Rakim Mayers was born on October 3, 1988, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. His father was from Barbados, and his mother is African American. He has an older sister, Erika B. Mayers. Mayers' first name was taken from the hip hop Artist Rakim, one half of the Eric B. & Rakim duo. His cousin is fellow ASAP Mob member ASAP Nast.

In 2007, A$AP Rocky joined the A$AP Mob crew, a Harlem-based collective of Rappers, producers, music video Directors, fashion designers, and bikers who shared similar interests in music, fashion, style, and art. It had been formed by A$AP Yams, A$AP Bari and A$AP Illz. In July 2011, Rocky released his single "Purple Swag" which quickly became a street anthem in New York City.

In October 2011, Rocky signed a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment worth of $3 million ($1.7 million of which was earmarked for his solo work; $1.3 million earmarked to fund his company). Rocky said that he sought a "bigger platform" for him and his collective with the deal. His first studio album planned to be under the deal, but it allowed him to continue releasing mixtapes through Sony/RED. Fellow Rapper and A$AP Mob member A$AP Ferg, also signed a joint venture deal with RCA-distributed Polo Grounds Music, who released his single "Work", for Retail on iTunes, and later announced an official remix featuring Rocky, French Montana, ScHoolboy Q and Trinidad James.

In 2011, Rocky began dating Australian Rapper Iggy Azalea, whom he met through Chase N. Cashe. Azalea confirmed that they were dating in an interview with Vibe Magazine released on January 15, 2012. It was around this time that she revealed she had tattooed the title of Rocky's breakout mixtape "Live.Love.A$AP", on her fingers. She also claimed she was not the only one with tattoos dedicated to the relationship. Later, in July 2012, Rocky said they were no longer dating. In March 2013, Azalea revealed she had crossed out the "A$AP" part of the tattoo.

On August 31, 2013, Mayers allegedly slapped a woman during the Budweiser Made in America Festival. He was charged "with misdemeanor simple assault, a class two misdemeanor". The case was dismissed after a witness failed to appear to court. The woman later filed a lawsuit in July 2014, stating that she still suffered certain conditions following the alleged assault. Mayers stated that he never touched the woman, and that she "should have known that there could be trouble in place with so many people". The lawsuit was settled between the two in April 2015.

In 2013, he released his A$AP merchandise brand, and went to collaborate with high-profile fashion designer and close friend Raf Simons. On October 2, 2014, A$AP Rocky announced he had officially signed a contract for worldwide representation with william Morris Endeavor.

On June 11, 2015, Rocky was featured on The Tonight Show, where he performed the song "L$D" with The Roots. In June, it was confirmed that he was featured on the song "Good for You" performed by American Actress and singer Selena Gomez. In June 2015, he appeared on the "Carpool Karaoke" segment of The Late Late Show, riding with Rod Stewart and host James Corden.

In February 2016, Guess released a collaboration with Rocky called GUE$$, which was inspired by Rocky's admiration for the brand's vintage '90s clothing that he wore while growing up.

On January 23, 2018, ASAP Rocky released "☆☆☆☆☆ 5IVE $TAR$" on SoundCloud, produced by Metro Boomin, Frans Mernick, Jordan Blackmon and Daniel Lynas and featuring uncredited vocals by DRAM. Over the following two days he shared "Above", produced by Mernick and "Money Bags Freestyle (Dean Blunt Meditation)", produced by Blunt and featuring uncredited vocals by Lil Yachty. The songs were captioned "TESTING COMING SOON" and "THIS IS JUST A TEST", leading to speculation that they were in promotion of an upcoming studio album entitled Testing. On February 16, Rocky collaborated with Gucci Mane and 21 Savage for "Cocky", in promotion of the film Uncle Drew. He released the single "Bad Company" on March 27. It features Rapper BlocBoy JB, as well as further allusions to Testing in its marketing. On April 5, he released a second single: "ASAP Forever". The song samples record Producer Moby's 2000 single "Porcelain", crediting him as a featured Artist. It was premiered on The Tonight Show alongside new track "Distorted Records", and a music video was released the following day. A day later he was featured on the song "One Track Mind", from rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars' fifth studio album America.