If you don’t know about Royce Da 5′9 then you don’t know hip hop. The Detroit emcee has been a fixture in the rap game ever since appearing on Eminem’s commercial debut, The Slim Shady LP. Eminem and Royce would go-on to craft a handful of classic songs, rapping as a duo called Bad Meets Evil. Their rumored-duet album never happened, but that didn’t stop Royce from continuing to sharpen his pen-game. In addition to receiving writing credits on albums by Dr. Dre (2001) and Diddy (Press Play), Royce released numerous albums that received the praise from hardcore hip hop fans. Tomorrow (July 7th) Royce will release The Revival EP, and his supergroup, Slaughterhouse, will also release their album this month. Look for Royce’s “baby,”
Hiptics.com: First I want to congratulate you. We ran a poll on Hiptics asking ‘who is the illest lyricist in Slaughterhouse’ and you dominated it.
Royce Da 5′9:Thank you. I appreciate that, man. I appreciate that.
Hiptics.com: To kick things off, I’m really looking forward to Street Hop, but I’m also looking forward to the Slaughterhouse album. I was wondering the difference in how you approached both of those projects and kind of where you were mentally for both of them.
Royce Da 5′9: The Street Hop album is my headache, that’s my baby. It takes all the thought that I have to do it because it’s just me. The Slaughterhouse project doesn’t take a lot of thought because you got some many beautiful minds in the equation. It’s a no-brainer. You can’t over think anything. We just went in and recorded an album in six days [laughs]. The Street Hop project took me years. I took my time. I was meticulous. I had to make sure everything was perfect to me. The Slaughterhouse project came out perfect. It’s a flawless album because all we did was just bring all our muscle to the table; it was easy to do.
Hiptics.com: It terms of just how you’re feeling about the hip hop game right now, your career, would you say you’re at a good point right now? Are you happy with how things have turned out?
Royce Da 5′9: Yea, I feel like I’m in a great place, man. It went up and down. You know, my career has been on a roller-coaster. I learned a lot from making a whole shit load of mistakes [laughs]. I can honestly say that I’m pretty good with not making the same mistake twice. Even though in my thirty year-old, old age [laughs] like I’m still making mistakes, just not as many, and I’m doing more right things then wrong. I think that’s why I’m where I am today, and I’m very happy where I’m at right now. I definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Hiptics.com: Good man I’m glad to hear that. You know I’ve been following you career since back in the “Boom” days. I recently read an interview with Guru where he was talking about how him and DJ Premier aren’t necessarily cool and that they would just go in and make the music. What’s your relationship like with Premier? Does it go outside the studio?
Royce Da 5′9: Yea definitely. Preme is my man, and I think that’s why the chemistry is so good because we get along outside of the studio. He’s not just a mentor, but [also] a good friend.
Hiptics.com: I have some questions here that some of our readers wanted me to ask you. There a little bit random, but speaking of Premier, how did you come about meeting Premier in the first place?
Royce Da 5′9: I don’t even remember, man [laughs]. Man, let me see. I’ve been knowing Preme for so long. I think it was when I was signed to Tommy Boy I said I wanted to work with Premier so when we got in the studio. I don’t remember when we got cool. I know I met him in the studio the first time we worked together, we did a song called “My Friend.” That was the first song we did on Tommy Boy. I actually got on the phone with him to let him know the concept and he made a beat thinking about the concept. We spoke on the phone, then we got on the studio, [but] I don’t remember when exactly was the time when we actually clicked and became so close. I don’t even know, man, cause I’ve been knowing him so long. I just remember I met him in person that day, but I don’t remember the year [laughs]. It was like a blur for me me.
Hiptics.com: There was a recent Rap City episode where Eminem said you’re one of the emcees that he thinks should be bigger. One of our readers was wondering if you saw the episode and if there was any possibility of another Royce/Em track?
Royce Da 5′9: Yea I definitely saw the episode and I appreciated that, and anything is possible. Anything is possible. Not just a Royce Da 5′9 and Eminem track, but a Royce Da 5′9 and anybody track. The possibilities are endless. When you’re making good music, other people appreciate it and vice-versa, [so] anything is possible.
Hiptics.com: We have a reader who was wondering if there’s truth to the rumor that the Kanye-produced “Heartbeat” was used without Kanye West’s permission, and if he in fact said that he’d never work with you as a result.
Royce Da 5′9: Yea Kanye made that comment. He gave me the beat and before I could actually buy the beat from him, somehow it leaked out. I didn’t leak it out. And then he made the comment that he’d never work with me again, but you know, it’s a two-way street. I’ll never work with him again [laughs]. That’s what I gotta say about that.
Hiptics.com: Got one more question here from a reader. What are your favorite hip hop groups of all time?
Royce Da 5′9: Tribe Called Quest, Wu Tang Clan, NWA, I could go on forever. All of the groups basically. Everybody that contributed something, man. We’re talking about guys that made classic material so I look up to all those guys.
Hiptics.com: I think everybody knows Street Hop is going to be a hot album, but how do you feel the album is going to impact the game? What’s going surprise people?
Royce Da 5′9: I think people are going to be surprised that I can write great concept records, story records. I can write great radio records. I can write anything. The music I been known for doing, and then the kind of songs that I’ve written for other people, I’ve combined all of that and put it into my own shit. I think people are going to listen to it, and I might just be considered as one of the best rappers alive after this album comes out.
Hiptics.com: There was word you had written for Puff on Press Play as well as for other major artists. Could you give us some insight into the whole ghostwriting game? What’s your experience been like ghostwriting for some of the biggest artists in the game?
Royce Da 5′9: You know what it just helps me. It helps me with my own [music]. If I write something for Puff and then he tells me, “okay re-write it again, re-write again, re-write it again.” And I’m writing thirty, forty verses. Damn, why don’t I put this same energy into my own project. They really turned me, him and [Dr.] Dre, they turned me onto a different way of working. You know that process right there is just a straight up sponge process. It’s just me basically learning how the greats in the game construct their projects and then I take something away from that and put it into my own [projects]. [It's a] learning process.
Hiptics.com: Do you feel like the average rap listener would be surprised as to how many how the game’s stars rely on ghostwriters?
Royce Da 5′9: Um, naw, there’s nothing to be surprised about. There’s so much more that goes into a great record than just writing. You’ve got people who are writers who will never be stars. They’ll never be big. You can’t even really call yourself a hit maker; you wrote a song. It’s people out here that can deliver your rhymes better than you. There’s so much more that goes into it. Writing is just one element. I don’t think there’s nothing to be surprised about. I don’t think they should be surprised.
Hiptics.com: In your experience, are the people you might write for, are they pretty adamant about keeping it quiet?
Royce Da 5′9: You know what I’ve never had a conversation with anybody who I’ve ever written anything for about that, but it seems like that’s the unspoken rule. I normally keep it chill. I normally don’t run around saying, ‘yo I wrote this for this guy, and this for this guy.’ The Puff thing just got out like the names of all his writers.
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Props on the interview. CFro asked good questions and the reader submitted ones were solid too. Royce is sick, Em’s right. I hope Street Hop sells well.