Royce da 5'9"
| Royce da 5'9" | |
|---|---|
 Royce da 5'9" performing live at Rock the Bells 2011 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ryan Daniel Montgomery |
| Also known as | Nickel Nine |
| Born | July 5, 1977 |
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Rapper |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | Shady Records |
| Associated acts | Bad Meets Evil, DJ Premier, Slaughterhouse |
| Website | royceda59.com |
Ryan Daniel Montgomery (born July 5, 1977), better known by his stage name Royce da 5'9", is a Detroit rapper. He is known for his longtime association with Eminem and for his solo career, recording primarily with Carlos "6 July" Broady and DJ Premier, as well as ghostwriting for the likes of Diddy and Dr. Dre. Royce is one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with Eminem and also a member of hip hop group Slaughterhouse.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early acclaim
Ryan Montgomery was born and raised on the West side of Detroit, Michigan on W. McNichols & Wyoming Ave. He moved to Oak Park, Michigan when he was 10 years old, later acquiring the nickname "Royce" during highschool after wearing a Turkish link chain with an R pendant resembling the Rolls Royce symbol. He started rapping at age 18, influenced mainly by Ras Kass and Redman.[1] He signed his first deal in 1998 with Tommy Boy Records, after the label shut down, he signed a deal with Columbia where he started recording an album called Rock City, referring to Detroit's former status as home to Motown Records. When the project was heavily bootlegged, Royce left the label for Koch to re-record some of the album, eventually releasing it in 2002 as Rock City (Version 2.0). While the album did not sell very well, the DJ Premier-produced single "Boom" gained Royce some underground recognition and eventually resulted in the two working together more closely.
Through his manager, Royce was introduced to Eminem at a show in 1997, and the two formed a working relationship; they formed up as a duo, Bad Meets Evil, and released several tracks together. Royce appeared on Eminem's debut studio album The Slim Shady LP, in which he was featured on a song called "Bad Meets Evil". Royce and Eminem also released a track called "Renegades", from which Royce's vocals would later be replaced with Jay-Z's on the latter's The Blueprint. Through Eminem, Royce would also be introduced to both Dr. Dre and execs at Game Recordings. After his manager revealed that Royce was involved in writing the tracks "The Message" and an original version of "Xxplosive" for Dr. Dre's 2001 (entitled "Way I Be Pimping"),[2] Dr. Dre requested that Royce cut ties with his manager. Royce refused to fire his manager, and then his relationship with Dre ended.
[edit] Feud with D12
Royce had a falling-out with Eminem's hip hop group D12, including mutual friend and group member Proof. This resulted in a drawn-out, public rivalry between the rapper and five of the six members, with Royce releasing three diss tracks aimed at the group. The first diss track, "Shit on You", was recorded over instrumental of D12's song with the same name and mainly attacked group member Bizarre. "Malcolm X" was the second diss track, which featured Tré Little. D12 responded with "Smack Down" which was recorded over 50 Cent's "Back Down" instrumental. Proof also recorded a diss track entitled "Many Men". This was recorded over 50 Cent's "Many Men (Wish Death)" instrumental. Proof later released another diss with The Purple Gang called "Beef Is Ova". Royce responded with his third diss track, which was recorded over 50 Cent's "In Da Club" instrumental titled "Death Day". In the summer of 2003, D12 member Proof confronted Royce outside a club in Detroit. Violence erupted between the rappers' entourage, leading to the Police being called, and Proof and Royce's arrest. The two were detained overnight in adjacent cells where they talked out their differences and ended the feud[3]. A few years later Royce was featured in a mixtape of D12 released in 2008 called Return of the Dozen. They also went on tour in Europe and Canada together.
[edit] Solo work
Royce signed with Game Recordings, for whom he had recorded several tracks for the soundtrack of the video game Grand Theft Auto III, released in 2001. The in-game radio station, Game Radio FM, prominently featured Royce's "I'm the King", an The Alchemist-produced solo track that (along with the publicized beef) helped elevate Royce's name beyond his association with Eminem. In 2004, he released his second and most critically successful album to date, Death Is Certain, charting with another Premier-produced single, "Hip-Hop".
After the relative success of his sophomore effort, Royce put out a third solo project, Independent's Day, in 2005. This was met with less acclaim than either of his previous releases. During this time, the rivalry between Royce and former friend Proof reached a boiling point in the streets of Detroit, on an occasion where the two rappers drew guns; they were subsequently arrested and left to work out their differences while spending the night in neighboring cells in jail. The time spent in jail led to the artists ending their feud and subsequently embarking on two overseas tours together.[4] Though Royce had planned other projects involving Nottz and his former crew, D-Elite, these were cut short after a sentencing to one year in prison for a DUI.[5].
[edit] Release from prison
After his release in 2007, Royce with DJ Premier and Statik Selektah released the mixtape The Bar Exam. He also announced an album with Premier; in an interview with Elemental Magazine, Royce stated that, contrary to rumors, Premier would not be producing the entirety of his upcoming album, but will be overseeing the project as executive producer, handpicking all of the beats. Following The Bar Exam, Royce wrote the single for Diddy's album Press Play, "Tell Me". Following this, the producer expressed interest in signing the lyricist to Bad Boy;[6] Nas has also stated that he would like to sign Royce to his Def Jam imprint, The Jones Experience.[7] Neither of these deals, however, materialized.
