Rakim Athelston Mayers was born on October 3, 1988, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, a borough of New York City. His father, Adrian "Duke" Athelston Mayers, was from Barbados and his mother, Rina "Renee" Black, is of African American and part Guyanese descent. The couple raised four children together: Ricky, Erika B., Rakim and Asia. Both Rakim and Erika's names are taken from the Eric B. & Rakim duo. Mayers has 10 other paternal siblings. His cousin is fellow ASAP Mob member ASAP Nast.

Mayers started rapping at age nine, when he moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He learned how to rap from his older brother, who also wore the cornrows hairdo that Mayers later adopted. When Mayers was 13, his brother Ricky was killed by gun violence in Harlem. The death inspired Mayers to take rapping more seriously. Mayers grew up admiring Harlem-based rap group the Diplomats. He was also influenced by Mobb Deep, Three 6 Mafia, UGK, Run DMC, Wu-Tang Clan, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

When Mayers was 12 years old, his father went to jail and he spent his teenage years moving around homeless shelters with his mother and sister. After living for a period in a shelter with his mother in New York City, he moved to Midtown Manhattan. His father died in 2012.

In 2007, Mayers joined the A$AP Mob crew, a Harlem-based collective of rappers, producers, music video directors, fashion designers, and bikers who shared similar interests in music, fashion, style, and art. It had been formed by A$AP Yams, A$AP Bari and A$AP Illz. In July 2011, Mayers released his single "Purple Swag" which quickly became a street anthem in New York City.

In August 2011, Mayers’ single "Peso", was leaked online and within weeks received airplay on the high-profile Hot 97 New York radio station. After he released a music video for his song "Purple Swag", he received attention from several record labels. In October, he released the mixtape Live. Love. A$AP to critical acclaim. Earlier that month, he signed a two-year, $3 million record deal with Bryan Leach's Polo Grounds Music, which at the time was distributed by Clive Davis' Sony Music division of J Records. Upon his record deal, Mayers started a label, A$AP Worldwide, with A$AP Yams. However, Mayers’ deal with J Records would be short-lived,[citation needed] when on October 7, RCA Music Group announced that it was merging J alongside Arista and Jive Records into RCA Records. With the shutdown, Mayers (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release future material under RCA. On December 5, he was nominated for BBC's Sound of 2012 poll.

In February 2012, Mayers joined Kendrick Lamar as the opening act for Drake's Club Paradise Tour. In June, SpaceGhostPurrp, founder of Miami-based collective Raider Klan and Mayers’ past collaborator, accused A$AP Twelvyy of jumping Raider Klan's Matt Stoops and subsequently disassociated himself from A$AP Mob and Mayers in a YouTube video. He and Raider Klan also accused ASAP Mob of copying their style, and Mayers of using lyrics from SpaceGhostPurrp's song "My Enemy" on "Goldie". Mayers responded in a July interview for MTV, saying that SpaceGhostPurrp is "try[ing] to build hype" and told him to "stick to makin' beats".

In July 2012, Mayers performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival. He was scheduled to make his network television debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on July 20, but he was then arrested the night before, after an alleged involvement in a brawl, with 21-year-old artist iRome. The scuffle took place in downtown Manhattan and the performance was canceled. After it was rescheduled for August 21, Mayers performed "Goldie" on the show. On September 6, he also performed a guest rap on Rihanna's "Cockiness (Love It)" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.

Mayers recorded his debut studio album Long. Live. A$AP, along with several producers, such as Clams Casino, Hit-Boy, Friendzone, A$AP Ty Beats, Soufien3000 and Joey Fat Beats. "Goldie" was released as the album's first single on April 27. On August 27, his crew A$AP Mob released the mixtape Lords Never Worry as a free download. During September through November, Mayers promoted the album with the 40-date national concert tour, the Long Live ASAP Tour, with opening acts ScHoolboy Q, Danny Brown, and A$AP Mob. Long. Live. A$AP was released on January 15, 2013, to mostly positive reviews from critics. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 139,000 copies in the United States. As of March 13, 2013, it has sold 284,000 copies. On March 16, 2015, Long. Live. A$AP was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for the shipment of 500,000 copies in the United States.

