A$AP Rocky said he would fight Drake bare knuckles like the Irish in a preview released Monday for an upcoming interview.
The Harlem rapper sat with host Jason Lee for an episode of The Jason Lee Show scheduled to air Wednesday at 8 a.m. ET on BET’s YouTube channel. In the short teaser, Lee asked whether Rocky had watched a recent celebrity boxing match. Rocky said he had. Lee then asked if he would fight Drake. Rocky replied,
“Bare knuckles like the Irish.”
The complete exchange will be clearer once the full interview appears. Short trailers of this type are often tightly edited, and the precise surrounding questions remain unavailable until the episode drops.
Rocky, born Rakim Athelston Mayers on Oct. 3, 1988, in Harlem, is 37. He emerged from the A$AP Mob collective, scored a No. 1 debut with the 2013 album Long. Live. A$AP, and has since built careers in fashion, acting, and his creative company AWGE. He and Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on Feb. 20, 1988, have been together since 2020. They share three children: sons RZA and Riot, and daughter Rocki Irish Mayers, born in September 2025.
Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham on Oct. 24, 1986, in Toronto, is 39. The two collaborated and appeared friendly in the early 2010s, including joint tour dates. Rocky has said Drake gave him a chain honoring the late A$AP Yams at Yams Day in 2020 and that he still keeps the piece. Their relationship later cooled.
Rocky has described the friction as personal rather than purely musical. In a January interview with Ebro Darden on Apple Music, he said the two were once friends, that the break involved “females,” and that he no longer “f— with him.” He called the situation “not real smoke” and labeled ongoing focus on it soft. Around the same time, speaking with Akademiks, Rocky pointed to the period after he began dating Rihanna as the shift and said he had never aimed lyrics at Drake before 2020.
The musical back-and-forth has continued. Drake’s 2023 track “Fear of Heights” was widely read as containing references involving Rihanna. Rocky answered on Future and Metro Boomin’s 2024 song “Show of Hands” and later on his January 2026 album Don’t Be Dumb, especially the cut “Stole Ya Flow.” Drake has referenced Rocky and Rihanna on material from his Iceman project, including “Burning Bridges.”
During the 2024 Kendrick Lamar-Drake battle, Rocky largely stayed on the sidelines. He later told Elle the contest itself was healthy for hip-hop but criticized the legal turn that followed, saying he disliked the move toward lawsuits. He has also said he has “bigger fish to fry” than sustained lyrical exchanges.
The Jason Lee conversation is expected to cover more ground, including Rocky’s 2021 assault case involving former A$AP Mob associate Terell “A$AP Relli” Ephron. Rocky was found not guilty in 2025. The interview is also set to address his relationship with Rihanna, their children, and questions about her long-delayed new music.
Rocky recently finished North American dates supporting Don’t Be Dumb and is scheduled to start European shows this month. Both artists have posted No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in 2026. As of Monday, neither had issued further public comment on the fight remarks beyond the interview teaser.
