Troy Ave - New York City (The Album)

As the new front-runner for the less-than-effective "Bring New York Back" movement, Troy Ave has been making quite a name for himself in the past year or so. Before hearing this album, I had only heard him from a few features, not really paying much attention. When this album dropped digitally, for free, I decided to give him a chance. I was initially skeptical of him because of his connection with a movement which I feel is  slightly arrogant, dictating that New York artists with a "traditional" New York sound should be first in line for success. As a New Yorker who appreciates all sub-genres of rap, regardless of region, I strongly disagree with those sentiments. Regardless, I decided to give Troy's album a chance, and was pleasantly surprised by what I heard.

Although I believe you shouldn't be forced to create music with a certain sound based on where you were born, I enjoyed hearing Troy's album, which sounds like a New York album, front to back. From the flows to the production, Troy has pinpointed exactly what makes New York Hip-Hop tick, and expanded upon it for a "modern" sound. What stands out the most to me is that the instrumentals Troy chose to rap over aren't your typical boom-bap 90's era beats, but instead have a sound more closely resembling early 2000's G-Unit/Dipset/D-Block. What Also stands out is that the formula has been updated to have more of a modern sound, and yet it doesn't take cues from the more trap-influenced New York sound currently dominating. What really gets me excited is that a lot of the beats and flows have a certain bounce to them, which I love. It's not your mundane "sprinkle-some-loosely-connected-bars-over-a-looped-sample-and-boom-bap-drums" sound that many New York traditionalists have veered toward in the recent years. It has a distinct, head-nodding bounce that I feel is missing from those types of songs. This bounce is not the same rhythm as Trap Music or New Orleans Bounce (Both of which I love), but a bounce all it's own, with a very New York Feel. Lyrically and flow-wise, you can tell Troy's strongly influenced by early 50 Cent, yet he also takes inspiration from a number of other artists. His lyrics can be deceptively simple, with nuggets of wisdom and introspection that can be easily dismissed if you don't listen to what Troy's saying. At first listen, it can be easy to dismiss him as your run-of-the-mill 2006-era mixtape rapper. This would be a big mistake. Troy's keen eye/ear for detail in his lyrics shows opinions on topics that many other rappers would choose to just discuss briefly, and keep going. Troy breaks these things down and gives his opinions on plenty of topics, mostly those involving the street life. When I first read the title of "New York City (The Album)", I wasn't sure if the music would reflect the title much, or if it was just another way of Troy capitalizing on his new-found role as the head of a movement. I'm happy to say, the album has an undeniably New York sound throughout the entire project. While I may not agree with the opinions this album sometimes expresses, I will have to say I definitely enjoyed it. DOWNLOAD HERE.