In early 2008 Royce confirmed that he had officially resolved misunderstandings between himself and Eminem.[8] He released The Bar Exam 2 with DJ Green Lantern later in the year, as well as a retail version of the mixtape The Album; the projects featured production from Green Lantern, 9th Wonder, DJ Premier and 6 July, among others. Later worked on his Premier-assisted retail release, Street Hop, the lead single of which was "Shake This", also produced by DJ Premier. The video to the song circulated the internet, and the project was released October 20, 2009.[9]
[edit] Slaughterhouse
Joe Budden collaborated with Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Royce da 5'9" and Nino Bless on a track titled "Slaughterhouse" on his digital release, Halfway House. Based on the reception of the track, they decided to form a supergroup, minus Nino Bless, and named it after the first song they made together.[10] They released numerous songs throughout early 2009, building a buzz for their self-titled album, which was released through E1 on August 11, 2009.[11] The album features production from DJ Khalil, Mr. Porter and The Alchemist, plus guest appearances from Pharoahe Monch, K. Young and The New Royales. The group signed with Shady Records on January 12, 2011.
[edit] Bad Meets Evil reunion
After Royce reconciled with Eminem, the duo started working again on new music and released Hell: The Sequel on June 14, 2011. The album has released two singles, "Fast Lane" and "Lighters" featuring Bruno Mars.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
US Rap |
US Heat |
US Ind |
|||
| 2002 | Rock City | — | 29 | 6 | 7 |
|
|
| 2004 | Death Is Certain
|
161 | 39 | 4 | 5 |
|
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| 2005 | Independent's Day
|
— | — | — | — | — | |
| 2009 | Street Hop
|
110 | 29 | 11 | 2 | 13 |
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| 2011 | Success Is Certain
|
25 | 7 | 5 | — | 3 |
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[edit] Collaboration albums
- 2009: Slaughterhouse (with Slaughterhouse)
- 2011: Slaughterhouse EP (with Slaughterhouse)
- 2011: Hell: The Sequel (as Bad Meets Evil)
- 2012: Welcome to: Our House (with Slaughterhouse)
[edit] Mixtapes
- 2003: Build & Destroy
- 2004: M.I.C.: Make It Count
- 2007: The Bar Exam (with Statik Selektah and DJ Premier)
- 2008: The Bar Exam 2 (with DJ Green Lantern)
- 2010: The Bar Exam 3 (with DJ Whoo Kid)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US R&B |
US Rap |
BEL | GER | SWE | SWI | UK | |||||
| 1999 | "I'm the King" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Grand Theft Auto III soundtrack | ||
| 2000 | "Boom" | — | 48 [12] |
— | — | — | — | — | Rock City | ||
| 2001 | "You Can't Touch Me" | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2002 | "Rock City" (featuring Eminem) |
99 | — | 45 | 30 | 44 | 37 | — | |||
| 2004 | "Hip Hop" | 98 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Death Is Certain | ||
| 2005 | "Politics" (featuring Cee Lo Green) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | Independent's Day | ||
| 2009 | "Shake This" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Street Hop | ||
| "Part of Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "New Money" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2011 | "Writer's Block" (featuring Eminem) |
104 [13] |
— | — | — | — | — | 199 [14] |
Success Is Certain | ||
| "Second Place" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Legendary" (featuring Travis Barker) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or receive certification. | |||||||||||
[edit] Featured singles
| Year | Song | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | AUS | ||||
| 2001 | "I Wanna Be Bad" (Willa Ford featuring Royce da 5'9") |
22 | 52 | Willa Was Here | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or receive certification. | |||||
[edit] References
- ^ "Royce Da 5'9" Interview", ''Hip Hop Galaxy'', 22 July 2005. Hiphopgalaxy.com (2005-07-22). Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ Baker, Soren. (2002-10-29) "Royce da 5'9" Emerges Out of Eminem's Shadow with ''Rock City''", ''MTV''. Mtv.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgPznfn-rek&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
- ^ "The Detroit Reunion Concert (Pics & Video)", ''MichiganHipHop.com''. Michiganhiphop.com (2008-07-14). Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ "Royce da 5′9" Interview: Talks Slaughterhouse, Eminem, Album & More", ''DetroitRap.com''. Detroitrap.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ "Royce da 5'9" Addresses Nas Signing, 'For Him To Say I Was Nice Meant A Lot'", ''SOHH.com''. Web.archive.org (2007-11-03). Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Arnold, Paul W. (2008-03-12) "Eminem And Royce da 5'9" Squash Beef", ''HipHopDX''. Hiphopdx.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ "Exclusive Interview with Royce da 5'9", Performing Tonight at VICS", ''City Weekend''. Cityweekend.com.cn (2008-12-06). Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ "Crooked I, ''The Freestyler''", ''XXLmag.com''. Xxlmag.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ SlaughterHouse. Allmusic
- ^ Royce da 5'9". AllMusic (2001-10-04). Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ "Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles – Issue Date: 2011-07-16". Billboard.biz. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/601rvH8WS. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
- ^ "Chart Log UK: New Entries Update (wk18)". Zobbel.de. http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/110514cluk.txt. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
[edit] External links
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