Last week, Troy Ave’s album, Major Without a Deal, sold less than 4,500 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Billboard wrote an article breaking down the numbers and explaining that physical copies – Only Hip Hop Facts said only 30 were sold – weren’t available to the public until the Tuesday after the first week numbers were already tallied. Any physical albums reported would have been a “street date violation.”
“I don’t give a fuck if they were sold illegally,” Troy Ave says during an interview with The Breakfast Clubtoday (June 16) “because I just want my music out. But basically it was like the mom and pop stores that had ’em. If people came and asked for ’em early, they were just giving ’em. Really, it was just one store in the Bronx that sold the 30 copies. But shout out to them. They got my music out. I ain’t trippin’.”
The independent rapper compares his journey to that of another Empire State rapper. He quotes Jay Z‘s “Intro: A Million and One Questions/Rhyme No More” to explain his success.
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“You gotta get the slow grind, like the Reasonable Doubt grind,” Troy Ave says. “It gonna catch on later and it keep picking up and picking up and picking up. At the end of the day, I’m here to make money. I’m here to get the paper. Now I understand what Jay Z meant by, ‘Can you really match a triple platinum artist buck by buck with only a single going gold?'”
Troy Ave does not have a certified album, but his song “All About the Money” did reach No. 1 on the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artists Chart.
Troy Ave also says that he didn’t pay for any of the features on his album. Snoop Dogg, Ty Dolla $ign, Rick Ross and Cam’ron are among the artists to appear on Major Without a Label.
“When you got the respect, when they see you coming up and they see you like you’re the boy, they gonna do it off the strength,” Troy Ave says.
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The independent rapper says that the criticism he receives is “damn near like modern-day slavery.”
“They say, ‘Troy Ave’s doing too much. He’s not like a humble or a yessa-boss-type of nigga. We need to tear him down,'” the rapper says.
He also says he is like Jackie Robinson or Michael Jordan because he is pioneering the independent road just like the baseball and basketball players were confronted as they blazed trails in their respective sports.
“You better compare yourself to the greats if you want to be great,” he says.
For additional Troy Ave coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
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