Rapper A$AP Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers) had been on the European leg of his “Injured Generation” tour, about to perform in Stockholm, Sweden, when he was arrested for having a physical altercation.
What happened?
On June 30, a Swedish media report came out that a “world renowned star” got in an altercation and the police were summoned. On July 1, a TMZ video surfaces that shows Rocky and three other men attacking an unidentified person. In a July 2 Instagram post, Rocky shared clips of his crew being followed by two men, one who eventually gets into an altercation with them. Rocky captioned the post “HITS SECURITY IN FACE WITH HEADPHONES THEN FOLLOW US.” The video and caption implies that a man hit Rocky’s security in the face with headphones, proceeded to follow Rocky’s team, and after not leaving them alone, the altercation occured.
On July 3, TMZ reported that “the rapper voluntarily went to the police Tuesday night for questioning and was immediately taken into custody.” The Swedish court detained Rocky for two weeks while they investigated the charge. As a result, Rocky was forced to cancel the rest of his European tour. In an Instagram post by Sonar Festival, a scheduled stop on Rocky’s tour, released a statement by Rocky’s management: “A$AP Rocky is being detained in a Swedish jail for an unknown period of time for acting in self-defense during an altercation that took place. Due to this unfortunate situation he is forced to cancel his European festival and tour dates in July.”
On July 30th, Rocky’s trial began, with him pleading not guilty to charges of aggravated assault. Rocky was freed from custody on August 2nd while he awaited the judge’s verdict.
Responses
After Rocky was arrested, a Change.org petition demanded that Rocky be released from Swedish prison. As of August 14, the petition has been signed by over 648,000 people!
On July 8, rapper Tyler, the Creator tweeted in support of Rocky. https://twitter.com/tylerthecreator/status/1148306389871104001?s=20
On July 19, President Trump also tweeted in support of Rocky. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1152307567634391041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1152307567634391041&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.highsnobiety.com%2Fp%2Fasap-rocky-arrested-sweden-timeline%2F
On July 20, Justin Bieber responded to Trump on twitter, bringing up the government’s immigration policies at the border. https://twitter.com/justinbieber/status/1152431873814962177?s=21
On August 13, A$AP Rocky performed at the Real Street Festival in California, his first show since he was released from Swedish prison. Rocky said to the crowd: “Y’all know how happy I am to be here right now. I wanna say this, though: When I was away — hold the mosh please, this a sentimental moment! — what I experienced was crazy. It was a scary, humbling experience, but I’m here right now. God is good. People who ain’t even fuck with me felt sympathy. People was praying for me. That uplifted me when my spirits was low. That was crazy. Hip-hop never looked so strong together.”
A$AP Rocky at the 2016 LACMA Art + Film Gala at Los Angeles Country Museum of Art on October 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA
Official Verdict
On August 14, Rocky and his two associates were found guilty of assault by the Swedish court, however Rocky will not face anymore jail time. Rocky was given a two year suspended sentence, which means that as long as he doesn’t commit further crimes during the two year probation period, he will avoid going back to prison. Rocky and his associates are responsible for paying about $1,300 to the victim, 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari.