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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Michael Howie

A$AP Rocky says he wants to raise ‘open-minded’ children as rapper awaits first child with Rihanna

Asap Rockey and Rihanna at the Gucci show during Milan Fashion Week

(Picture: Getty Images for Gucci)

A$AP Rocky says he wants to raise “open-minded” children who will “never lose their imagination”.

The US rapper, 33, who is preparing to welcome his first child with singer Rihanna, said he wanted to have “a cool child with cool parents”.

Speaking to Dazed about impending fatherhood, he said: “I will always remind my children to never lose their imagination, even as adults, no matter what.

“I hope to raise open-minded children. Not people who discriminate.

“I’m not trying to describe a saint, but realistically, I just want a cool child with cool parents.”

The celebrity couple announced the news of their child in January but have not revealed the due date.

Since the announcement the rapper, real name Rakim Mayers, has spent a lot of time with Rihanna in Barbados, where her family live.

Mayers, who was born in Harlem, New York, but whose father also hails from Barbados, said it had been “unbelievable” to reconnect with his own heritage through his partner.

“I had family there that only came up (to New York) once every five years, family I only spoke to over the phone my whole life,” he told Dazed.

“I was raised to know about my heritage, but I was missing the actual experience.

“I didn’t get to experience it until I was an adult. It was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve encountered in my lifetime.”

It comes after the rapper was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport last month in connection with a shooting in Hollywood last year, which happened after an argument escalated, authorities said.

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