On April 12, 2013, in an interview at Wild 94.9 radio station, Mayers revealed that he was working on an instrumental album, which he plans on releasing without notice. He also discussed his favorite music videos and talked about his desire to collaborate with veteran rapper André 3000. On June 21, Mayers told MTV News that he had completed his debut instrumental album, which mostly consists of ambient oriented instrumental tracks, titled Beauty & The Beast: Slowed Down Sessions (Chapter 1) and was originally set to be released during the summer for free download. However, that album was delayed with no release date announced. Mayers previewed two snippets that would have made the Beauty & The Beast: Slowed Down Sessions (Chapter 1) compilation, titled "Riot Rave" and "Unicorn". The project has not been released as of 2025.[citation needed]

On March 16, 2014, Mayers announced that he was working on his second studio album, entitled A.L.L.A. (an acronym for At. Long. Last. A$AP) which was a follow-up to his debut album, Long. Live. A$AP. Upon the wake of a delay of the ASAP Mob album, L.O.R.D., Mayers subsequently collaborated with cohorts A$AP Ferg, Nast and Twelvyy on the album's third single, "Hella Hoes", which was released on June 6, 2014. Nonetheless, A$AP Mob leader A$AP Yams announced on his Tumblr account that the album had been shelved. On October 3, 2014, his 26th birthday, Mayers launched a short-lived music giveaway called Flacko Jodye Season, which first premiered with "Multiply", which featured additional vocals from Juicy J; later released on iTunes one week after its premiere.

On New Year's Day 2015, Mayers released his second album's lead single, "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 (LPFJ2)", a sequel to "Pretty Flacko". Then, on January 18, seventeen days after the single's release, Mayers’ mentor and partner, Steven "A$AP Yams" Rodriguez, died at the age of 26. However, some reports later stated that Yams' cause was ruled acute mixed drug intoxication while Mayers and several A$AP Mob members and affiliates said that the late leader of the collective died due to his sleep apnea, which caused asphyxiation and pulmonary aspiration. Weeks after Yams' death, Mayers revealed that At. Long. Last. A$AP was executive-produced by rapper Juicy J, producer Danger Mouse, Mayers and Yams themselves.

In 2015, Mayers appeared in a cameo role in the indie comedy-drama, Dope. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2015. It opened in all movie theaters on June 12. There at the event, Mayers explained his expressions and grief over the death of his own friend and partner; performed "Multiply" on-stage as a dedication to his loving memory, minutes before running backstage to calm down. In March 2015, Mayers said in an interview with MTV News that he made songs such as "Wild For The Night" and "Fuckin' Problems" for mainstream commercial success, and that he now hated those songs.

On April 8, 2015, the rapper released a song, titled "M'$", debuted during an interview with the Red Bull Music Academy, and was released on the iTunes Store two days later, however, it was announced that the song was not an official single from the album. The album, however, did include a remixed version of the track that replaced Mayers’ second verse with a guest verse from Lil Wayne. On May 9, Mayers unveiled the album's cover art on his official Instagram page, with the caption "AT LONG LAST...." On the same day, he then released the album's alternative artwork and released the album's second single, titled "Everyday" featuring Rod Stewart, Miguel and Mark Ronson (the latter of which also produced the track alongside Emile Haynie). Mayers also announced that the release date for A.L.L.A. was updated to June 2, 2015; however, on May 25, 2015, around 6:00 PM EDT, the album leaked online, approximately one week before its expected release. Subsequently, Mayers tweeted to announce that the album will be released at midnight (May 26), changing the date a week early.

Upon its release, At. Long. Last. A$AP received generally positive to mixed reviews from music critics. Overall, the album was supported by the release of three singles: "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 (LPFJ2)", "Everyday" and "L$D". At. Long. Last. A$AP debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 116,000 copies in the United States. In conclusion to this, it also gave Mayers his second consecutive number one album on the charts to date. In Canada, the album debuted at number one, with 11,000 copies sold. The album has spent two more weeks beyond the top ten of the Billboard 200. As of July 2015, the album has sold 215,000 copies in the United States. It has sold 60,662 copies in the United Kingdom, as of June 2015.

