Who's the real king of independent rap? For the past few years, the boisterous Troy Ave has self proclaimed himself as the top rapper on the independent circuit. Now, it seems as if someone is dubbing themselves as the true king. Joey Bada$$ and Troy Ave sent subliminal shots on Twitter on Monday (June 22) regarding the status of who indeed is the real independent king in rap.

"Reminder: Joey Bada$$ sold 57,000+ albums in his first week, INDEPENDENTLY... At 20 years old... $10/album... 85% of shares, do the math," Joey tweeted. "That makes me the #1 Independent Hip Hop artist/brand in the world," he continued saying.

Troy - clearly perturbed by Joey's tweets - went on the defense and lashed back on his Twitter timeline defending his self-proclaimed throne of excellence.

"NO single, NO party hosting's NO real endorsements Reminder: NObody cares + u WORK for Sony Red / Cinematic Records ," he wrote.

Recently, the "All About the Money" rapper has been deflecting comments regarding his staggeringly low sales for his latest album Major Without a Deal. Initially, Troy Ave was said to have only sold a meager 4300 copies a few days following its release. He would later debunk that number and explain that because he dropped on a Friday, that his low numbers only reflected his sales for those three days.

On the other hand, Joey's B4.Da.$$ dropped on Sony Red earlier this year. His debut album sold over 57,000 copies in its first week and was dubbed an extraordinary feat for the Brooklyn rhymer.

Who do you think is the kind of independent rap? Is it Joey Bada$$ or Troy Ave? Tell us in the comments below.

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