Troy Ave recounted his version of the fatal shooting at New York’s Irving Plaza and professed his innocence again on three tracks recorded over the phone from jail and released on a new mixtape, Free Troy Ave.
Last week, the Brooklyn rapper pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon stemming from a May 25th shooting at a T.I. concert that left four people injured — including Troy Ave — and one dead, the rapper’s friend and bodyguard, Ronald “Edgar” McPhatter. Despite lacking a criminal record, a judge denied Troy Ave’s request of a $50,000 bail and opted to keep him in custody without bail until the trial begins.
As HipHopDX notes, Free Troy Ave was previously called Real vs. Fake and features the single “Chuck Norris,” as well as a handful of other tracks. It’s interspersed with three cuts in which Troy Ave discusses the shooting, “Intro (Troy Ave Speaks/Freestyle),” “Intermission (Troy Ave Speaks),” and “Outro (Troy Ave Speaks).”
On “Intro,” Troy Ave addresses the security footage from Irving Plaza that shows him firing a weapon inside the venue, rapping, “Pussy nigga tried to assassinate me / I took the gun from him and turned the tables ’round like a G.” Elsewhere, he ruminates on McPherson’s death and at the end of the track repeatedly proclaims his innocence.
Troy Ave speaks about McPherson more on “Interlude,” a spoken-word message in which he admits, “I lost my best friend, and the sad part about it is I didn’t realize he was my best friend until I lost him. And that shit hurt worse than these bullets from when I got shot.” And on “Outro,” Troy Ave thanks his supporters and speaks about remaining resilient in the aftermath of the shooting.
Since the shooting and the judge’s orders that Troy Ave be kept in custody without bail, investigators reported that a gun found in the car that took the rapper the hospital matched the bullet that killed McPhatter. A trial date has yet to be set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBxs_CHgLT4
Video of T.I concert after shooting.
