Troy Ave: 'I Never Said TDE Was Going to Sign Me'

Troy Ave wants the world to know he isn’t a liar; the media just put words in his mouth.

Following the release of his latest mixtape,Nupac, the East Coast rapper began nabbing headlines for the commentary track called “Truth Be Told PSA.” The 32-minute piece addressed Troy’s respect for Top Dawg Entertainment and how he attempted to sign with the label before "the whole shit just fell through." TDE boss Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, however, said the label was never in talks with Troy and the rapper’s claims were “fake news.”

Tiffith’s remarks created a stir on social media. People immediately began blasting Troy for fabricating a story, but the 31-year-old artist insists his words were twisted and he actually never said TDE was about to sign him.

“The good thing about me is the truth don’t change. I never have to double back and change up my story and really explain. I never said [TDE was going to sign me],” Troy said during an interview on Power 106 Los Angeles. “[…] I never spoke to anybody at TDE. But I’m sitting in jail, and it come to me, after Kendrick reached out, [I was like] that was real, that was love, that was dope; he didn’t have to do that.”

Troy said after he reflected on Kendrick’s words, he began thinking about his career and how there was too much hate in New York. He said he wasn’t getting the respect he wanted, so he hit up his manager Hovain to try to get him on the TDE roster.

“I say ‘Let’s get some people on the phone that you know there. I like what TDE is doing,’" he recalled telling Hovain, "I say, ‘Reach out and see what's up. See if we can do something over there.’"

He said veteran hip-hop journalist Rob Markman connected Hovain with “somebody” who wasn’t apart of TDE to get the deal going. Troy claims he kept getting the runaround and eventually gave up trying to get on the record label.

“I put plans in action, and unfortunately I’m sitting in jail and I can’t put no plan in action. So I’m depending on other people to put the play together, and they couldn’t” he said. “I would have no reason to lie.”

Check out the full interview above. The TDE topic begins at the 10-minute mark.