On June 11, 2015, Mayers was featured on The Tonight Show, where he performed the song "L$D" with The Roots. In June, it was confirmed that he was featured on the single "Good for You" by Selena Gomez. In June 2015, he appeared on the "Carpool Karaoke" segment of The Late Late Show, riding with Rod Stewart and host James Corden. Mayers is featured on "Blended Family (What You Do for Love)", a track written with Alicia Keys for her sixth studio album Here in 2016. He is also featured on two tracks from the 2017 album Lust for Life by Lana Del Rey. The tracks are called "Summer Bummer", which also features Playboi Carti, and "Groupie Love". He is featured along with rapper Cardi B on "No Limit" by G-Eazy, released in September 2017. He also featured in "Pick It Up" by Famous Dex, released in October 2017.

On January 23, 2018, Mayers released "☆☆☆☆☆ 5ive $tar$" on SoundCloud, produced by Metro Boomin, Frans Mernick, Jordan Blackmon and Daniel Lynas and featuring uncredited vocals by DRAM. Over the following two days he shared "Above", produced by Mernick and "Money Bags Freestyle (Dean Blunt Meditation)", produced by Blunt and featuring uncredited vocals by Lil Yachty. The songs were captioned "TESTING COMING SOON" and "THIS IS JUST A TEST", leading to speculation that they were in promotion of an upcoming studio album entitled Testing. On February 16, Mayers collaborated with Gucci Mane and 21 Savage for "Cocky", in promotion of the film Uncle Drew. He released the single "Bad Company" on March 27. It features rapper BlocBoy JB, as well as further allusions to Testing in its marketing. On April 5, he released a second single: "ASAP Forever". The song samples record producer Moby's 2000 single "Porcelain", crediting him as a featured artist. It was premiered on The Tonight Show alongside new track "Distorted Records", and a music video was released the following day. A day later he was featured on the song "One Track Mind", from rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars' fifth studio album America.

On May 25, 2018, Mayers released Testing to generally positive reviews from critics. It debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, becoming Mayers’ third consecutive top-five album on the chart.

In its second week, the album charted at number 15, with 26,000 album-equivalent units (1,000 copies). The following week, Testing remained on the Billboard 200 chart at number 22. On July 23, 2018, Mayers and Tyler, the Creator announced a collaborative project, WANGSAP, by releasing a music video of a remix of Monica's "Knock Knock" called "Potato Salad" on AWGE's "AWGE DVD (Vol. 3)". However, in January 2019, Tyler, the Creator announced this album did not yet materialize. In May 2019, Juicy J announced Mayers began working on his upcoming album, formerly titled All Smiles. On August 28, Mayers released the music video for "Babushka Boi", directed by Nadia Lee Cohen.

In October 2021, Mayers released his 2011 mixtape Live. Love. ASAP to all streaming platforms in celebration of its 10-year anniversary. Mayers appeared on two tracks from Nigo's album, I Know Nigo!, released March 25, 2022, the opening track "Lost and Found Freestyle 2019" with Tyler, the Creator, and the single, "Arya". Mayers supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their Unlimited Love Tour (2022). After he arrived late for a performance at Old Trafford, Manchester, he performed a shortened 20-minute set after the band. In May 2022, Mayers released the single, "D.M.B.", and followed up in December with "Shittin' Me". Also in December, he appeared on producer Metro Boomin's album Heroes & Villains, on the track "Feel the Fiyaaaah", which also featured late rapper Takeoff, who was gunned down a month prior to the album's release. He then confirmed a new album with production from Metro Boomin to materialize in the future. Later that month, he named his upcoming fourth album, Don't Be Dumb.

In January 2023, Mayers released "Same Problems?", featuring contributions from Lil Yachty, Miguel, Tyler, the Creator, and Thundercat. In June 2023, Mayers released "Riot (Rowdy Pipe'n)" with contributions from Pharrell Williams and Tyler, the Creator. In the same month, Mayers also appeared on two tracks from Metro Boomin's soundtrack album, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; "Nonviolent Communication" with James Blake and 21 Savage, and "Am I Dreaming" with Roisee, the latter of which was nominated in the 2023 Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

In August 2024, Mayers released "Highjack" featuring Jessica Pratt, followed by "Tailor Swif", "Ruby Rosary", and "Pray4DaGang", all of whom were intended to be lead singles on his fourth studio album, Don't Be Dumb, but weren't included on the pre-save tracklist.

