Z-Ro Claims Trae Tha Truth Ambushed Him Before Fight Caught on Viral Video

Instagram/Z_Ro

A legendary Houston rapper is accusing his cousin and sometimes partner-in-rhyme of sucker-punching him after 50 Cent's Tycoon Houston charity event this past weekend.

Z-Ro has issued a statement to XXL, saying that a viral video of an altercation between himself and Trae Tha Truth's entourage on Saturday began with the equally renowned third-coast rapper pulling him aside to speak before unexpectedly assaulting him:

I was at 50 charity dinner on Saturday [Aug. 27] and some supporters asked for a pic... then I saw Trae approaching. He asked if he could Holla at me... I turned around to see who he was talking to and he asked if I could follow him to the side of a sprinter bus," he told the magazine. "I'm thinking we [about] to talk like 2 grown men, but I was sucker punched. When that happened... several other dudes (who I don't have affiliation with) jumped in.

He added that the video making the rounds shows just a portion of what took place writing, "The beginning, where I was asked to come over, is not shown! At the end of the day, I came to the event One Deep and to meet my artist Lolita Monreaux so we could support 50. I didn't anticipate any altercation to take place especially since I've been asking that man for a 1 on 1 for charity for at least [two] years."

Z-ro and Trae (ABN) fight
Can’t believe they jumped my nigga mayne 🤦🏾‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/V5HWhrVADh

— True Hero Under Godひ (@T_Nealy91) August 30, 2022

Z-Ro insisted to TMZ that he is not upset about the incident.

"I think people in the streets are taking this s—t harder than me," he told the entertainment outlet in an interview.

There is a long history of collaboration between the two artists.

They formed two-thirds of the group Guerilla Maab, along with their friend Dinky D, releasing the well-received project "Rise" in 1999. Trae Tha Truth had previously made his rap debut on Z-Ro's 1998 premiere album "Look What You Did to Me" as a guest artist.

They later teamed up to form the group Assholes By Nature (ABN). The group released two albums, an eponymous one in 2003 and "It Is What It Is" in 2008.

The latter proved to be one of the biggest commercial successes for both artists, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and peaking at No. 62 on the Billboard 200.

"People just grow apart," Z-Ro said of the dissolution of that fruitful relationship. "It wasn't no beef. We just stopped [working together] I think around 2012."

As for how to resolve the dispute going forward, Z-Ro —who has long been asking Trae Tha Truth to settle things with a charity boxing match —said his hands are tied but implied that others are not.

"I can't answer you when you're talking about a resolution," he told TMZ, "because I have my thought as a man, I have my thought as a n—a, ya know what I'm saying, and I'm kind of siding with this man s—t right now."