Troy Ave Acts Out 'The Purge' in "Smash on Em/Uhohhh" Video

Troy Ave has compiled his fair share of enemies, so it's easy to see why he might dig The Purge horror film franchise. The Brooklyn rapper takes cues from that dystopia in his new "Smash on Em/Uhohhh" music video, released on July 9.

Like the movies, in which the U.S. government sanctions all crime for one night every year, Troy's video, directed by White Ape Films, depicts scenes of civilian warfare. He raps atop an abandoned truck surrounded by gunmen wearing gas masks, and in the middle of a street-turned-burning-wasteland. Automatic weapons and American flags dot the landscape.

The song comes from the August 2017 mixtape Album of the Summer. The project was one of five tapes released by Troy last year, along with White Christmas 5, Nupac, Dope Boy Troy and Style 4 Free.

Ave has earned less attention recently for his music than for his suspected involvement in the murder trial for Taxstone, the podcast personality accused of wounding the rapper and killing his bodyguard in the infamous 2016 shooting at Irving Plaza in New York.

The "She Belongs to the Game" spitter has hinted that he's not willing to go to jail for another person's crime. He was initially arrested for the shooting in question before Taxstone was charged.

Troy was also shot two Christmases ago, in an incident about which he shared new information on Instagram today (July 18). In the caption for pictures taken with a pastor named Rema Duncan, the rapper explains how Duncan picked him up when he was bleeding on the street and took him to the hospital. Duncan is now Troy's spiritual advisor.

You can watch Troy Ave's "Uhohhh" video and read his Instagram post about the Christmas shooting below.

See 13 Rappers Who Were Shot While They Were in the Spotlight