In August 2025, he released the songs "Both Eyes Closed" and "Trunks", for the soundtrack of the film Highest 2 Lowest, in which he starred in a supporting role. In December 2025, Mayers revealed Don't Be Dumb's cover art, designed by American filmmaker Tim Burton, and the release date of January 16, 2026. The following month, Mayers previewed a teaser of the music video from the album's first single, titled "Punk Rocky". Directed by Mayers himself along with Folkert Verdoorn and Simon Becks, it starred American actress Winona Ryder, and was released on January 5. The album's second single, "Helicopter", was released shortly after, with an accompanying music video, on January 12.

In January 2026, Mayers was announced as a headliner for the June 7th closing date of New York City's multi-day 2026 Governors Ball Music Festival, set to be held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park for the fourth consecutive year.

Don't Be Dumb was released on January 16, 2026, on National Nothing Day, featuring guest contributions from Brent Faiyaz, Danny Elfman, Doechii, Gorillaz, Sauce Walka, Slay Squad, Thundercat, Tyler, the Creator, Westside Gunn, and will.i.am, among others. The album became Mayers' third number one Billboard 200 album and his first since At. Long. Last. ASAP. Mayers is scheduled to embark on the "Don't Be Dumb World Tour" in support of the album. With legs in North America and Europe, the tour begins in Chicago on May 27, 2026, and concludes in Paris on September 30, 2026.

On January 22, 2026, Mayers announced an upcoming reissue (deluxe version) of Don't Be Dumb. The next day he appeared and was interviewed at The Joe Budden Podcast, where he confirmed it, hinting at production from Metro Boomin and Mike Will Made It, as well as a possible feature from his partner Rihanna. On June 8, spectators of Mayers' Don't Be Dumb Tour at CFG Bank Arena noted that he was wearing a thong, which caused rapper Boosie Badazz to call him part of the "worst generation ever".

Rakim Athelston Mayers was born on October 3, 1988, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, a borough of New York City. His father, Adrian "Duke" Athelston Mayers, was from Barbados and his mother, Rina "Renee" Black, is of African American and part Guyanese descent. The couple raised four children together: Ricky, Erika B., Rakim and Asia. Both Rakim and Erika's names are taken from the Eric B. & Rakim duo. Mayers has 10 other paternal siblings. His cousin is fellow ASAP Mob member ASAP Nast.

Mayers started rapping at age nine, when he moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He learned how to rap from his older brother, who also wore the cornrows hairdo that Mayers later adopted. When Mayers was 13, his brother Ricky was killed by gun violence in Harlem. The death inspired Mayers to take rapping more seriously. Mayers grew up admiring Harlem-based rap group the Diplomats. He was also influenced by Mobb Deep, Three 6 Mafia, UGK, Run DMC, Wu-Tang Clan, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

When Mayers was 12 years old, his father went to jail and he spent his teenage years moving around homeless shelters with his mother and sister. After living for a period in a shelter with his mother in New York City, he moved to Midtown Manhattan. His father died in 2012.

In 2007, Mayers joined the A$AP Mob crew, a Harlem-based collective of rappers, producers, music video directors, fashion designers, and bikers who shared similar interests in music, fashion, style, and art. It had been formed by A$AP Yams, A$AP Bari and A$AP Illz. In July 2011, Mayers released his single "Purple Swag" which quickly became a street anthem in New York City.

In August 2011, Mayers’ single "Peso", was leaked online and within weeks received airplay on the high-profile Hot 97 New York radio station. After he released a music video for his song "Purple Swag", he received attention from several record labels. In October, he released the mixtape Live. Love. A$AP to critical acclaim. Earlier that month, he signed a two-year, $3 million record deal with Bryan Leach's Polo Grounds Music, which at the time was distributed by Clive Davis' Sony Music division of J Records. Upon his record deal, Mayers started a label, A$AP Worldwide, with A$AP Yams. However, Mayers’ deal with J Records would be short-lived,[citation needed] when on October 7, RCA Music Group announced that it was merging J alongside Arista and Jive Records into RCA Records. With the shutdown, Mayers (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release future material under RCA. On December 5, he was nominated for BBC's Sound of 2012 poll.

