NEW! Royce Da 5′9″ – “Gun Harmonizing”
From the digital EP “The Revival” – Available 7/7
Royce Da 5′9″ – “Gun Harmonizing” produced by Emile
Royce Da 5′9″
The Revival EP – Available for download July 7
Street Hop LP – In Stores August 22
One Records
The Revival EP Tracklisting
1. Gun Harmonizing 3:16
2. Count For Nothing 3:37
3. Warriors 5:10
4. Street Hop 2010 2:53
About Royce Da 5′9″
A “rapper’s rapper.” It’s a phrase that has been used to describe the best of them. A complete M.C. that possesses the characteristics to make other MCs jealous. A unique and rare combination of lyrical skill, musical prowess, artistic integrity, vocal control and a mastered flow, Royce Da 5’9” is a complete MC who meets the definition of a rapper’s rapper. He’s got the talent all other rappers today want to own.
This respect that Ryan Montgomery, aka Royce Da 5’9, has earned amongst his peers has been ten years in the making. Though he began his career at a time when these qualities were still abundant in the rap game, Royce is the last of a dying breed in 2009. He is one of the few artists today to put the quality of his music above everything else, choosing to opt for perfection over conforming to an overcrowded genre of mediocrity.
Now, in an age where hip-hop’s drought has forced the audience to weed out the nonsense and search for the answer to a dull and uneventful art form, Royce returns with Street Hop, his full-length rescue mission to show MCs how it is supposed to be done.
Executive produced by DJ Premier, Street Hop is Royce’s most personal project to date. Though it is chock full of creative ingenuity and picturesque stories that have wildly astonishing twists, Royce shows his versatility by mixing in songs like “Shake That,” which recounts the turmoil and stress Royce felt as not only an artist, but also a husband and a father, while being incarcerated for a year.
Growing up on the West Side of Detroit, music was a constant companion for Royce. His father played guitar and made sure to expose him to Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, and Bootsy Collins, while his mother favored pop stars like Janet Jackson. However, as timing would have it, it was hip-hop that caught Royce’s attention. Memorizing songs from Run-DMC and LL Cool J, and getting immersed in artists like D.O.C., Steady B, and N.W.A., Royce became inspired to make a name for himself around the D as a ferocious battle MC tearing up open mics at Maurice Malone’s famed Hip Hop Shop, Ebony Showcase, Napoleon’s Retreat, and C-Note Lounge. It wasn’t long before his buzz caught the attention of the then up-and-coming Eminem, whom Royce’s manager arranged a meeting with in 1997. The two clicked and began recording songs as the duo Bad Meets Evil. One of these songs, “Bad Meets Evil,” made it’s way onto Eminem’s debut, The Slim Shady LP. Through his relationship with Em, Royce began his famed ghostwriting career, writing Dr. Dre’s heartfelt, “The Message,” on 2001. His hard work led to a deal with Columbia Records, who partnered with EI records to release his debut, Rock City (2.0), in 2002. A staple in the underground rap scene, the album spawned the DJ Premier-produced classic, “Boom.”
Regardless of radio support or BDS spins, Royce has become one of Detroit’s undisputed heavyweights, and hopes to keep having a positive impact on his hometown. “I’m proud to be someone who went through a lot of ignorant things and got past it,” he says. “I’m the leader of a city and I want to be looked at as a leader and lyricist.”
With a proven track record as a superb lyricist, Royce has always delivered on his early promise to make music that his fans, and even his fellow MCs have always come to expect. In 2004, he released his sophomore album, Death Is Certain, and followed it with the independently released, Independent’s Day. Although the project was originally supposed to be a mixtape, his distributor insisted it be released as an album. Royce then quickly added the superior mixtapes, Bar Exam and Bar Exam 2, hosted by DJ Premier and DJ Green Lantern, to his catalog. “I think the Bar Exam mixtapes made up for what Independent’s Day was missing,” Royce says. “It reinvented me and let people know that I’m serious. Bar Exam 2 is probably my most lyrical project to date. And my new album, Street Hop, is going to top that.”
With “Street Hop,” Royce will finally cement his hip-hop legacy above ground, by introducing the masses to the same MC that so many rappers have grown to respect. Fueled with a sadistic sense of humor and biting sarcastic wit, songs like “Gun Harmonizing” and “Far Away” are haunting ditties illustrating the consequences that accompany going against Nine Nickel and his goons, and will appeal to the most hardcore hip-hop heads. Other songs such as “Part Of Me,” may have a breezy laid-back club-ready beat, but the story’s graphic ending will make any professional skirt chaser think twice about his ways and is controversial to say the least. “I could care less about radio. I don’t like nothing that’s on the radio, so why would I cater to radio,” Royce admits. “I’m just going to stick to doing what I do. Radio’s either going to come to me, or it’s going to remain being corny.”
Realizing that there is strength in numbers, Royce joined forces with three other MCs to form the hip-hop supergroup, Slaughterhouse. Joe Budden, Crooked I and Joell Ortiz all have the skill to impress even the toughest hip-hop critic. And together, they have decided to set off a massive hip-hop takeover. With Slaughterhouse’s upcoming appearance on the Rock The Bells tour, a growing list of writing credits (Royce has already contributed to Diddy’s next album), and popular video bloggin that has the internet on lock (ImNaShitFoolTV), Royce Da 5’9” is poised to make his biggest splash yet. Rappers, get ready.
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