001. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie x Young Troy

Around a year ago, I went to go see Young Troy and he was playing me whatever he was listening to at the time, like he usually does. For a while, I stopped listening to what was going on in the rap game, but would always ask people what they’re listening to. It’s an old music “industry” trick to see what people *actually* play — versus what they want you to listen to — but for me it’s a form of hide and seek with this genre of music that I had developed kind of a love/hate relationship with.

All that to say, Young Troy’s ear is generally on point and I like whatever he plays or I just sit and observe what his taste is, how he uses certain tech/apps like Snapchat, etc. He’s only 4–5 years younger than I am, but I already feel like an old man all the time.

When he was done, he told me to play something. I was so out of the loop, all I could think of was this A Boogie kid whose videos I had seen through either Instagram or #NYTwitter so I started playing a couple songs and told him he was supposedly “next up”. That was it, I didn’t have much else to play or add to the conversation. I went home.

Fast forward to today, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s debut album dropped and went straight to #1 on Apple Music.

Young Troy produced two songs for him. The single “Beast Mode” with PNB Rock & NBA YoungBoy along with “Fucking & Kissing”. I’ll let him explain how it all happened.

It’s crazy how life works.