(AllHipHop News) Steven “A$AP Yams” Rodriguez would have turned 28 years old on November 13.
Unfortunately, the co-founder of the A$AP Mob passed away in January as a result of a drug overdose from a combination of codeine, oxycodone, and alprazolam.
Yams’ mother, Tatianna Paulino,wrote an op-ed for Noisey about her son’s struggle with drugs.
Part of the piece included Yams’ mom explaining how dealing with the success of A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg, and other Mob members was weighing heavy on the music executive.
Paulino wrote:
My son was under a tremendous amount of pressure to keep the A$AP Mob collective striving together, successful and producing hit recordings. At the same time, he told me he felt as if he was being squeezed out of the group of creative friends he had spent so much time and energy putting and keeping together. For Steven, money was tight; he never had much. In fact, I had to pay for his drug treatment through my employee benefits plan. This was not missed on Steven. Over time, he grew less comfortable with his role and place with A$AP. The business began to weigh on him mentally and physically. He often felt uneasy in having to make the transition from a fun collective of friends, to a business partner in A$AP Worldwide, the business. In my mind, his drug use was a strategy to decompress and release.
Read Tatianna Paulino’s full article here.