Many of the contestants fighting for hip-hop stardom in Rhythm + Flow Season 2 are no strangers to adversity. Whether they’ve lost a loved one or have others constantly tell them “no,” each artist has cultivated the confidence to push through even the most difficult of obstacles. So when they’re tasked with going head-to-head with their fellow competitors in the ultimate cypher battle, they gear up without fear. That is, until they find out they’re being judged by Eminem.
In the basement of Detroit’s historic St. Andrews Hall where the behemoth cut his teeth, the 14 rappers are tasked with bringing their fiercest, tightest bars in order to impress the judges (Eminem is joined by Latto, Royce Da 5’9”, Mr. Porter, and host SMACK), and advance to the next round.
But while anybody can throw a lazy punch, Eminem is looking for something special in each of these rappers: a mastery of the craft of battle rapping. The iconic emcee explains what truly grabs his attention in a competition. “If I hear a rapper doing compound syllables, I immediately know this is a technician […]. And then there’s stage presence and delivery. That’s what I look for.”
After the gauntlets are thrown, only seven contestants remain after this challenge. But the judges aren’t the only ones who have opinions — the world is watching, too. It’s your turn to sit in the judges’ seats and weigh in. Of each of the seven matchups, who do you think deserved the crown? Watch the latest episode below.
The Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud seemingly ended after Dreezy responded to K. Dot’s “Not Like Us” with the weak, defensive “The Heart Part 6” track and was widely declared the loser of the beef, but Kendrick has been getting more and more juice out of his Drake diss tracks, especially “Not Like Us.”
The song debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts, and Kendrick went on to perform it five times in a row at his Juneteenth concert “Ken & Friends = The Pop Out,” which also included the live debuts of “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA,” a Black Hippy reunion (Kendrick, ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul), Shady Records’ Westside Boogie and more. Now, Kendrick has released a video for “Not Like Us,” and the clip is loaded with more Drake disses and references to their beef.
In his latest post on Instagram, Royce 5’9″ shared a picture with Yahki Rapha Elohim with “Not Like Us” playing over it. Under the comment sections, one of the user commented: “So I assume Em against Drake too,” on which Royce replied: “Your assumption would be wrong… We’re not against anybody .. Proud of both sides.” Another user commented: “It ain’t worth posting the pic with the song if you finna defend yourself in the comments all day. You did this s–t on purpose my guy,” on that Royce responded with: “Defending myself? I ain’t your guy… I post what I want… When I want…” That user replied again: “you could’ve left the last response G it ain’t that deep for me. But you are defending yaself because you know you on some sucka ish. Oak Park ain’t raise you like that.” Royce hit back with: “I like Drake. Can’t stand his fans tho… All yall act like Virgos.”
Someone commented: “Royce on Kenny’s side. love to see it.” On that, the Detroit icon replied: “I’m not on anyone side..” Another said: “Someone don’t like Drake lol,” and Royce responded: ” I’m a fan of Drake bro.”
One of the users (probably a Drake fan) reminded him a Lupe Fiasco beef: “Why you ain’t play the song Lupe smashed your mic with,” he asked. Royce 5’9″ responded: “What’s it called?” He replied back: “Steve Jobs / SLR 3 … go back & listen again so you can get a reminder just how bad Lupe did you. We ain’t hear a song from you since on the other hand Lupe dropped 2 fire albums since he dismantled your mic.” Royce ironically replied: “Awwww man you googled.” Check the post below:
Couple of days ago, Tech N9ne sat down with Anthony Ray on his podcast where Kansas City, Missouri-born hip-hop legend gave high praise to Eminem, talked about meeting Slim Shady for the first time during “Anthem” video shoot, Eminem making Jason mask popular and more.
“People trying to give me stuff Jason, I’ve watched all the Friday 13th, I love it all, but Eminem is Jason. So they trying to give me Jason stuff they supposed to give it to Eminem, they give me Michael Myers stuff, Krayzie Bone is Leatherface, Bushwick Bill was Chucky. I’ve been Michael Myers for decades. Eminem has always had…even in his new song with BabyTron and Big Sean, he had f–king mask on with a chainsaw and greater said he did it first. He made it popular. I have not heard the new song yet. I’ve been in the studio trying to get as many songs I can get before I go for my wedding in Puerto Rico.” said Tech N9ne.
