Rakim Mayers, better known as the rapper ASAP Rocky, will headline the Rolling Loud festival and serve as a chair of the Met Gala this year — as long as he dodges a conviction at his trial for a 2021 Hollywood shooting.

ASAP Rocky appeared at a Los Angeles courthouse on Tuesday (Jan. 21) as jury selection began in his criminal assault trial. The 35-year-old artist, born Rakim Mayers, is facing two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm stemming from an alleged altercation in Nov. 2021.

He’s eager to tell his story. He would love the opportunity to do so,” rapper’s lawyer Joe Tacopina tells Rolling Stone while cautioning no decisions have been made about defense testimony

A$AP Rocky arrives at an L.A. courthouse for his trial on felony charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, for firing a gun at a former friend.

A$AP Rocky rejected a plea deal from prosecutors in his Hollywood assault case Tuesday as the trial began in downtown Los Angeles, a little over two years after he was charged with opening fire on a former friend and collaborator.

Jury selections started in the case against A$AP Rocky, who is charged with allegedly firing a gun at a former friend, Terell Ephron, in 2021. The rapper plead not guilty to two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm during an incident in the streets in Hollywood,