While Troy Ave’s appearance in Manhattan court on Friday was brief, the always fashionable rapper took time to speak at length about his love of fur, fishing, and apparently, vintage newsprint.
The “More Money More Problems” performer, whose legal name is Roland Collins, faces charges related to a fatal May 2016 shootout during a T.I. concert at Irving Plaza, which left his best friend and bodyguard, Ronald McPhatter, dead.
While the court proceeding was expected to address scheduling, it was pushed back because his lawyer is dealing with health issues.
Collins, who routinely wears fur to court, sported a coyote vest and ushanka-esque sable hat, featuring a raccoon tail, to court. (Think fuzzy Russian hat-meets-hipster pioneer, and you’ve got the right visual.)
He enthusiastically discussed his sartorial sensibilities as he was leaving the courthouse.
“It’s in honor of Ed Norton in The Honeymooners, the Raccoon Lodge,” Collins said matter-of-factly of his hat, referring to the classic television show.
He also donned a black down coat, Balmain jeans, and white Dolce & Gabbana sneakers.
The combination, along with a DIY shirt that read “GOD IS GREAT PAPER STRAIGHT,” made one wonder just how much such a getup would cost.
“It’s just donations to me,” Collins said, commenting that they were courtesy of Konstantine Furs in Chelsea.
He said the style is “from my personality and where I live. I live in a cold place.”
“I like to wear a lot of fur,” he also said. “I love going fishing.”
Collins said he’s seeking the court’s permission to travel to Alaska or Cape Cod, so he can fish for salmon.
His friends recently tried to get him to hunt bear, but going after an “innocent” animal would have been “terrible,” he said.
His pals did catch a bear and despite his unwillingness to hunt one, Collins admitted he would try it.
“We have a French chef. We don’t want to get parasites,” Collins said, saying the meal would be prepared at the Russian Samovar Restaurant.
When asked if he still wanted to go to trial, Collins said “I wanna do what my lawyers advise.”
Collins has long maintained someone else fired first that night at the East Village venue. He insists that he shot back after wrestling the firearm away from McPhatter’s murderer, per reports.
Collins also visited the press room at the 100 Centre Street courthouse today, which for decades is where court reporters from New York City news agencies have kept their desks.
The press room walls are covered with newspaper covers from the New York Daily News and New York Post, many of which mark watershed points in history.
He called it “nostalgic,” saying “I think it’s dope.”
“The dopest part of it — what do you call it, [oxidation]?” he said, referring to the many clippings that have turned yellow with time.
“I buy homes and then I renovate them … I style them actually, I would do something like this, but I would take a bunch of these and put them in like, a big frame … and then I would have a artist put … just a dope word over it in paint,” he said. “ And then just frame it — like, you gotta have a dope gold frame. That would be crazy.”
“I would pay for some of these newspaper clippings.”
Collins was especially moved by one headline in particular — the Dec. 13 1980 Post cover that read “POLICE HIDE LENNON KILLER FROM FANS.”
“That could have been me,” Collins said. “I could have been a dead celebrity.”
