Few concepts are more bandied and belabored than the uphill battle to restore New York’s place as the arbiter of Hip Hop quality. The challenges of breaking out and standing apart from the internet’s talent abyss isn’t enough, the five borough’s rising stars are also met with the pressure to fill the shoes of legends. There has been no one set approach or sound with each modern contender occupying their own lane: A$AP Mob pays homage to their Southern and Midwestern forefathers, Action Bronson is a big ball of unexpected eclectic fun, and Joey Bada$$ is the voice of the youth. Perhaps the Big Apple’s most peculiar widespread spectacle has been the overbearing Troy Ave who is all too willing to market himself as the town’s heir apparent.
The latest hopeful to fulfill the often replicated ‘hood pharmacist turned Rap superstar’ archetype, Troy Ave’s brash charisma may not be enough to sustain an extended career. Having come far thanks to public fervor for street cred (evidenced by last year’s Bobby Shmurda craze,) his outwardly projected vanity is betrayed by the final output of Major Without A Deal. Determined to make good on his increasingly futile agenda of keeping the East coast dominant, here Troy has thrown a hail mary in hopes of swaying tastemakers, gatekeepers and hesitant onlookers. Aiming to show a just a dash of motivational flair, the otherwise catchy “Doo Doo” functioned as an updated spin on Jay Z’s “Hard Knock Life,” but, it ultimately landed on deaf ears due to his off-putting personality. This was preceded by the buzz builder “Fake Butt Busta,” a fully sung ode to the trend of artificial posterior enhancements, an early certain sign of diminished inspiration.
On Major Without A Deal, the unstated theme places Troy Ave on a pedestal as one to rally behind with cameos from an all-star cast of former greats perhaps desperately holding on to waning relevance. Fat Joe contributes next to nothing of any worth on “I’m Bout It,” and while Cam’ron works well enough on “Quarter Million,” his appearance is far from memorable. The album’s most odd collaboration comes by way of 50 Cent’s appearance on “Bang Bang”, as the former linchpin once issued the backhanded compliment “I hear a lot of me in Troy Ave.” “Do Me No Favors” features Jadakiss & Fabolous, both further past their prime than most will freely admit. Whether these acts truly believe in Troy’s potential or seeking a bandwagon to piggyback is anyone’s guess. Regardless, it stands to reason that co-signing him represents a unified stance for their presently lacking hometown.
The bulk of Major Without A Deal is Troy falling victim to his own hype and hubris, making it impossible to consider him a true torchbearer for this generation. Twitter savant and frequent Troy Ave collaborator Chase N. Cashe recently compared his trajectory to Jeezy’s fabled viral breakthrough, a biased parallel that holds little weight despite the ATL veteran appearing on the remix to “All About The Money.” Having made outlandish attention commanding statements including “Kendrick Lamar is just a weirdo rapper” on the title track to 2013’s most potent New York City, he’s lost the charm glow that made him one to watch not even a year ago.
Troy Ave’s self-confidence skews towards myopic arrogance, as high points like “Young King” are practically ruined by intentionally off-key vocal melodies and “Real Nigga” comes off as Maybach Music Group karaoke. While he maintains a firm grasp on rapping about the intricacies of his criminal past, Major Without A Deal does little to relay his message as one that is absolutely essential. At this rate, Troy is destined to be a niche artist lacking any true star power. Given his limited vision, he mostly speaks to anyone hung up on the notion that Brooklyn’s vacant throne needs an immediate placeholder.
ALLAH FUCKBAR! THIS IS CAMEL POOPIE!!
PA-POOSE PA-POOOOSE!!!
Oope album but people would rather support some bull***t BANG BANG!!!
Fabs verse on do me no favors is fire so this editor clearly has something against Troy ave….haven’t heard any other song
Damn yall been throwing a lot of shade Troy Ave’s way…Fab killed do me no favors and tho this project in my opinion ain’t as good as NYC the album he’s still got some dope joints on there that’s fire….Solid effort…HipHopDX…your being completely bias and it’s showing
Personally, I find the album lyrically redundant, with the production lazy and lacking innovation.
“Music” by numbers, basically.
The album is solid. Troy is the future. I copped 2 copies.
That accounts for 2 of the 30
Giving this a 5 Star to make up for the dislike the reviewer gave this, I’ve never seen such a roast for a review. Smh
What a hater. Do yourself and your audience a favor – review the merits of the tracks and the album as a body of work. Save your dislike of his personality and ambitions for an editorial article.
It’s all agenda nowadays. Same shit with Sun kil Moon.
LOL @ this biased ass review. Dude obviously hated Troy Ave before he even started listening.
Jadakiss & Fabolous, both further past their prime than most will freely admit….You was good til you put this !
Fab and Jada beyond their prime?? Must not actually listen to Fab and Jada anytime recent. Bet you when Kylie Jenner comes out with album though reviews will be outstanding…
I think this album is dope and Troy is gonna do big thangs but I don’t think it’s album of the year that still belongs to Yelawolf with Love Story but def one of the top albums so far this year he kinda sounds like the old 50 IMO
As unprofessional a review as Ive ever read bro. The first law of journalism is not to let personal bias get in the way of honest reviewing and reporting. You come across like you have personal acrimony and issues with the subject(Troy Ave.) Although I realize blogs are held to a far, far less stringent status than official publications and there outlets there has to be some standards for even you. HipHopdx gets far to many hits to allow this disgraceful excuse for a review to get past there editors.
