Lil Troy, most famous for his 1998 hit "Wanna Be A Baller," is back home after a near-death experience. Earlier this week, the Houston native suffered a serious heart attack that landed him in the hospital. Willie D of the Geto Boys suggested he was "fighting for his life." But in a text conversation with RAPstation, Lil Troy confirmed he was doing "a lot better" and walked away from the experience with a fresh perspective.
"I'm going to start speaking about taking our meds, going to the doctor and heart attacks," he said. "I'm good now. Feeling blessed."
Lil Troy and Van Silk spoke to RAPstation in December 2021 after Troy survived a fiery explosion on Interstate 10 near Houston involving his own 18-wheeler. Troy, owner of Birklett Trucking Company, was returning from Arkansas when one of his trucks caught fire.
“I was on freeway about 10, 15 minutes,” he said at the time. “I started seeing smoke coming up in the cab while I was driving and I’m like, ‘This is not good. No, smoke ain’t supposed to get in the cab.’ I started trying to ease my way over to the exit, so I could try to get off the freeway so nobody else get hurt or nothing like that.
“And the closer I get to the exit while trying to get off, I started seeing smoke out the hood coming up and flames started coming up by the hood. And I finally got the truck to stop. I jumped out, grabbed the fire extinguisher to tried to put it out. That wouldn’t work, so I just backed up from it and just let it go.”
This marks at least the second time he’s survived the “Wanna Be A Baller” curse. The song, which featured Fat Pat, Lil’ Will, Big T, H.A.W.K. and Yungstar, is Troy’s biggest hit to date, but nearly everyone who appeared on it has died. Fat Pat was murdered in 1998, just months before the song was released, while H.A.W.K. (who replaced Fat Pat in the “Wanna Be A Baller” video) was fatally shot eight years later. Then Lil’ Will, Troy’s cousin, died in a car accident in 2016 and Big T, who provided the song’s hook, died in 2018 of a suspected heart attack.
