From MTV:

On the “Phoenix” video set in New York City, A$AP explained that his usual fly trimmings just wouldn’t be sufficient for a song that cuts so deep.

“This is one of the more serious songs on my album, so people are really expecting something cinematic from this video,” Lord Pretty Flacko told MTV News. “They don’t expect the average…me with my gold teeth and swag, it’s just really about a life message.”

“My whole album is based upon life,” he added. “It’s just showing that we vicariously live forever. Tupac, Biggie, Elvis Presley, John Legend, Basquiat are living through all of us because we bring them up every day.”

A$AP Rocky and director Francesco Carrozzini recruited an all-star cast for the dramatic clip, including The Wire’s Michael K. Williams and supermodel Joan Smalls. “With a talent like [Rocky,] you just want to make something that people will remember,” Carrozzini told MTV News. “And we were able to involve Michael K. Williams and Joan Small in the video too, which is gonna make it pretty dope.”