A$AP Rocky graces the streets of a re-opened New York while teasing upcoming music in a new advertisement for Klarna. After starting off as an investor in the company, which specializes in financial technology and allows users to make post-purchase payments in online shopping, he took on the role of CEO for a day last week, speaking praises of its commitment to making fashion accessible to everyone. The streetwear icon took to Instagram today to post the ad, which has his AWGE-branded creative fingerprints all over it.
The Harlem rapper is hard at work on his upcoming All Smiles record, and has been tapped to perform in a slew of festival lineups as live performances begin to slowly make a return to the music world. In the brief advertisement, Rocky sneaks in a preview of new music that might appear on the album, to match the tone of the ad’s narrative, which follows a post-lockdown Rocky through the streets of New York in search of a new and fashionable fit. He interacts with citizens who comment on his lackluster lockdown garb, convincing him to get some new attire.
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In the snippet, Rocky raps “Roll my blunt, fill my cup... They don’t know nun’,” all comfortable topics for the Testing rapper. At the end of the ad, UK grime legend Skepta steps into the New York bodega ready to get out of his lockdown robes, a short and sweet cameo for a friend of Rocky and his “Praise The Lord (Da Shine)” collaborator.
During his day-long stint as Klarna’s CEO, the A$AP Mob leader vowed to “renounce (the) global fashion hibernation” that took place in 2020 and sought to push people toward rediscovering “the joy of getting dressed” once again. Rocky is not foreign to the fashion world, making his sense of style a core component of his musical identity and garnering much deserved attention in both high fashion and streetwear realms, merging the two worlds together at many points.
With a recent GQ cover story, an album on the way, festival dates planned and the new ad giving fans a taste of upcominng music, A$AP Rocky is primed for an eventful second half of 2021.
Check out the advertisement below.