What Does ASAP Mean In Rap? (Find Out!)

ASAP stands for “always strive and prosper” in rap. This is less of a general slang term used in rap and more specifically related to the Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky, whose name stands for “always strive and prosper”. Of course the term also more generally means “as soon as possible” so this could well be the rap meaning.

So, the term has a couple of meanings, but the more specific meaning attached to A$AP Rocky has become something of a common slang term at least from adjacent rappers.

Generally, it is not as often used to have this meaning as a slang term than it is just to refer to the rapper himself.

Let’s find out more.

What does ASAP stand for in rap?

ASAP can stand for a couple of things in rap.

When asked this question, most with the answer would respond that it stands for “always strive and prosper”.

This is indeed how the term is sometimes used, but for the most part when people use it in this way they are referring to a specific rapper or group of rappers, A$AP Rocky or the A$AP Mob.

This is, naturally, a stage name, and he uses this abbreviation specifically to have this meaning.

In that sense, this is not a general rap slang term, but rather the specific name of one rapper.

While A$AP Rocky is probably the most well-known of the group today, he did not form the group, though he did join at an early date.

Certainly, there’s an extent to which this has been extended out to rap in general with this meaning.

Some have indeed employed the term as a general slang term in a way that is not intended to refer to his name.

Of course, this idea of striving, prospering, and perhaps breaking free from the economic constraints which held them back in their youth.

Many see this as simple greed and desire for huge material wealth, but the reality is a lot more complicated than that.

Black American rappers who so define the genre feel the importance also of recognizing their roots while also doing everything they can to break free from them and raise others up with them.

This is essentially the message of A$AP Rocky’s name, and of others who also use the slang term in the same way.

You must strive for better not just economically, but in yourself, too.

You should seek to prosper so that you can improve your own life and the lives of those around you.

This is what ASAP stands for in rap, though it can have other meanings that we’ll look at later.

Where does this come from, then?

Where does ASAP come from in rap?

Again, this sense of the word comes specifically from the rapper A$AP Rocky and the group of which he was a member, the A$AP Mob. A$AP Mob were formed in 2006, and A$AP Rocky started doing professional solo performances in 2007.

So, this is where the term comes from, though again it was based on older conventions of rap and the rap scene.

All members of the group featured the A$AP in their names, such as A$AP Ferg, Ant, Twelvyy, and Lotto, among many others.

It was the rappers A$AP Yams, along with A$AP Bari and A$AP Illz who initially formed the group.

So, you could probably say that the name comes from these rappers originally, though it has since been applied to many others.

This, again, was always meant to mean “always strive and prosper”, being something of a philosophy of the group. Raise yourself up and make life better for yourself and those around you.

Do other rappers use A$AP?

A$AP has become so associated with a specific group that most other rappers don’t tend to use it in this way, unless they are directly associated with the A$AP Mob.

This isn’t a hard and fast rule and, as mentioned, there is certainly an extent to which the term has expanded out to be used by the wider rap community.

There are naturally lots of shared values there, so many rappers may be inclined to use the term.

However, again, given that it is so heavily associated with one particular group, you may well end up in disputes if you use this term too much.

What else does A$AP mean?

Though you won’t see it used with the $ sign in this way, the other meaning of ASAP is “as soon as possible”.

This is a very common English idiom, so it certainly is used in rap in the same way any other basic English word would be. A$AP isn’t really something that’s part of rap tracks—it’s mostly just the name.

ASAP as a phrase, on the other hand, is probably more likely to mean “as soon as possible”, whatever the context for that may be.

So, a single rapper is really the person who popularized this slang term.

That said, it hasn’t gained much broad usage in this sense outside of his name. He is so well known that most people would just think you are referring to the rapper himself.

Indeed, many people do not fully realize his name stands for anything, rather than just being a catchy moniker and stage name.

That said, the more common sense of “as soon as possible” is certainly used in rap, too.

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