Teyana Taylor is the inspiration behind starting one of hip-hop’s biggest collectives. Designer A$AP Bari was recently interviewed by Our Collective Music, and he revealed Taylor inspired the inception of the A$AP Mob.
“If it wasn’t for Teyana, h— no,” Bari said. “Teyana gave us the inspiration to be like, ‘Yo.’ We already knew we were going to make it out the ‘hood, but when she made it out the ‘hood, it was like, ‘All right. We’ll see you there.’ ”
Taylor was in a collective with Bari inspired by Pharrell and N.E.R.D. The group was called “Team Nerd.” The two met on at a Loaded Lux music video shoot.
“Me and Teyana, we knew we were going to be somebody,” Bari said.
The singer’s career began to take off, and as a result, she drifted from the group. When Bari and Taylor were close, he met A$AP Yams through Taylor, as he was Taylor’s high school classmate. Taylor, Bari and Yams all bonded over their passion for fashion.
“The first day I met Yams, we were immediately best friends,” Bari said.
With the ending of the N.E.R.D.-inspired collective, Bari was looking for his next move. Bari, Yams and Nast, a childhood friend of Bari’s, set up a meeting with Rocky, a popular person and rapper in the Harlem area, to start the A$AP Mob.
Bari, a fashion designer, is best known for his streetwear clothing line Vlone.
