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A$AP Rocky has won over music critics and fashion’s elite with his bold bars and fresh style. Now he’s gracing the April 2013 cover of Interview magazine. In the issue, the self-proclaimed “Pretty Motherfu**er” shows off his avant-garde style, modeling masks, face paint, and lots of leather.

Before kicking off the “Diamonds World Tour” with Rihanna, the Harlem rapper got on the phone with his fashion idol, designer Alexander Wang, who cast Rocky in his spring campaign for T by Alexander Wang.

Hear him sound off on fashion’s impact on his career, being a role model, and the “gay thing.”

On the past year: “2012 was probably the most historic year of my life. I got to work with you for the first time. I’m getting my respect as a video director. The fashion industry respects me and knows who I am. But then the album leaked. I also lost my dad over Christmas.”

On the role fashion has played throughout his career: “Fashion was about standing out as an individual—and it helped me get the attention that most people try to get with publicity stunts or by doing other crazy things. But I just let the attention come to me naturally, and I think some of that has to do with my fashion.”

On homosexuality and hip-hop: “It’s 2013, and it’s a shame that, to this day, that topic still gets people all excited. It’s crazy. And it makes me upset that this topic even matters when it comes to hip-hop, because it makes it seem like everybody in hip-hop is small-minded or stupid—and that’s not the case. We’ve got people like Jay-Z. We’ve got people like Kanye. We’ve got people like me. We’re all prime examples of people who don’t think like that. I treat everybody equal, and so I want to be sure that my listeners and my followers do the same if they’re gonna represent me.”

On being a role model: “I just want to get it all out there and be the best role model that I can be, if people want to put me in that kind of predicament. I mean, I didn’t ask to be a role model, because I’m not perfect.”

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