In February 2012, Mayers joined Kendrick Lamar as the opening act for Drake's Club Paradise Tour. In June, SpaceGhostPurrp, founder of Miami-based collective Raider Klan and Mayers’ past collaborator, accused A$AP Twelvyy of jumping Raider Klan's Matt Stoops and subsequently disassociated himself from A$AP Mob and Mayers in a YouTube video. He and Raider Klan also accused ASAP Mob of copying their style, and Mayers of using lyrics from SpaceGhostPurrp's song "My Enemy" on "Goldie". Mayers responded in a July interview for MTV, saying that SpaceGhostPurrp is "try[ing] to build hype" and told him to "stick to makin' beats".

In July 2012, Mayers performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival. He was scheduled to make his network television debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on July 20, but he was then arrested the night before, after an alleged involvement in a brawl, with 21-year-old artist iRome. The scuffle took place in downtown Manhattan and the performance was canceled. After it was rescheduled for August 21, Mayers performed "Goldie" on the show. On September 6, he also performed a guest rap on Rihanna's "Cockiness (Love It)" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.

Mayers recorded his debut studio album Long. Live. A$AP, along with several producers, such as Clams Casino, Hit-Boy, Friendzone, A$AP Ty Beats, Soufien3000 and Joey Fat Beats. "Goldie" was released as the album's first single on April 27. On August 27, his crew A$AP Mob released the mixtape Lords Never Worry as a free download. During September through November, Mayers promoted the album with the 40-date national concert tour, the Long Live ASAP Tour, with opening acts ScHoolboy Q, Danny Brown, and A$AP Mob. Long. Live. A$AP was released on January 15, 2013, to mostly positive reviews from critics. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 139,000 copies in the United States. As of March 13, 2013, it has sold 284,000 copies. On March 16, 2015, Long. Live. A$AP was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for the shipment of 500,000 copies in the United States.

On April 12, 2013, in an interview at Wild 94.9 radio station, Mayers revealed that he was working on an instrumental album, which he plans on releasing without notice. He also discussed his favorite music videos and talked about his desire to collaborate with veteran rapper André 3000. On June 21, Mayers told MTV News that he had completed his debut instrumental album, which mostly consists of ambient oriented instrumental tracks, titled Beauty & The Beast: Slowed Down Sessions (Chapter 1) and was originally set to be released during the summer for free download. However, that album was delayed with no release date announced. Mayers previewed two snippets that would have made the Beauty & The Beast: Slowed Down Sessions (Chapter 1) compilation, titled "Riot Rave" and "Unicorn". The project has not been released as of 2025.[citation needed]

On March 16, 2014, Mayers announced that he was working on his second studio album, entitled A.L.L.A. (an acronym for At. Long. Last. A$AP) which was a follow-up to his debut album, Long. Live. A$AP. Upon the wake of a delay of the ASAP Mob album, L.O.R.D., Mayers subsequently collaborated with cohorts A$AP Ferg, Nast and Twelvyy on the album's third single, "Hella Hoes", which was released on June 6, 2014. Nonetheless, A$AP Mob leader A$AP Yams announced on his Tumblr account that the album had been shelved. On October 3, 2014, his 26th birthday, Mayers launched a short-lived music giveaway called Flacko Jodye Season, which first premiered with "Multiply", which featured additional vocals from Juicy J; later released on iTunes one week after its premiere.

On New Year's Day 2015, Mayers released his second album's lead single, "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 (LPFJ2)", a sequel to "Pretty Flacko". Then, on January 18, seventeen days after the single's release, Mayers’ mentor and partner, Steven "A$AP Yams" Rodriguez, died at the age of 26. However, some reports later stated that Yams' cause was ruled acute mixed drug intoxication while Mayers and several A$AP Mob members and affiliates said that the late leader of the collective died due to his sleep apnea, which caused asphyxiation and pulmonary aspiration. Weeks after Yams' death, Mayers revealed that At. Long. Last. A$AP was executive-produced by rapper Juicy J, producer Danger Mouse, Mayers and Yams themselves.

