A$AP Rocky Always Dreamed of Being Part of a Video Game

When electronic arts asked A$AP Rocky to be part of its latest racing game, Need for Speed Unbound, the answer came quickly. “I grew up on Need for Speed, so I just felt like it was only right, you know?” the rapper says. “That was one of those things that we all grew up on. I was interested off the bat.”

He ended up becoming the star of the new game, released Dec. 2, providing his likeness and personality as a non-playable character. Need for Speed Unbound‘s first trailer shows A$AP Rocky stepping out of a custom Mercedes 190E (which he also has in real life) with the phrase “Always Strive And Prosper” emblazened on the driver’s-side door. His song “Shittin’ Me,” which he recorded around 2019 and debuted through the game, echoes over the trailer’s gorgeous graffiti-style visuals.

In the trailer and the actual game, which is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, Rocky appears stylized in Need for Speed‘s cel-shaded art direction. He shows up at certain challenges and events in the game, and if you play long enough, you can race against him. His presence is the finishing touch that makes the game drip with personality and charm.

Growing up in Harlem, Rocky remembers playing games on consoles such as the Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast. “I was a Sega head — I loved the [Sega] Genesis,” he says. Yet he also appreciated Sega’s chief competitor: “The Super Nintendo changed the game,” he adds. “And then by the time [Nintendo] did the N64, it was over.”

Rocky was a fan of PaRappa the Rapper, one of PlayStation’s earliest mascots. “I remember when PlayStation first came out, it was, like, that one game that you get — the pack of samples, demos and shit,” he says. He begins to sing PaRappa’s theme song: “‘Kick, punch. It’s all in the mind!’”

Rocky is more of a retro gaming fan, though he he says that “This new Need for Speed is my shit.” His favorite title from the franchise growing up was 2002’s Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, which he played on the PlayStation 2. He also speaks highly of 2003’s Need for Speed: Underground, which influenced Need for Speed: Unbound’s focus on street racing.

“Underground was considerably, like, everybody’s favorite,” he says. “And I think Unbound is just an extension of that.”

Along with “Shittin’ Me,” a few of A$AP Rocky’s other songs from his back catalog are also on the Need for Speed Unbound soundtrack, including 2019’s “Babushka Boi” and 2011’s “Palace.” He says the song selection process was a collaborative process, since Electronic Arts already had some of his songs in mind when the company approached him in 2020. “’Shittin’ Me’ wasn’t as old as it is now,” he says. “And ‘Babushka Boi,’ like, just came out.” He mentions Chase Straight, Need for Speed’s brand manager at Electronic Arts: “This guy Chase is amazing. He was really adamant about ‘Babushka Boi,’ and he loved the song ‘Palace.’ It was really dope working with him.”

This wasn’t Rocky’s first rodeo with Electronic Arts. Back in 2012, he did a FIFA 13 commercial along with Snoop Dogg and other celebrities. But this took his involvement to a new level. “It was a crazy experience, man,” he says. “I dreamed of this kind of shit. Like, growing up, you watch different behind-the-scenes actors with the green-screen suits on. It’s crazy. I always wished and imagined that I would do that.”

All in all, he says, Electronic Arts was being pleasant to work with. “It was fun. Sign me up for that fun shit, that shit that isn’t just your everyday notion, you know? Sign me up!” he says. “That’s what I’m here for.”

So would he work on another video game if the opportunity came up? “Oh, absolutely, man,” Rocky says. “Absolutely.”

From Rolling Stone US.