Troy Ave and the curious case of his album sales have been the cause of a huge discussion on social media about the legitimacy of his claims of being a true independent artist. Earlier today, Joey Bada$$ went on Twitter in a form of response to the conversation, putting the numbers from his successful debut album in perspective with Troy's as a reminder:

Reminder: Joey Bada$$ sold 57,000+ albums in his first week, INDEPENDENTLY... At 20 years old... $10/album... 85% of shares, do the math.... — B4.DA.$$ OUT NOW!!! (@joeyBADASS) June 22, 2015

That makes me the #1 Independent Hip Hop artist/brand in the world.... — B4.DA.$$ OUT NOW!!! (@joeyBADASS) June 22, 2015

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Troy, of course, had to respond to this on Twitter shortly thereafter by questioning Joey's numbers and even calling him an employee of Sony Red:

NO single, NO party hosting's NO real endorsements Reminder: NObody cares + u WORK for Sony Red / Cinematic Records #FakeIndependent — TROY AVE (@TroyAve) June 22, 2015

Besides the confounding point made about hosting parties, it should be noted that Troy did have a big endorsement with Sean John just a few months ago:

Joey also had a major endorsement working with Mountain Dew's Green Label records (and even Malia Obama), so it's unclear what a "real" endorsement is in Troy's mind. It seems like his subtweet to Joey raised more questions than answers, since he didn't actually refute any of his (factual) claims. It looks like battle to be the #1 Independent brand continues, through Twitter of course.