A$AP Ferg and Dave East are bringing east coast hip-hop back to Harlem

For years hip-hop heads have bemoaned the state of New York rap.

As the rap game switched up and seemed to find a new home in Atlanta, many have taken shots at New York rappers over the years over perceptions that the city has fallen off.

But today, it’s clear that that perception is bullshit.

New York just been biding it’s time.

And now, we have two projects from two Harlem kids that have taken long and winding roads to get to this point.

A$AP Ferg started off as a fashion designer, making wild designs before linking up with Rocky and Yams to form A$AP Mob.

Dave East was a top high school basketball recruit and played ball at University of Richmond before coming back to Harlem and dedicating his life to the mic.

The two Harlem rappers have collaborated on the banger “Paper Chasin” as a sort of culmination of both of their careers.

While Ferg has been around for a minute with A$AP Mob, Dave East’s rise represents the diverse set of artists coming out of the area.

It’s not just A$AP Mob putting on for uptown, there’s an entire generation of rappers and artists ready to put NYC back on the map.

There’s been cool stuff coming out of New York with French Montana always putting on for the city and Joey Bada$$ and co. doing their thing with Pro Era.

Bobby Shmurda, Rowdy Rebel, and the whole GS9 had the city on fire for a hot second before being the target of a massive anti-gang operation landed them in Rikers.

But now, with Harlem kids Ferg and Dave East dropping their albums on the same day, there’s a clear shift in the hip-hop world back to uptown NYC.

It’s too lit.