Harlem's
A$AP Mob were originally scheduled to release their long-awaited proper debut album in 2013, but it was continually delayed until founding member A$AP Yams announced in September of 2014 that it had been scrapped. Yams passed away in early 2015 at the age of 26, a few months before the collective's breakout star,
A$AP Rocky, released his second album,
At.Long.Last.A$AP (which Yams co-produced). In October of 2016,
the Mob finally released their debut full-length,
Cozy Tapes, Vol. 1: Friends. The album's cover is a photo of Yams as a baby, and while he's mentioned in some of the lyrics, it's far from being a dark, mournful effort. Instead, it's relatively relaxed, and seems like business as usual for the crew.
Rocky appears on the majority of the album's cuts, and the collective's other members (such as
A$AP Ferg and A$AP Ant) typically only rap on one or two tracks each. Additionally, there's a long list of guests, including
Onyx,
Skepta, and
Tyler, the Creator.