Two up-and-coming young men who once bonded as brothers are now opposing each other in a series of legal battles that may land one in jail.  The case of A$AP Rocky made quite a splash late into January when he was accused of assault with a deadly weapon in 2022.  The trial started on the 24th of January 2025, with the possibility that he could be facing 27 years in prison. With such high stakes on the line, fans feared for the future of his music career.  To land such a high sentence, Rakim Mayers, better known by his nickname Rocky, was accused of having fired upon his former friend A$AP Relli on a Hollywood street in 2021. 

Having been close since 2006 in high school with one another, Rakim and Relli slowly grew distant after Rocky blew up in popularity upon the release of his debut mixtape LIVE.LOVE.A$AP.  Despite the widening gap between them, they remained friends until 2015 when another member of the young organization, A$AP Yams, passed away by drug overdose. Yams was pivotal in the group, and it is believed he was holding the group together for so long. Upon learning that Rocky wasn’t paying for Yam’s funeral, Relli became very angry with Rocky, accusing him of being selfish after his breakout into stardom. This was later revealed to be all a misunderstanding, with Relli later finding out that Rocky had, in fact, paid for the funeral expenses.  Nevertheless, irreversible damage was done.

As described by the prosecution, in 2021, Relli would allegedly run into Rocky on a street in Hollywood where after roughing him up, Rocky would pull out an automatic firearm to threaten Relli.  When the two were broken up by other members of the A$AP crew, Relli hollered at Rocky, telling him he was an unsupportive friend. It was then that, allegedly, Rocky would fire off multiple rounds with one even brushing against Relli’s finger.  The evidence of such a happening is thus: a camera was positioned where it caught the part of the altercation where Rocky had first pulled out his weapon. Relli also came back to the scene of the crime days later, where he found bullet casings.  The problem with these casings is that they were found after police had already arrived on the scene and found no such evidence.  This would be the basis for the imprisonment of Rakim.

In defense of these claims, Rocky’s attorney argued that the weapon seen on camera was a fake with blanks in it for self-defense.  They also argued that Relli was an unreliable source of information and that the intention behind the accusations was for money and attention from the most successful A$AP member.  Along with the lack of physical evidence at the scene, the defense closed all avenues for proving Rocky’s guilt. Later in the trial, when the defense brought out their witnesses, A$AP Twelvyy was able to validate that Rocky was known by his friends to carry a prop firearm in case of danger.  This made the argument air-tight and unable to be proven false or confirmed true, making it difficult to say whether Rocky would be able to be convicted by the plaintiff’s current argument.

One fan, Eric Walec, when questioned on the guilt or innocence of A$AP Rocky, was quoted as saying, “In my personal opinion, I believe that Rocky is innocent. Relli has no definitive proof of this alleged use of a firearm, besides the grazing on Relli’s knuckles. This injury might not have even been because of the gun, it could have happened weeks before. Not to mention, the bullet casings being found after the police searched the scene makes Relli’s case very shaky and unsupported.” As highlighted by this fine chap, there are plenty of arguments as to why the plaintiff will have difficulty solidifying Rocky’s guilt.

There is a massive reason for this case to hold extra weight on fans. This can be attributed to a 7-year delay the public has had to suffer through while waiting for Rocky’s next music release.  Rocky once said that he was working on a never before heard of album that was 90% complete in mid-2021, which drew much excitement from his community, who expected more news on this soon. It would be 3 years later in the summer of 2024 fans would next be given hope with the album now dubbed “DON’T BE DUMB” being confirmed for release in August of that year. Instead of an album, three singles were released and fans were once again left in the dark.  This was such a large setback for the release of the album that pre-orders were being refunded online.  With Rocky being accused of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, fans are worried if they will ever get a new project. 

Fortunately, on February 18th 2025, the court sided with Rakim due to a critical lack of evidence, and he was found not guilty on all charges.  This would be the happy ending Rocky was looking for if Relli could take his loss, but instead of doing so, he has decided to pursue a civil lawsuit against Rocky, this time for assault and battery charges.  Despite not being out of the woods yet, fans can rejoice that Rocky tweeted “DON’T BE DUMB” the day he was acquitted.  Could this be confirmation of something coming soon? Or is this more bait to keep people thinking that this album actually exists?  Only time will tell, and hopefully it will be revealed before the next trial picks up on January 12th 2026.