Album: Cozy Tapes Vol. 2 (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This sinister-sounding track finds A$AP Rocky and guests Frank Ocean, Quavo and Lil Uzi Vert offering praises for Belgian fashion designer, Raf Simons. In addition, Playboi Carti throws in some playful ad-libs throughout the chorus and Rocky's verse.

    I'm racked up like rappers
    I'm Raf'd up on camera
    Get knocked out on camera
    Squeeze pump like asthma
    It's rare Raf when I wear Raf
    Bare Raf when I wear Raf


    Raf Simons (born January 12, 1968) is a self-trained menswear designer who launched his Raf Simons label in 1995. The Belgian has been referenced extensively in urban and hip-hop music, with artists such as Rihanna and Big Sean wearing his designs and mentioning him in songs. A$AP Rocky regularly models for the brand, shouts it out in his lyrics, and has a personal relationship with the designer.
  • The beat is courtesy of Dun Deal, who previously worked with Rocky on his "Bachelor" cut. He has also collaborated with Migos on several of their tracks including "Hannah Montana" and "WOA."
  • The VHS-style video features A$AP Rocky, Quavo and Playboi Carti modeling a series of archive pieces from peer-to-peer menswear selling site Grailed. Lil Uzi Vert and Frank Ocean are both absent from the grainy clip.
  • Frank Ocean contributed two verses to the song. He explained to W Magazine that at the time, he was practicing rap, working on structuring verses, trying different flows, and was writing a lot of verses. After being asked to contribute to "RAF," he jumped into his studio and quickly laid down some rhymes. When he played them to Rocky, the rapper responded animatedly, "Man, you rappin' like it's 2003."

    Ocean took this observation to heart and penned another verse for the song. "I thought, All right, we want the bouncy today thing," he recalled. "Let me riff on that idea. And so I wrote that verse, and I sent it to him. And I told him, 'Tell me, what year are we now?'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)Songwriter Interviews

Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.