A$AP Rocky on rap battle with Denzel Washington: 'This guy's a pro'

NEW YORK — A$AP Rocky had no idea Denzel Washington was going to throw Nas at him.

Midway through Spike Lee’s , a New York riff on Akira Kurosawa’s , wealthy music executive David King (Washington) has cornered aspiring rapper Yung Felon (Rocky) after he tried to kidnap King’s son. They meet in a music studio. A rap battle ensues.

While the scene was scripted, much of what Washington freestyled — mixing in lines from Nas, Tupac, DMX and others — startled his professional rapper co-star.

“I’m like: How does this man know who Moneybagg Yo is?” Rocky says, sitting alongside Washington.

“And I’m 70,” Washington says with a grin.

, which A24 releases in theaters Friday, two weeks before it lands on Apple TV+, is a heist thriller that hits hardest when Washington and Rocky are going at it.