Troy Ave claims that JAY-Z recorded a response track to Kendrick Lamar’s “Control” verse, but never released it. He made the revelation on The Facto Show, where he also discussed Uncle Murda’s recent diss against him on “Rap Up 2023.”
Troy said he chose not to reply to Murda on wax, following the example of Hov, who he said made a song addressing Kendrick’s 2013 verse that challenged several rappers, including Jay-Z himself.
“This is a fact, though,” he said. “JAY-Z went in there with [Young] Guru and he recorded a response. But guess what JAY-Z did? He never released it. He don’t have to. Sometimes n*ggas say, ‘What would Hov do?'”
Troy also boasted that his own response to “Control,” where he referred to Kendrick as a “weirdo rapper” on a song featuring Raekwon, N.O.R.E., and Prodigy, had a more significant impact than responses from other artists.
“My reply, everybody went crazy over,” he said. “Everybody else said slick lines — Fab[olous], Joell Ortiz, and these rappin’ ass n-ggas. But my two bars went crazy. Snoop Dogg is reposting this shit.
“Every day they asking Kendrick in interviews about, ‘What you think about Troy Ave?’ Not, ‘What do you think about the other n*ggas?’ I’m independent, little old me! ‘Cause I hit harder, my shit different.”
Watch the clip below.
The “Control” verse, in which Kendrick declared himself the “King of New York” and called out various artists like Drake, J. Cole, and A$AP Rocky stirred significant conversation in the Hip Hop community at the time. Kendrick previously revealed that he had a conversation with JAY-Z about the verse, emphasizing mutual respect among artists.
“That’s classified between me and him. But it was all love, all respect,” he said on Hot 97 after the song’s release. “Same way with Diddy and the same with a few of the other cats.
“I feel like the end of the day I feel as though you have certain cats that really take it to the next level and make it a rivalry thing and try to bring back that old thing. That’s old school, homie. Remind you that we’re black men out here tryna uplift the culture.”
He added: “My first sold out show was in New York, so I always looked at that place as a place that respected me and my lyrics. And we respected the culture and the birthplace of it.”
Meanwhile, Uncle Murda took a shot at Troy Ave on his latest edition, “Rap Up 2023.” He accused t the Brooklyn rapper of snitching while addressing his legal troubles, and his beef with Taxstone, who is accused of shooting Troy at a T.I. concert in 2016.
“Troy Ave really went to court and got on the stand/ N-gga snitched on Taxstone ’cause he bodied his man/ You supposed to keep it in the streets, I hate when n-ggas tell on n-ggas/ I don’t fuck with Taxstone but I don’t be wishing jail on n-ggas/ Troy Ave lost his chain on that night all that shit happened/ But it was fake, seven years later found out Maino had it,” he said.
Troy Ave has not responded to Murda’s diss yet, but he previously suggested on Instagram that a response was imminent. “Damn do I gotta “WRAP this n-gga UP,” he captioned an Instagram photo of himself looking at his phone.
