MANHATTAN — Rapper Troy Ave dropped a new track via phone on Rikers Island proclaiming his innocence after last month's deadly shooting during a T.I. concert at Irving Plaza.
"I'm innocent unless you're charging me with being real from the very beginning," Troy, whose real name is Ronald Collins, 30, raps in a recording posted to YouTube.
The May 25 shooting left Troy Ave's bodyguard Ronald McPhatter dead and three — including the rapper who shot himself in the leg — injured.
Now the rapper sounds as if he's calling it self-defense.
"P---y n---a tried to assassinate me / I took the gun from him and turned the tables 'round like a G."
The rapper, who was charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon, pleaded not guilty in court last week. He is currently being held without bail until trial.