In 2015, Mayers appeared in a cameo role in the indie comedy-drama, Dope. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2015. It opened in all movie theaters on June 12. There at the event, Mayers explained his expressions and grief over the death of his own friend and partner; performed "Multiply" on-stage as a dedication to his loving memory, minutes before running backstage to calm down. In March 2015, Mayers said in an interview with MTV News that he made songs such as "Wild For The Night" and "Fuckin' Problems" for mainstream commercial success, and that he now hated those songs.

On April 8, 2015, the rapper released a song, titled "M'$", debuted during an interview with the Red Bull Music Academy, and was released on the iTunes Store two days later, however, it was announced that the song was not an official single from the album. The album, however, did include a remixed version of the track that replaced Mayers’ second verse with a guest verse from Lil Wayne. On May 9, Mayers unveiled the album's cover art on his official Instagram page, with the caption "AT LONG LAST...." On the same day, he then released the album's alternative artwork and released the album's second single, titled "Everyday" featuring Rod Stewart, Miguel and Mark Ronson (the latter of which also produced the track alongside Emile Haynie). Mayers also announced that the release date for A.L.L.A. was updated to June 2, 2015; however, on May 25, 2015, around 6:00 PM EDT, the album leaked online, approximately one week before its expected release. Subsequently, Mayers tweeted to announce that the album will be released at midnight (May 26), changing the date a week early.

Upon its release, At. Long. Last. A$AP received generally positive to mixed reviews from music critics. Overall, the album was supported by the release of three singles: "Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 (LPFJ2)", "Everyday" and "L$D". At. Long. Last. A$AP debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 116,000 copies in the United States. In conclusion to this, it also gave Mayers his second consecutive number one album on the charts to date. In Canada, the album debuted at number one, with 11,000 copies sold. The album has spent two more weeks beyond the top ten of the Billboard 200. As of July 2015, the album has sold 215,000 copies in the United States. It has sold 60,662 copies in the United Kingdom, as of June 2015.

On June 11, 2015, Mayers was featured on The Tonight Show, where he performed the song "L$D" with The Roots. In June, it was confirmed that he was featured on the single "Good for You" by Selena Gomez. In June 2015, he appeared on the "Carpool Karaoke" segment of The Late Late Show, riding with Rod Stewart and host James Corden. Mayers is featured on "Blended Family (What You Do for Love)", a track written with Alicia Keys for her sixth studio album Here in 2016. He is also featured on two tracks from the 2017 album Lust for Life by Lana Del Rey. The tracks are called "Summer Bummer", which also features Playboi Carti, and "Groupie Love". He is featured along with rapper Cardi B on "No Limit" by G-Eazy, released in September 2017. He also featured in "Pick It Up" by Famous Dex, released in October 2017.

On January 23, 2018, Mayers released "☆☆☆☆☆ 5ive $tar$" on SoundCloud, produced by Metro Boomin, Frans Mernick, Jordan Blackmon and Daniel Lynas and featuring uncredited vocals by DRAM. Over the following two days he shared "Above", produced by Mernick and "Money Bags Freestyle (Dean Blunt Meditation)", produced by Blunt and featuring uncredited vocals by Lil Yachty. The songs were captioned "TESTING COMING SOON" and "THIS IS JUST A TEST", leading to speculation that they were in promotion of an upcoming studio album entitled Testing. On February 16, Mayers collaborated with Gucci Mane and 21 Savage for "Cocky", in promotion of the film Uncle Drew. He released the single "Bad Company" on March 27. It features rapper BlocBoy JB, as well as further allusions to Testing in its marketing. On April 5, he released a second single: "ASAP Forever". The song samples record producer Moby's 2000 single "Porcelain", crediting him as a featured artist. It was premiered on The Tonight Show alongside new track "Distorted Records", and a music video was released the following day. A day later he was featured on the song "One Track Mind", from rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars' fifth studio album America.

On May 25, 2018, Mayers released Testing to generally positive reviews from critics. It debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, becoming Mayers’ third consecutive top-five album on the chart.

