of the day, he’ll come back superior to his prior self. In the song, Asap Rocky also addresses the variety of effects his career as a famous rapper has had on him.
When Asap Rocky says, “Bloody ink on my pad spelled suicide” in the beginning of his song, he’s revealing that he has seriously contemplated suicide. He later explains his reasoning by saying, “Jesus Christ never lied still was crucified. ” Jesus Christ being the moral compass of Christianity and still being punished emphasizes Rocky’s point about having people hate you for no reason. Rocky feels as if he can do nothing right to impress his critiques. They’ll continue bashing him until he ultimately dies from their criticism.
In his music video for “Phoenix” a female character is presented as Rocky’s inner rage struggling with himself, a complimentary male character. In the music video, the female character is struggling to cooperate with the male counterpart who is extremely destructive. He destroys many artworks present in his room and is left grieving. His explosive attitude leads to more frustration by the female character until she has enough and almost kills the male in an outburst of ambivalent rage.
Rocky’s inner rage, as a result of his fame, has led him to a point where he had a foot in his own grave. However, the female character’s refusal to kill the male symbolizes how there is a hope, even if it looks bleak. Even though his anger has led to a destruction of his art, he knows he had to do it in order to move on. ASAP Rocky places a huge emphasis on the power of words and the deep emotional wounds they inflict on people placed in a similar situation as him. He starts of this thought by stating, “Michael even passed because you scrutinized. Michael Jackson was believed to have been suffering under constant media pressure and pressure from within his own family circles.
ASAP Rocky draws a parallel between the two because he feels the same type of pressure Michael felt at the heights of his own career. He makes an extremely similar comparison to Kurt Cobain in the same fashion by stating, “Kurt Cobain even passed because you scrutinized. ” Like Mr. Cobain, ASAP Rocky has admittedly put himself in harm’s way through the use of drugs and other harmful stipulations set through his demented morals.
Those morals arise most definitely from the pressure of fans, media and other external sources meaningful to Rocky. He’s sending the message that until the pressure dies down, we can expect to see similar cases arise in the forthcoming years. ASAP Rocky’s song “Phoenix” aptly speaks out about the various effects his career has on himself, the effects of a career in entertainment on similar artists, and his plan to reconstruct himself into a better person despite the odds.
