Troy Ave Claims He Was Going to Sign With TDE Despite Calling Kendrick a 'Weirdo Rapper'

On his just-released NuPac project, Troy Ave claims he was ready to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment before "the whole shit just fell through." On the 32-minute commentary track "Truth Be Told PSA," Troy Ave opens up about his efforts to keep his career moving forward while in jail. During that time, Ave says, Kendrick Lamar indirectly reached out with some words of support.

According to Ave, Lamar said something to the effect of, "I see what you're going through, man. Send my love." A couple days after receiving Lamar's words, Ave started pondering a future with Top Dawg Entertainment and gave then-manager Hovain a call. "I said, 'Yo, put the plan in action, man," Ave recalled. "We gonna go out West when I come home and we gonna sign with TD.'" The story falls in line with the theme of Troy Ave comparing his career to 2Pac on NuPac, as 2Pac signed to Death Row after Suge Knight's assistance in posting bail in 1995.

Ave added that he always admired the Top Dawg brand. "I always liked what they was doing," Ave said. "They kinda independent like us, but way bigger because they went and got with a major. They got shit that I like to see, like loyalty and unity, that type of shit. Cool. I give [Hovain] the whole play. Of course, he can't make that happen at all. At all. He doesn't make it happen. The whole shit just fell through."

The TDE comments start at roughly the 14:45 mark in the clip below: