Photo: WENN

A$AP Rocky has opened up about his childhood in a new interview, talking about growing up in notoriously rough Harlem, New York.

Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, spoke about how he was happy growing up until his brother was shot by a drug dealer.

He told The Sun, "I didn't know any different. Selling drugs was normal and common to me. As a kid I thought a gang bang and shooting people were normal. I remember thinking, 'It's rough but that’s life' without a second thought.

"There were times we'd get shot but I got used to it. There were interactions with the police, times when I thought, 'This is my last day of freedom'. It was crazy."

In 2003 Rocky's brother, Ricky, died when he was shot dead by a drug dealer. Rocky said, "He'd been extorting money and someone wasn't happy. Bang! He was dead. Just like that.

"He was my big brother. He was everything to me. It's ten years to the day in February and it still cuts me up. The man was my hero."

Rocky - who played JFK in the Lana Del Rey video for 'National Anthem' - also spoke out about the Sandy Hook massacre, which was caused by a shooting.

A$AP Rocky, performing at the 2012 MTV Music Video Awards

Rocky added, "That school shooting was sick. I couldn't believe that happened. But guns are guns and I'm not afraid of them. It's stupid people with guns that I don't like.

"But that kid at that school wasn't stupid, he was f**king sick. If he'd gone to jail where all the real motherf**kers are, he would get his a** whipped.

"Those kids were angels and it's f**king sick what that man did. That s**t makes me so upset."

Listen to A$AP Rocky's track 'I Come Apart' with Florence Welch below: