CIVIC CENTER — Rapper Troy Ave will have to wait until at least next month to see if his bail conditions will be loosened up by a judge.
Troy Ave, who faces attempted murder charges from a deadly May 25 shooting at Irving Plaza, was hoping to ask Judge Ronald Zweibel to lift the order preventing him from leaving New York City and banning him from performing in nightclubs or other venues, according to the rapper's lawyer.
But that was put off because the judge still has to go over some of the evidence presented to the grand jury before he can decide on motions filed by the rapper’s lawyer.
Troy Ave, whose legal name is Roland Collins, has missed dozens of tour dates and lost tens of thousands of dollars due to the restrictions, his lawyer, John Stella, told DNAinfo New York on Friday.
Troy has had to cancel at least 50 tour dates since he was arrested days after police released surveillance footage of him opening fire in the concert hall, and he has been unable to schedule any new ones, Stella said.
That's led to financial straits for the rapper, who paid his $500,000 bail by using his mother's Crown Heights home as collateral, according to Stella.
“He’s barely able to get by,” he said. “Touring is what drives everything else, and it’s hard to release music if he can’t promote it with live performances.”
►See Also: Troy Ave Free on $500,000 Bail
Troy Ave’s close friend and bodyguard Ronald McPhatter, 33, was killed in the chaotic shootout that night in May and the rapper and two other people were wounded. Police believe it was Troy Ave who shot McPhatter.
He’s been free on $500,000 bail since July 11, but the conditions of the bail require him to obey an 11 p.m. curfew, stay out of bars, nightclubs, and other venues, and remain within the five boroughs.
Stella suggested that Troy Ave’s bail conditions be set similar to those of rapper Rick Ross, who is free on $2 million bail after being accused of kidnapping in 2015. Ross is under 24-hour GPS monitoring, but he is allowed to travel and perform, according to news reports.
“Just like Rick Ross, Troy should be given the ability to work and provide for his family,” Stella said.
The rapper typically makes between $6,000 and $10,000 for a performance, Stella said. At the time of his arrest, he had about 50 shows lined up across the country, and had already been paid an advance on some of them, Stella said. He missed some of those when he was in jail awaiting bail, and others he had to cancel when the judge forbade him from leaving the city or going to any venues, clubs, or bars.
So far no one has sued Troy Ave for breach of contract, according to Stella and court records, but he owes thousands of dollars to venues that had already paid him in advance.
“I think they’re waiting to see what happens in the short term to see if he regains the ability to perform,” Stella said.
To make up for lost income from his inability to perform, Troy Ave has been putting out music videos at a furious pace, with two videos released on World Star Hip Hop in the past week alone.
One video shows the rapper drinking, smoking blunts, and chatting on the phone on a set made to look like a jail cell. Another shows Troy Ave hanging out with a portly stand-in for the fictionalized Pablo Escobar in the Netflix show “Narcos.”
The decision on motions, which are standard procedure in a criminal case and include requests by Stella for the judge to either dismiss the case or reduce the charges based on his assessment of the evidence, has been rescheduled to Nov. 4.
