A$AP Rocky Addresses Kanye West Producer's Criticism

When A$AP Rocky broke through last year with "Purple Swag," he didn't exactly scream NYC. Instead of producing a more-recognized New York sound, Rocky and his A$AP Mob drew from Southern influences. Rock's slowed-down, syrup-drench swag was more Houston than Harlem — then again, that was part of its appeal. Still, Rocky's crew has had its share of critics — most recently, a veteran dirty South producer.

"We need some new H Town rappers to blow up. Why the f--- there all these fake ass Houston knock off artists from up North and West," Mike Dean tweeted Sunday. "I mean rep where you are from not us. We gotta stop this sh-- ASAP!!!!"

"He was just talkin' subliminal about Northern people. You gotta look at it like even Bun B embraces us, and we look up to him too," Rocky said when he appeared on "RapFix Live" on Wednesday. "Not only that, it's love when we're out in the H-Town, and on top of that, he was bumpin' us. This Mike dude was bumpin' us before we got hot. Why stop now?"

After the initial tweets, A$AP Yams responded to Dean in defense of his crew: "@therealmikedean. I respect ur work legendary [but] u def sound ignorant. The new generation is a melting pot of influences from everywhere. Get off that old head sh--."

Dean, who now works with Kanye West and produced a number of tracks on Watch the Throne, made his name with songs for Houston rap legends Big Mello, Z-Ro and Scarface. After some back and forth, Dean tweeted that he "wasn't speaking on anyone in particular" and thanked Yams for keeping the H-Town movement alive.

Yams joined Rocky on the "RapFix" couch Wednesday, saying, "You gotta realize, we're a whole 'nother generation. We didn't just grow up on our sound regionally. We didn't just have DJ Kay Slay mixtapes. We were 8 years old when Master P and Cash Money was coming out, so we still had that as an option. If you look at all the greats, they all just a mixture of everything."

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