Antics aside, Troy Ave knows how to make music.
To say that Troy’s been the topic of discussion this summer would be an understatement. Ever since the verdict from his highly covered case with podcast host Tax Stone hit the internet this month, non-stop videos of Troy’s interviews have circulated all over. Regardless of where you stand on his ethics though, Troy’s push to release as much as music possible before his sentencing has birthed a slew of great songs and projects including his most recent single, “Summertime in New York”.
Anthemic, celebratory, and catchy, the song builds on the skillset he has and in the process creates a song for the summer.
In several interviews most notably with DJ Akademiks, Troy has spoken frankly about how his sound is reflective of New York’s true identity, which is a rarity in a time where the city’s soundscape is slowly merging into rap’s most popular styles of drill and trap-infused melody. Insert Troy Ave. In the first verse of the song, he drops a few entedres on listeners and displays his wittiness.
“I run up a check, you run up on me and then you shot,
Ain’t playing Duke, although I wore a jersey like Tupac
All Eyez on Me, drop coupe when I pass,
I got the burna boy, we gon see who last last.
Hoes loving my vibrance, Troy fresher than Tridents,
I hear n****s hating, but don’t gangsters move in silence?”
At this point, the controversy and conflict he’s embroiled in will take precedence over his skill, and the obvious references to Tupac only add to this fact, but it’s important that rap fans focus on the music he’s making at this moment.
His album, Dear Hater I Won, contained several cuts on it that reminded fans of the music they fell in love with on his breakout project, New York City the Album. Songs like “Belly of the Beast”, “Chorus Cry”, and “Dear Hater I Won” are not only autobiographical accounts of the case, but they display his ability to make songs with lyrical depth.
Listen and decide for yourself. What can’t be denied is that he’s managed to keep himself successful as an independent artist and part of that comes from songs like the aforementioned.
Wright World 