Ps: The funny thing is Im not even a Troy Ave fan. Hes 50 cent lite and I thought his comments on Kendrick Lamar being a weirdo was pure bitchery/ jealousy. Hes definitely not someone Im checking for, but even he deserved an unbiased, professional review of his work as an artist.
100% cosign.
The writer sounded spiteful &broken hearted. Was kinda pathetic
I learnt next to nothing about this album from this shitty review.
This rapper and the video in this review justify all the things racist white people say about black people.
Trollin on hoes, fo sho.
Good album
Hiphop been so fucked up for the longest niggas, don’t even recognize when something is dope, good job Troy ya album is tough,
That interlude on White Christmas 2 definitely put me off. Was a fan of NYC The Album, but take it easy bruh. You got your neighbor Action Bronson killing it daily on multiple entertainment mediums and still staying humble!
Bronson is that dude, can’t compare
This album knocks, I’ve seen some of the worst hip-hop journalism and reviews on this site and it wasn’t like this before, not sure if they hired an entirely new team or what. Regardless if the guy who wrote this liked or hated the album he didn’t have to sound like Troy used to take his lunch money in elementary school.
This album is Fire don’t give a fuck what a dummy think
Troy Ave is just alright, but holy shit this review is nothing but hate. You bitch about his personality, since when the fuck did that have a thing to do with the album? What would Kanye’s albums be rated if you graded him on his personality? If all that fuckery wasn’t enough, to downplay Fab and Jada’s talent is nothing short of a mockery to hip-hop journalism and the genre as a whole. It takes a lot to get me pissed off over a fucking Troy Ave review, but you did it Jesse Fairfax, that’s quite an accomplishment.
Not gonna lie im a troy ave fan. But this album is a disappointment. But the writer to this review is a crazy hater smh and this is my first comment on this site since i been visiting it back in 2007. How u say jadakiss and fab past there prime? Jada is and always will be top 5 doa. And fab is one of the only old school ny rappers still spitting lyrics while making radio songs. Ill take all 3 of them over 85% of rappers today.
This guy is so average that it’s even hard to have an opinion.
the singing on the album is like a gay 5000.
The arrogance is funny naive, if Troy matures, gets selfrespect and grow brains and a heart he would be ashamed of this mayor doo doo
I shld just sing that song titled “Player Hater” by The late great Notorious B.I.G for you. Doo Doo…Haha!You think this article is gonna affect Troy’s album sales huh? Like Papoose “You Can’t Stop Destiny”! I guess the writers of this article breathe hate. Ha! Hating is a sickness,get well soon! You trynna downplay Troy Ave nd New York rappers? U knw nothing about Rap. U just fortunate to write articles on this dope site. I’ve bn a reader of this site since 07. This shady article forced me to drop my first comment on this site ever. From Nigeria. Hulkshare.com/donswaggss
Saying Jadakiss was falling off lost this piece for me dude been on a crime wave lately.
GTFO!! The album is HOT.
This review is horrible. I’m bought the album 3 days ago n have been banging it ever since. Real Nigga go hard. The opener wit Cam’ron is dope. The joint with Fab & Jada is crazy. A few duds but Im enjoying the album. This writer sounds like a NY hater.
I mean I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it enough to purchase it either. so i’d give it a 3. wasn’t bad at all, but wasn’t near classic either. shows potential though.
Hot
haters gonna hate
Hiphopdx falling off if the rapper don’t wear dresses or rap like chance the rapper yall Hate you guys are losing credibility XXL is waaaaay better these days
I will say that the my style remix with Puff and Mase is a great song. It has a very 1998 bad boys feel..its a great summer song.
I feel like you totally took too long to review this clearly seeing the lack of album sales and just ran with that notion and decided to give it a terrible review. You don’t mention the song with Ty Dolla $. The joint with Cam and Fat Joe both are official and EVERYTHING you said about the joint with Jada and Fab is straight ridiculous. This is such a biased and shitty ass review. You’re terrible. It wasn’t a great album but it also wasn’t shit either. It’s a solid 3. Room for improvement but a good start.
DOPE ALBUM
Wow, blatant hate
Wow, Troy u surprised me with this album, not bad at all. Don’t understand all the hate but this is the world we live in, I guess.
Album is trash!
Bullshit review the album is dope
Album is decent. 6.5/10 or 3.5 stars. Let Troy eat!
this review sound mad personal. butt hurt personal.
nah bro
Look the truth is New York is the brain of hip hop. If by is strong then hip hop artists can eat and spread knowledge and empower themselves the true hip hop way( I am not talking about just money here). The music moguls want to control hip hop to make money for themselves. The best way to do this is to destroy New York artists. A strong New York would mean anti pop culture, self sufficiency, money and enterprise in the neighbourhoods legally, positive role models, legendary MUSICAL pioneers, lost generations within low income America with a culture of their own without having to rely on generic culture. The moguls don’t want that!
dope
This Sh*t Fire!!
…
mafuck@s be hatin on Troy
Its a good album to bump in the whip. Good beats. good guest appearances. lacks originality tho. i would give it 3 1/2 stars. plus its got that nostalgic sound. real NY ish
Again, another writer trashing the legends of Hip-Hop. I follow all genres of music and rock and rollers, never bash the legends who perform will into the 70s. Of course they are not as good as they were, but you don’t hear phrases like ‘ former linchpin’, ‘both further past their prime than most will freely admit’, etc. I don’t know who wrote this, but I am sure they have birthdays as do the legends and will diminish with age. I am not one to hate, but I hope you still keep your job as your work diminishes.
The reviewer is clueless. Prob another idiot riding Vince Staples dick.. Troy’s album is dank, your review is idiotic.