The popularity of drugs in the realm of Hip Hop, is a touchy subject. We’ve lost quite a few legends due to certain drugs and it’s put a hammer to our culture as a whole. ASAP Yams’ mother Tatianna Paulino did not plan on losing her son—under these circumstances—yet it was out of her control.
ASAP Yams (Steven Rodriguez) helped put together the Mob we know as A$AP. His blueprints are cherished and he is seen as an innovator within the culture. But within the household, his mother knew him in a different way, a way that no one else would understand, no matter how vivid her words leak out. On Jan. 18, 2015, Tatianna Paulino’s life would change, forever.
“My mind raced. I thought about Steven smiling, laughing, and him being a prankster. Sometimes when I arrived at home from work he would hide and then suddenly surprised me by saying, as loudly as he could, ‘boo.’ He would laugh with his entire body. Other times when I was in bed asleep, he took great pleasure out of opening my eyelids with his fingers and asking, ‘Are you awake? Are you up?’ His face would light up with the biggest grin.”
“He’s gone. We will never share those moments again. I couldn’t breath. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t believe that my only child was dead.”
She also writes about her experiences with getting more information on the drug we know as “lean.”
“Even still, explaining away my son’s death as a drug problem seemed too simple, too convenient. So, over the next 22 months, I tried to learn as much as I could about the drug, “lean,” they said my son was addicted to. On several occasions, I met with Columbia University Professor and drug expert, Dr. Carl Hart. I read his book High Price and got quite an education on social and biological factors that drive drug use.”
Yams’ mother’s essay can be read in full here. Long Live ASAP Yams. Yams would have turned 28 years-old on Nov. 13.
