Pastor Troy has been at war for a decade—as a matter of fact, this month represents exactly ten years since the Down South Georgia Boy infamously declared war with Master P on his 1998 debut, We Ready. Much has changed since 1998, but twenty albums and several record labels later, Pastor Disaster remains as embattled as day one. He began as an underdog emcee selling records with Select-O-Hits, and today he remains an underground artist who recently returned to Select-O-Hits. He is still largely unappreciated in his hometown of Atlanta, where he receives almost no radio spins and inadequate respect. But after ten years in the game, P. Troy has nothing to prove; not to his fans, not to the naysayers, not even to himself. With his latest project T.R.O.Y. dropping on November 18th, his 30th birthday, the ATL veteran calls this album a present to both himself and his fans. “I’m introducing a gladiator,” he boasts. “We’re just gon’ give the people what they want.” In giving the people what they want, Pastor Troy has crafted a 20-track offering, complete with an entire section dedicated to chivalry. These songs feature samples from such legends as Michael Jackson, Prince, and New Edition. The rapper insists however, that T.R.O.Y. is more than just a commercial record with songs about ladies and love. P. T. promises his latest project is still brimming with the type of music that has cemented his place as one of the greats. His career hasn’t always been glamorous, but after ten years in the game he’s still here. Yes, Pastor Troy is still at war, but as a gladiator, that’s where he’s most comfortable. The new album is called T.R.O.Y.? It’s a ten year anniversary CD that’s coming out on my birthday. I always had the T.R.O.Y. idea in mind from the movie, but I was just waiting on the right album. T.R.O.Y.: Introduction To A Gladiator. What makes this album worthy of the name T.R.O.Y.? It’s just an album that I enjoyed making. It’s a lot of songs on there, and it’s gon’ be a real download. We’re just gon’ give the people what they want and show ‘em that we appreciate them ridin’ with us, man. We’re ten years deep, and I appreciate everybody that’s been with us. I
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dropped my first joint on September 28th, 1998. We dropped We Ready out of a trunk on the weekend, and here we are still standing. Looking back over those ten years, how does your first project compare with T.R.O.Y.? On this CD I’m showing my maturity. I’m 30 years old now. When We Ready dropped I was 20, so a lot of things are different. I know now that this shit is just music. Niggas ain’t out here trying to pull none of this crazy shit off. Back in the day you didn’t know what to be, or how to be. Who even knew we were gonna have success at this shit? Then you end up with success and you have to figure out what to do with it. Back when you were dissin’ Master P in ’98 did you think that you would be sitting here ten years later still putting out music, even years after Master P lost his relevance? Shit, I may have longevity, but I still ain’t got the fuckin’ money he has, so shit, he’s still winning. (laughs) But that joint was real pivotal. Whoever knew that some dudes in the studio just fucking around would get Master P to respond to this damn bullshit? We were in the studio laughin’ and bullshittin’, and this dude called us out and put us on his level. It was crazy, but it wasn’t no hard feelings. We weren’t on no shit like, “We wanna kill Master P,” or nothing like that. We were meeting crazy muthafuckas on the road that were ready to kill the man. [My response was], “It ain’t even that serious.” Much love ‘P. Out of the 20 albums you’ve released, which one is your personal favorite? Of course the first one always means the most, because shit, without that first one there wouldn’t be no second one. That’s just how I ride with it. I appreciate all the albums for meaning something to me, but T.R.O.Y. here just seem a little special to me because it’s falling on my birthday and it represents ten years. My album artwork is crazy, my video is crazy; it just feels real good. It’s a real good comeback album. I’ve been waiting for this one. You know, I’ve been putting out a lot of albums, and my fans have been supporting me through it, but they’ve been feature albums. They haven’t included my production, or DJ Squeaky bangin’ on the beats, or Fat Boy bangin’ on the beats. What exactly is a “feature album”? Somebody might come and buy an album from me, all in for $75,000 or something like that, and I’ll rap on ten of their tracks. And then they put the album out and collect all the proceeds. It’s no big deal to me because I made $75,000 in a week, and If I do a little more than ten of those feature albums in a year, I’ve made a million dollars right there. I’ve been playing the game like that, and that’s what’s been holdin’ a nigga over, but this album here is actually one that
we’re promoting. I don’t promote those feature albums or do any interviews for them. But in 2000 they’re gonna see me 1st Quarter, 2nd Quarter, 3rd Quarter, and 4th Quarter. We’re coming winter, summer, spring, and fall. How is T.R.O.Y. a birthday present to yourself? CDs come out on Tuesdays, and my birthday, November 18th, is a Tuesday this year. Everything was just set up. I wanted it to come earlier, but I wasn’t all the way prepared, but then after I finally did settle in the date, the Tuesday that was most appropriate was my birthday. I was like, “Damn, this is a helluva coincidence.” My music is real conceptual. I got a real concept with this album. In ten years ain’t nobody gave me nothing. I haven’t jacked nobody, and I ain’t bit nobody, but I’m damn sure getting bit. This CD is gon’ really show people the difference between them and me. What happened to your relationship with [independent label] SMC Records? SMC is cool, but I went back to my roots with Select-O-Hits. I didn’t feel like [me and SMC] were doing enough numbers to be partners, so I might as well go solo. With their office being in San Francisco, and me being in Atlanta, and as much work as I did, I figured, shit, what the fuck am I sending half the check out there for? Fuck that! Now I’m straight up doing my independent Mad Society Records, just like ten years ago, straight through Select-O-Hits. We are a major independent. 100,000 is platinum over here for us, and we ‘bout to do that shit in a week. With your dedicated fanbase and the quality of your music, do you think you could see real platinum success if you were on a major label? Man, I’m so damn tired of hearing that shit I ain’t even worried about it now more. It’s more about satisfaction and gratification for myself. If I sell a hundred thousand records, you better keep my email address, because my phone number ain’t gon’ be no good anymore, for real. (laughs) If I do those numbers with the situation I’m in, I’ll probably make a million dollars in a week. It seems like you’ve been blackballed by mainstream radio. You don’t even get any love in your hometown. Why’s that? It’s cool, man. When I had my words with Lil’ Jon they had a lot of influence in Atlanta. But it’s not hard to be blackballed when you ain’t givin’ them no music; I wasn’t even giving ‘em no music to play on the radio. I wasn’t recording any clean versions or stuff like that, as I was saying before, though, those albums weren’t mine, so I wasn’t trying to pull any radio spins in for somebody else’ album. I was trying to save the radio for this T.R.O.Y. album.