A$AP Rocky Quote From 2015 Sparks Backlash: ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk About No Ferguson’

A$AP Rocky is being roundly criticized on social media for some things he said regarding rappers and political awareness back in 2015. In an interview with Time Out New York from last September, the Harlem rapper talked about his past as a drug dealer, the fast life of a rap star and whether or not he feels compelled to broach political issues in his music, after being asked about it during an interview at Oxford University.

"I think speaking on a subject is fine but I don't feel like I need to make songs off of it," Rocky is reported as saying. "If I felt like doing it I would. [That student’s] whole question was, “Why haven't you [gotten political?” I'm like, Bitch, ’cause I don't feel like it. Kendrick is doing that already. J. Cole is doing it already. Let them deal with that s---. I wanna talk about the f---ed-up s--- in my life. Not that f---ed-up s--- I see on TV. Because I'm not there. How am I gonna talk about something I'm not helping? It's f---ed up. It's a touchy subject."

Rocky added that he refused to believe that he had a responsibility to speak on causes just because of his race.

"They're not forcing me to do s---," he said. "I'm just gonna stay black and die. Why, because I'm black? So every time something happens because I'm black I gotta stand up? What the fuck am I, Al Sharpton now? I'm A$AP Rocky. I did not sign up to be no political activist. I wanna talk about my motherf---in' lean, my best friend dying, the girls that come in and out of my life, the jiggy fashion that I wear, my new inspirations in drugs! I don't wanna talk about no f---ing Ferguson and shit because I don't live over there! I live in fucking Soho and Beverly Hills. I can't relate. I'm in the studio; I'm in these fashion studios; I'm in these bitches' drawers. I'm not doing anything outside of that. That's my life.

The quotes have outraged several fans on Twitter, with others acknowledging that it's from several months ago.

"I ran into ASAP Rocky last month & he told me: 'Idk you but stay safe out here.'" tweeted Nuff $aid. "He's not the same guy he was in that 2015 interview. Facts."

It's unclear whether or not these quotes represent Rocky's current perspective on the issue, but it seems contradictory to his recent activity. The public should recall that A$AP Rocky recently appeared in "23 Ways You Could Be Killed If You Are Black In America," a Mic News PSA about police brutality; alongside other notables like Alicia Keys and Chris Rock.

Check out some Twitter reactions to the quotes and the video that A$AP Rocky appeared in denouncing police brutality.