Royce Da 5’9 forces listeners to pay close attention to every verse that he raps. His wordplay on the mic is like clever riddles that are hard to decipher until the the listener takes a moment to figure out how Royce Da 5’9 arrived at the punch line in each rap.
Underrated for years, the Detroit native is on the verge of receiving the acclaim he deserves via his collaborative effort with Eminem and his work with the four-man crew Slaughterhouse.
Royce Da 5’9 recently spoke about his relationship with Eminem, the art of lyricism, and his fondness for Rihanna. –amir shaw
You are known as one of the most lyrical rappers on the scene. Who did you study growing up and when did you begin to incorporate lyricism into your raps?
I was influenced by lyrical rappers such as LL Cool J. I was always torn between Tupac and Biggie, but I never really got into arguing about which one was better because I loved them both. I listened to everything from NWA to E-40. When I was 18, I started writing my own.
Let’s talk about your relationship with Eminem. What was the first song you guys recorded together?
The first song that we did together was back in 1997. It was a song called “Bad Meets Evil,” We redid the song for his first album the Slim Shady LP. But we had a falling out and, 10 years later, we got back together and ended up doing the Bad Meets Evil EP. It was surreal for me and we never looked back since.
On the Bad Meets Evil album, how was it recording in the studio and was there a competition in the booth between you and Eminem?
Personally, I don’t feel that I can compete with I’m him on that level. He is the greatest to me. If anything, it’s inspiring because whatever he does, I’m able to match his flow. That’s kind of how the back-and-forth thing comes. With him and I, it’s kind of like a crossword puzzle. We’re handing each other words and it’s inspiring. I never feel like I have to go in there and top what he just did. It’s fun and it’s actually very nerdy rap.
The BET Hip Hop Awards cypher, ‘Hi Rihanna’ soon became a trending topic on Twitter after you used that phrase in a rap verse. What made you throw Rihanna’s name in the verse?
I saw her overseas and I had just come off stage. She was just about to go on stage and do “I Love the Way You Lie” and she came up to me and told me she loved the song “Fastlane.” She was just giving me props and telling me that song was dope. So the whole cypher thing was just like me saying “thank you” to her and I was saying “hi” flirtatiously. I didn’t know it was going to be trending on Twitter, but I definitely would love to make music with her, so let’s not rule that out.
