Royce Da 5'9"

Rapper Royce da 5'9" first drew attention beyond Detroit through partnerships with Eminem and Dr. Dre, later extending his reach via an unanticipated pop crossover, a steady stream of independent releases, and involvement in Slaughterhouse and PRhyme. An unfiltered presence combined with a gift for complex rhyme schemes fueled an unceasing flow of mixtapes, guest spots, and projects such as the 2002 debut Rock City.

Ryan Montgomery spent his initial years in the Motor City before relocating to Oak Park at age ten. Hip-hop reached him primarily through his older brother along with radio and television broadcasts. In his late teens he began frequenting open-mike nights, entered battles, and swiftly gained footing within Detroit’s expanding underground scene. His earliest prominent recording came on “Bad Meets Evil,” a cut from The Slim Shady LP, Eminem’s multi-platinum breakthrough issued in 1999. That same year Royce and Eminem dropped “Nuttin’ to Do” under the Bad Meets Evil banner, while the Alchemist-produced “I’m the King” marked Royce’s first solo outing. He also co-wrote “The Message,” the final track on Dr. Dre’s 2001 album, after briefly declining an Aftermath offer in favor of Tommy Boy before signing with Game Recordings.

Early in the following decade, “Boom,” a collaboration with DJ Premier that launched an enduring alliance, became the first of several charting solo singles. The next year Royce appeared on Willa Ford’s “I Wanna Be Bad,” which climbed to number 22 on the pop chart. Although Rock City arrived in 2002, widespread bootlegging forced a move to Koch for Rock City (Version 2.0), followed in 2004 by Death Is Certain. After self-releasing Independent’s Day in 2005 via Trouble—the same outlet that handled numerous mixtapes—he contributed lyrics to “Tell Me” on Diddy’s Press Play. One notable appearance during this stretch was on Joe Budden’s “Slaughterhouse,” which directly inspired the formation of the group. Alongside Budden, Joell Ortiz, and Crooked I, Royce issued a self-titled album that entered the Billboard 200 at number 25. Weeks later, fourth solo effort Street Hop surfaced through another independent arrangement.

Commercial traction increased throughout the 2010s even as his reputation for incisive lyricism continued to rise. The 2011 reunion with Eminem produced Hell: The Sequel, an EP that topped the Billboard 200 and preceded fifth solo album Success Is Certain, itself a Top 30 entry. The year 2012 brought both the warmly received Welcome To: Our House by Slaughterhouse and Royce’s sobriety date in September. Alcoholism, candidly addressed on “Shake This,” had earlier resulted in multiple drunken-driving convictions, a prison term, and strain on his family. A lengthy stretch of writer’s block ended in 2014 with his feature on Eminem’s “Detroit vs. Everybody” and the debut PRhyme album alongside DJ Premier. Layers followed in late 2016, while 2018 saw both PRhyme 2 and seventh solo release Book of Ryan. Further Eminem collaborations arrived that year via “Caterpillar” on Book of Ryan and a track on the surprise album Kamikaze. Eighth album The Allegory, originally slated for January 2020, reached stores in February as a 22-track set featuring Westside Gunn, YBN Cordae, Benny the Butcher, and additional guests.