Maino has lashed out at Troy Ave in the latest round of a back-and-forth between the two Brooklyn rapper following Ave’s involvement in media personality Taxstone being found guilty of manslaughter and firearm charges. This past weekend, Maino released a clip voicing his displeasure with the “Your Style” creator’s actions preceding, during, and following the trial stemming from the 2016 Irving Plaza shooting in Manhattan, NY that left one person dead and multiple others injured.
“Troy Ave, you’re a very funny guy, man,” Maino began the clip, which was shot from inside a car. “You’ve always been funny, you always amuse me. I always thought that you was comical. I never took you serious. I never believed, none of us ever did, we never believed you. The only person that thought that you was important was you, brotha.” At one point during the video, Maino reveals a chain he claims previously belonged to Troy Ave, which he says he purposely held onto for the opportune time.
“I brought something for you that I’ve been keeping on ice for a long time,” Maino said. “I been holdin’ this because I figured at some point, I’d have to put you back in your place. This is your Jesus piece. This is the Jesus piece that you wore every single day. You got up, you went to video shoots wit,’ you got up, you put this around your neck.”
The “Hi Hater” rapper continued, adding “You went to parties with this, you went to industry events with this. You did shows with this on. You took a lot of pictures with this on right here. Anybody that’s watching this can easily find pictures of this same chain around your neck.”
Maino then alleges that the jewelry in question is fake and a reflection of Ave’s own fraudulent character, also revealing that it’s the chain Troy Ave was wearing on the night of the shooting at Irving Plaza. “The significant thing about this chain is, ’cause I don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, Maino grimey, he got his chain.’ This is the chain that Troy Ave was wearing when he got into his scuffle at Irving Plaza. And the reason why I held this chain is, not because I didn’t want to give it back, but because I just felt like maybe one day I’d have to step on him and remind him of who he really is. This chain is fake. The reason why I’ve been pointing this chain out is because you’ve been a liar since day one. You’ve built a small career on lies. You’ve built everything on lies.”
However, Maino was adamant about not having any personal issues or beef with Troy Ave, scoffing that the rapper “could’ve never been a problem for me” and that he has no plan on engaging in any sort of altercation with him. “This is not a beef between me and you,” Maino explained. “I’m not looking for you, right. It’s not gon’ come to that because we already understand what pressure is to you. Pressure is to you is that you become the prosecution’s star witness. We seen that. We witnessed that. I don’t want no smoke with that.”
The verbal exchange between Maino and Troy Ave was sparked by comments made by Maino during an appearance on Angela Yee’s Power 105.1 radio show, during which he recalled key details from the shooting and critiqued Ave’s handling of the situation. “I was there,” the Bed-Stuy native told Yee. “It happened in the dressing room that I was occupying with me and Uncle Murda. We was performing that night – or we were set to perform that night,” he said. “My only issue with that is I just don’t agree with the narrative that’s been put out there as if Taxstone was there to try to look for a problem. Taxstone was actually there chilling.”
Upon catching wind of Maino’s comments, Troy Ave, who has been increasingly active on YouTube following the guilty verdict, has issued multiple responses to his newfound adversary. In one clip, he refers to Maino, along with Joe Budden and others, as “failed rappers” before seemingly addressing Maino’s accusation of wearing fake jewelry. “Why do you ni**as got so many opinions on me?” Troy asks in reference to the backlash surrounding him.
“That’s what I wanna know. Ni**a, I got more real gold on the tip of my shoelaces than you ni**as got on any of them bogus ass chains you’re wearing. First of all, it’s a common theme. Failed rappers always got something to say about Troy Ave, especially the New York ni**as. What I never do is, I don’t comment on ni**as out of nowhere, I just say ‘no comment.’ That’s what you ni**as should say.”
He then addresses Maino’s comments directly, promising to issue a detailed response on an upcoming episode of his podcast. “Maino got a lot to say, I’ma address it on The Facto show,” he promised. “We get paid for that. That’s how I like to do, I like to get paid for sh*t. I don’t think it’s personal yet. Except for the personal fact that ni**ga shot his bi**h and he seen a lot, but how’d he seen so much when he ran the f**k up out of there. He had no shoes on. He ran up out of his shoes. How’d you see all that? Okay, cool.”
In addition to addressing his detractors in vlogs, Troy Ave released the diss track “Dear Hater I Won (Taxstone Found Guilty),” on which he claimed victory in his lengthy feud with Taxstone, whom he exchanged heated words with on social media prior to the Irving Plaza shooting. Taxstone, born Darryl Campbell, was found guilty of manslaughter for the death of Troy Ave’s friend and bodyguard Ronald “Banga” McPhatter, and weapons violations.
Troy Ave, born Roland Collins, was also injured in the Irving Plaza shooting and was captured discharging a firearm on security surveillance after wrestling the firearm away from Campbell during a scuffle. Troy Ave was initially arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm and charged with second-degree attempted murder, but is said to have agreed to testify against Campbell in exchange for a one-year prison sentence, including time served.
Campbell will appear for sentencing on April 19.