New York’s Troy Ave takes a lot of pride in his hometown—so much so that he named his debut album, which dropped earlier this week, New York City The Album. Troy believes he “puts forth the best representation of New York” right down to his appearance, which he says looks like "what people from other places would imagine New York to look like.” His music, gritty and street, is a throwback of sorts to the early 2000s, when NYC rappers made their name through unpolished mixtapes full of bullish freestyles and hood anthems—the kind of stuff, he believes, that has been missing from the city’s hip-hop scene as of late.

Troy represents Brooklyn specifically—his name derives from an avenue in the borough’s Crown Heights area—but his songs are influenced from MCs from all over the city, from the Boogie Down Bronx to Shaolin. He stopped by the XXL offices to give his two favorite tracks from each borough, giddily citing the lyrics to each while also explaining their significance to him. Reed Jackson

Brooklyn

Jay Z—"Hard Knock Life"
That shit was just so ill. I used to DJ by default because my step pops was mad into music, and he bought a whole DJ set, and I used to play it all the time. I remember we went down to Beat Street (Records) and bought it, and I was like, “Damn, this shit is so crazy.” He had the video out for “Can I Get A” with Ja Rule at the time, and there was just so many dope records on (Vol 2...Hard Knock Life). The whole Annie sample was crazy. I was just amazed at that.

Notorious B.I.G.—"One More Chance"
(The video) was in Brooklyn and was at a house party—that shit was everything back in the day. Its [lyrics are] not too druggie, but he’s touching on it. There’s a bunch of stuff he’s saying that I didn’t get, but on it he says, “I stay Coogi down to the socks,” and I went out and bought a pair of Coogi socks. That was like a [softer] song of Biggie’s, but it was still dope. The only thing [soft] about it was the beat and the chick singing on the hook, but Biggie was still talking that shit.

Queens

Noreaga—"Superthug"
The energy on that shit was crazy. It was right when the Neptunes was starting. I’m from Crown Heights, and I lived in the eye of the tornado as far as the Labor Day Parade, and one year when I went to it, Hot 97 had a float and they were playing [“Superthug”]. I’ll never forget: I had the Tim Duncan foamposites on, because Labor Day was always near the start of school and we would get new kicks. Them shits was $179, the most expensive sneakers at the time. I’m at the parade and it’s raining, people are throwing powder and then [“Superthug”] came on and it didn’t even matter. We were just wildin’.

Prodigy—"Keep It Thoro"
I remember trying to play the keys to that shit. I had a little keyboard, and I was mad hyped when I got it. There was also the fact that there wasn’t a hook and he was just spittin’. The beat was everything in that, and he was just rapping, rapping, rapping. His voice and presence on the track was crazy.

Manhattan

The Diplomats—"I Really Mean It"
That was that Dipset mixtape shit. I’m a mixtape baby; I came up in the era of mixtapes. Cam’s swag was crazy when he came in. He had the Sex, Drugs and Entertainment mixtape and there was a joint with N.O.R.E. on there that was crazy. “I Really Mean It” was just the culmination of Diplomats Volume 1 and 2. And I remember the pictures they had of Cam chillin’ on the set of Paid in Full and then he had the video where he hopped out of the Escalade with the pink on. There was just a swagger. Cam’s wordplay was like no others. He wasn’t mad lyrical but he was saying some shit. A lot of people don’t know he just slowed down his old flow. Cam and Young Jeezy have the illest slow flows ever.

Ma$e feat. Total—"Tell Me What You Want"
I like that song so much that my top song on Pusha’s new album is the one where he raps like Ma$e. Pusha is one of my favorite rappers but I like him replicating Ma$e's flow the most. That whole bounce to Ma$e’s flow and delivery—it sounded like no one else.

Staten Island

Method Man feat. Mary J. Blige—"All I Need"
Meth was sitting on the fucking roof with Mary J. Blige just chilling and rocking out. Being a kid, you didn’t know the history of the original song, so [Meth's version] was like a hit to me. Meth’s lyrics were crazy and Mary’s voice and her presence was dope. The beat was the least thing that I liked about the song; it was simple to me.

GZA - "Liquid Swords"
It was about the beat and the hook. I don’t even know his verses, I just remember (the hook), “the MCs came to live out the name...some had to snort cocaine to act insane.” That beat and the hook were amazing.

The Bronx

Boogie Down Productions—"The Bridge Is Over"
That was a standout to me. That beat was crazy. I liked that KRS was reppin’ for where he was at. I think they may have dissed him first, and he just had a real street mentality and was on some, “Yeah, what’s up? This is us,” shit.

Funkmaster Flex feat. Troy Ave—"Perfect Love"
Flex is from the Bronx. Our song together...I felt like that was one of my best lyrical efforts. I had to bring it because it was a Funk Flex tape and they were going to play that shit on the radio. I took every bar with some shit, and I thought nobody from New York put out a track that could fuck with that shit lyrically.

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