According to Brooklyn rapper Troy Ave, he was the first independent artist from his borough to have his music bootlegged. Troy Ave shared that particular piece of information during an interview with Conspiracy Worldwide Radio.
The radio show’s host brought up Brownsville, Brooklyn rapper Ka, who sold vinyl and CD copies of his The Night’s Gambit album outside of the former Fat Beats store in July, and asked Troy Ave if he would ever consider such a move.
The Brooklyn wordsmith went on to reveal that when it concerns selling his music directly to fans, he was the first artist in New York to sell his music hand-to-hand and referred to himself as a “legend” for doing so.
Shortly after speaking on his hit-the-pavement approach to selling records, he commented on being the first independent artist in his area to be bootlegged.
“I’m the first one over there in New York to sell my music hand-to-hand and all that out the truck,” Troy said. “You know what I mean? I been doing that…Ask Ka about Troy Ave. I’m a legend out here for doing that. He’ll let you know. Yeah, I been doing that first. I’m the first artist that’s not signed from Brooklyn to get bootlegged like back when they had all the bootlegs. The bootleg CDS [were] heavy. I’m the first one to get bootlegged. So, that’s a big deal.”
With Troy Ave offering a money back guarantee on his newly-released project, New York City: The Album, and fellow artist Nipsey Hussle offering his new mixtape for $100, Troy was asked to share his thoughts on Nipsey’s marketing move.
“I like what Nipsey Hussle did,” he said. “That was a smart idea. With me though, I gave my album away free and I have it on iTunes. Cause my slogan is ‘power to the people.’ So, it’s however you want to get it…There’s some people that even downloaded it for free and then they came back, ‘Yo, I had to buy it. It was too crazy.’ So, you do what you want to do. I ain’t out here hurting. I’m getting money doing my own thing, so I ain’t worried about no record sales money.”
Shortly following the release of New York City: The Album on November 4, Troy Ave criticized a number of his fellow emcees during an interview on Hot 97. He went on to call both Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West “weirdo rappers.”
“Yeah, Kanye’s a weirdo,” Troy said. “It’s a lot of rappers that’s weirdos…I like a lot of Kendrick Lamar’s records, too. It’s a lot of weirdo rappers that’s out—It’s mad weirdo rappers. Y’all don’t understand it.”
RELATED: Troy Ave Calls Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar & Flatbush Zombies Weirdos
What about Percee P?
niggas get bootlegged erryday b
@Scholars Rent I think Percee is from the Bronx but I feel u- I bought a tape from him back in the day, he was grinding his ass off. I swear these new artists think that the mixtape game just started last night… The first Independent artist from BK, seriously? Didn’t he say he was the new Malcolm X one interview?
Why would you download it for free then go buy it?
Maybe they felt it was so good that he should be paid for it…
You buy it after you download it cause its that good, the artist was NICE. I brought it just cause.. I wanted to support the artist.
This kid wasn’t even born when rappers were already doing that. And he was around 12 when it was pretty common.
It’s great to see a young NYC rapper like Harry Powder paying homage to one of the Godfathers of this gangsta rap shit, the kid 50 cent!
LIES SMDH… FAKE FIFTY.. SUPPORT NYC…YEA BUT NOT BUDDY
TROY IS DOPE
i like eating food especially when it tastes good, sometimes i go out and talk to peoople, but usually i watch hey arnold on my palm pilot and write notes to my future self. i never been to six flags but i imagine the berries there taste very sweet. sumtimes when im alone i like to imagine myself donating laptops to libraries.
“Ask Ka about Troy Ave. Im a legend out here for doing that. Hell let you know.”
Im the first one over there in New York to sell my music hand-to-hand and all that out the truck,
@TroyAve
Im the only relevant n#gga that went against the whole “WIERDO, Turn Up, Down South Beats, Use the Chicago Flow, Leather & Addict movement
TROY AVE B$B @TroyAve
U could break down every single bar on #NewYorkCityTheAlbum THERE’S NOT ANOTHER BODY OF WORK FROM ANY ARTIST THAT CAN MATCH IT LYRICALLY
hilarious
POWDER, PODWER
What an ignorant muhfukka, rappers been doing that since the 80’s selling their vinyl singles out of the trunk and hand to hand in ALL boroughs. First independent rapper out of BK to get bootlegged, yeah right… I’d only have to go back as far as Maino and Saigon to wipe that bs off the table.
This reminds me of when Kanye called himself being the one that made Polo hot.
who cares?
does he want a medal for it?
this guy is the 478,854,701 rapper to come from broklyn.. surely not the first to get bootlegged.. if he even got bootlegged..
Did he think hip hop was invented yesterday? Know your History!
He hyped off off hid first alblum and getting money other ways…but he gotta be smarter business wise…not the best rapper but he makes dope songs and says what you want to hear over dope beats…he solid and I copped it and I am satisfied…Full alblum in this era is classic
my friend’s aunt makes $88 every hour on the computer. She has been out of a job for nine months but last month her pay was $13254 just working on the computer for a few hours. why not try here,,,,,,,,,, http://x.co/3WuPe
persee p been doing that way longer bruh
LOL niggas never cease to amaze me with the stupid shit they say
i think he been gettin high off his own supply
troy ave made one of best rap albums of 2013 to me. “new york the album” is a blessing. but the shit he be saying in interviews sometimes really helps me understand more of why many young new york rappers only get to a certain level in the game, despite having talent that should have them going further. these dudes often seem too arrogant to study history or even each other’s movements.
Troy Ave is so full of himself every interview he acts like he is nas biggie n big pun all in one always talkin like hes the best ever n no one is as real n all his music is classic………………GTFOH outside NY u barely get a show NYC album didn’t even hit the top 200 on billboard so u didn’t even sell 1500 first week
powder
powwwder
all right all right
powderrrr