Pastor Troy

Micah LeVar Troy was born on November 18, 1977 in College Park, Georgia. His father, Alfred Troy, is a former drill instructor turned pastor.[3]

Troy graduated from Creekside High School, and attended Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, before deciding to fully pursue his career in rap. His rap name comes from his last name and his father's profession as a pastor, and is also a pun on the name Castor Troy, a character from John Woo's 1997 film Face/Off, played by Nicolas Cage and John Travolta. His fourth album is titled Face Off in reference to the movie.

He released his first album, We Ready (I Declare War), in 1999. Ludacris featured Troy on his album Back for the First Time in the song "Get Off Me."[4] In addition, Pastor Troy is the front man of the rap group D.S.G.B. (Down South Georgia Boyz). DSGB originated in Augusta, Georgia.[5] He was also featured on the collaborative album Kings of Crunk by Lil Jon in the song "Throw it Up".[6] Troy and then friend Lil' Jon reached the top of the charts in the south with songs such as "Vice Versa" and "Throw it Up". Since being in the music industry, Pastor Troy has been in public conflict with Master P,[3] Miracle, Hitman Sammy Sam, Lil Scrappy and The BME Click, and Sno, with whom he has since come to terms. In 2002, Troy's album Universal Soldier became popular in the South, especially with the song "Are We Cuttin'" featuring Ms. Jade, which was also featured on the soundtrack for the action film xXx that year.[7] The album debuted at #13 on the Billboard 200.[8] In 2003, Troy appeared on Young Jeezy's 2003 album Come Shop wit' Me on the track titled "GA".[9]

Troy later released one of his more commercial albums, By Any Means Necessary, in 2004. This album included the hit "Ridin' Big". Following this release, Pastor Troy was released from his Universal contract because of creativity disputes.[3] He then released Face Off, Part II, which addressed some issues with Lil Scrappy and BME, adding new songs, and even remade some of his hits. In 2005, he appeared with Killer Mike on Chamillionaire's track "Southern Takeover" off of The Sound of Revenge

Pastor Troy released three albums in 2006, starting with Stay Tru, then followed by By Choice Or By Force and Atlanta 2 Memphis, which is a collaboration album with Memphis rapper Criminal Manne. Stay Tru debuted at the Billboard 200 at #150, selling 6,000 copies its first week.[10] Currently, Pastor Troy is signed with two record labels. SMC (Stay Tru, Tool Muziq) and Money and Power Records (Face Off Part 2, Atlanta 2 Memphis).[11]

Pastor Troy released his 16th solo album, Ready For War, in June 2009, and released seven more studio albums up to 2011. On June 19, 2012 he released his latest CD entitled The Last OutLaw, also he starred in the film We Was Homeboyz which was released May 10, 2012.

On July 31, 2013, he released another album entitled The Streets Need You. Troy also made a video clip of the intro of his latest mixtape "Crown Royal Legend" on YouTube. On December 30, 2013, Troy released a tribute song following the death of upcoming rapper Doe B titled "Yall ain't Do Him Right". Crown Royal Part 4 was released on January 21, 2014.

Pastor Troy released his album Welcome to the Rap Game on July 1, 2014 and on June 19, 2015 released his new mixtape, the sixth edition of his Crown Royal mixtape series subtitled "The Show | The Afterparty | The Funeral" containing 22 tracks of mostly new material. On June 27, 2015 Pastor Troy unleashed WAR (We Are Ready) in Atlanta his most recent album release inclusive of features by Paul Wall and Bun B. Available on his self-titled app, Troy revisits his gritty "We Ready" and controversial "Vica Versa" true-to-life lyrics. Coinciding with the "WAR in Atlanta" release, Pastor Troy, in partnership with Invicta Creative, released a documentary consisting of Troy's perspective of the music industry and how many of his hits came to be. Includes stories about Lil Jon, Master P and his experience in the industry. The documentary was directed by Will Tolbert. Produced by Will Tolbert, Micah Troy, Desiree Tolbert, Matt Hazel and Al Troy.

Early in 2017, Pastor Troy announced his retirement and released his last album "O.G.P.T" on July 28, 2017. He also announced he was in the process of completing his second movie titled "Down 2 Come Up". The film was written, directed and also co-stars Pastor Troy, who enlisted his long time, best friend and fellow rapper the late Carlos "ShawtyLo" Walker to co-star alongside him. The movie was filmed in 2016 and was Shawty Lo's last project before he died in a car accident on September 21, 2016. It is slated to release March 17, 2020. It also appears that Pastor Troy's retirement was short lived. He has since released two albums, "Clubber Lang" and "Enemy of the State". The first single off Clubber Lang entitled "Heavyweight Champ" features a video which was filmed at the Mercedes/Benz stadium and was directed with a Creed theme.[12] Troy was also featured on "Hoe Check II", a tribute song to the late The Last Mr. Bigg; in which he frequently collaborated with. He appeared on the song along with Project Pat, King Killumbia & Mr. Flip. It was released on the anniversary of the death of Mr. Bigg and premiered on BET and exclusively on DSGB Radio.

Troy has plans for another album, I Said What I Said in 2020. The album release was announced after a viral video was made commenting on Lil Nas X 2020 Grammy win and correlation to his lifestyle in relation to his achievements.

December 17, 2015 Pastor Troy was the recipient of the Independent Icon Award sponsored by That Rabbit, an independent music and video distribution company.

On April 5, 2016, Pastor Troy received the Legends of ATL Award from BMI for his contributions to music in Atlanta.[13]

In January 2020, Pastor Troy made homophobic comments on the outfit Lil Nas X wore during the Grammy Awards.[2][14][15] In a subsequent interview, Pastor Troy tried to insist he is not homophobic, but again made several homophobic comments.[16][17]

• Pastor Troy on Twitter