In its second week, the album charted at number 15, with 26,000 album-equivalent units (1,000 copies). The following week, Testing remained on the Billboard 200 chart at number 22. On July 23, 2018, Mayers and Tyler, the Creator announced a collaborative project, WANGSAP, by releasing a music video of a remix of Monica's "Knock Knock" called "Potato Salad" on AWGE's "AWGE DVD (Vol. 3)". However, in January 2019, Tyler, the Creator announced this album did not yet materialize. In May 2019, Juicy J announced Mayers began working on his upcoming album, formerly titled All Smiles. On August 28, Mayers released the music video for "Babushka Boi", directed by Nadia Lee Cohen.

In October 2021, Mayers released his 2011 mixtape Live. Love. ASAP to all streaming platforms in celebration of its 10-year anniversary. Mayers appeared on two tracks from Nigo's album, I Know Nigo!, released March 25, 2022, the opening track "Lost and Found Freestyle 2019" with Tyler, the Creator, and the single, "Arya". Mayers supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their Unlimited Love Tour (2022). After he arrived late for a performance at Old Trafford, Manchester, he performed a shortened 20-minute set after the band. In May 2022, Mayers released the single, "D.M.B.", and followed up in December with "Shittin' Me". Also in December, he appeared on producer Metro Boomin's album Heroes & Villains, on the track "Feel the Fiyaaaah", which also featured late rapper Takeoff, who was gunned down a month prior to the album's release. He then confirmed a new album with production from Metro Boomin to materialize in the future. Later that month, he named his upcoming fourth album, Don't Be Dumb.

In January 2023, Mayers released "Same Problems?", featuring contributions from Lil Yachty, Miguel, Tyler, the Creator, and Thundercat. In June 2023, Mayers released "Riot (Rowdy Pipe'n)" with contributions from Pharrell Williams and Tyler, the Creator. In the same month, Mayers also appeared on two tracks from Metro Boomin's soundtrack album, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; "Nonviolent Communication" with James Blake and 21 Savage, and "Am I Dreaming" with Roisee, the latter of which was nominated in the 2023 Hollywood Music in Media Awards.

In August 2024, Mayers released "Highjack" featuring Jessica Pratt, followed by "Tailor Swif", "Ruby Rosary", and "Pray4DaGang", all of whom were intended to be lead singles on his fourth studio album, Don't Be Dumb, but weren't included on the pre-save tracklist.

In August 2025, he released the songs "Both Eyes Closed" and "Trunks", for the soundtrack of the film Highest 2 Lowest, in which he starred in a supporting role. In December 2025, Mayers revealed Don't Be Dumb's cover art, designed by American filmmaker Tim Burton, and the release date of January 16, 2026. The following month, Mayers previewed a teaser of the music video from the album's first single, titled "Punk Rocky". Directed by Mayers himself along with Folkert Verdoorn and Simon Becks, it starred American actress Winona Ryder, and was released on January 5. The album's second single, "Helicopter", was released shortly after, with an accompanying music video, on January 12.

In January 2026, Mayers was announced as a headliner for the June 7th closing date of New York City's multi-day 2026 Governors Ball Music Festival, set to be held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park for the fourth consecutive year.

Don't Be Dumb was released on January 16, 2026, on National Nothing Day, featuring guest contributions from Brent Faiyaz, Danny Elfman, Doechii, Gorillaz, Sauce Walka, Slay Squad, Thundercat, Tyler, the Creator, Westside Gunn, and will.i.am, among others. The album became Mayers' third number one Billboard 200 album and his first since At. Long. Last. ASAP. Mayers is scheduled to embark on the "Don't Be Dumb World Tour" in support of the album. With legs in North America and Europe, the tour begins in Chicago on May 27, 2026, and concludes in Paris on September 30, 2026.

On January 22, 2026, Mayers announced an upcoming reissue (deluxe version) of Don't Be Dumb. The next day he appeared and was interviewed at The Joe Budden Podcast, where he confirmed it, hinting at production from Metro Boomin and Mike Will Made It, as well as a possible feature from his partner Rihanna. On June 8, spectators of Mayers' Don't Be Dumb Tour at CFG Bank Arena noted that he was wearing a thong, which caused rapper Boosie Badazz to call him part of the "worst generation ever".