Then he continued: “When I did “Anthem”, it was my first time meeting a lot of people that I f–king listened to when I was coming up. I met KRS-1 that day. I met Kool G Rap that day. I met Eminem face to face that day. When I was walking in to do my part, him and his crew they all had big a-s leather jackets and they were coming out like ‘what’s up brother, how you doing.’ I’m like ‘I’m about to shoot my s–t. We are going to do it real soon bro.’ He said ‘yes we are.’ Next time I talked to him was on the phone. He was doing the bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas. It’s a bar. I was busy doing something and Grant Rice called me and put Eminem on the phone and he said to me ‘you f–king killed it on the Anthem.’ I said ‘look who the f–king talking bro.’ It took 10 years for Speedom to happen after that.”
“Battle Eminem? We are allies man. Some people say Tech’s better than Eminem but I say Tech is different than Eminem. Eminem is f–king meticulous with the words, not saying I’m not but he’s super witty as well. When I look at a lyricist from Rakim all the way up to now, I know from Kool G Rap to Crooked I to Royce to Chino XL, Pharoahe Monch, Busta Rhymes, we pay attention to people who take it that extra mile when it comes to rhyming words, Eminem is at the top of that game. When it come to how I’ve been seeing motherf–kers work words and s–t and that’s not taking away from none of all the people, the names I named are right there with it. I’m saying I’m different than Eminem and we are allies. We are all gang-related and me and Eminem, I can’t believe I’m saying this, me and Eminem at odds could start some racial s–t. Can start some gang bang s–t. I’m so glad we are allies.” Tech N9ne added.
After me made the post about the interview, Royce 5’9″ commented on our post, responding to Tech N9ne’s words where he said Eminem is at the top of rhyming game. Royce said: “He’s on top of ALL games.” Check out the screenshot below:
Eminem returned on Tuesday with his second single “Tobey,” featuring Big Sean and BabyTron from The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) album alongside fellow Detroit rappers Big Sean and BabyTron. In the song, Eminem appeared to address Billboard ranking him at No. 5 on the list of Greatest Rappers of All-Time, which was published last year.
In the song, Em raps: “Ain’t feelin’ your top five favorite rappers (Woo) / So I know they ’bout to be pissed at me (Why?) / But this, to me, is a mystery / How rappers I’ve already ripped could be (What?) / Higher up on a list than me (Ha) / Yet here I sit on your list though at five (Hm), which still was fine / But just know inside, to me, that s–t’s hilarious.”
It’s unclear who Slim Shady is targeting, but the four rappers ahead of him on the Billboard’s ranking (from four to one) are 2Pac, Nas, Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z. Eminem collaborated with all of them but he’s definitely not talking about 2Pac for a several reasons. Eminem and Nas collaborated on “EPMD 2” and Eminem and Kendrick Lamar on “Love Game” and I think Shady did outshine them on a track but the general assumption is not what I think. As far as Jay-Z, the two collaborated on “Renegade” in the early 2000s and the general assumption is that Eminem murdered Hov in his own s–t.
Right before these lines, Em raps: “Y’all thought you were sick, you were misdiagnosed (Nope) / I’m dope and you’ll never have this high a dose (Nope, yeah) / Now my estates in the buildin’, and bitch, I done slept on more floors than the Empire State (‘Pire State) Building.” While there is literal imagery of Eminem’s home now being the Empire State Building, which is so big (and expensive) that he has bedrooms on every floor, it’s really a metaphor for his legacy being a huge part of the rap game, and the fact that this respect wasn’t just handed to him. He worked hard for it. Moreover, this is the setup to subliminal shot that comes after those lines (mentioned above) that was taken at Jay-Z who has a track called “Empire State of Mind.” Ironically, the song’s length is 4:44, which is also a title of one of JAY-Z’s studio albums.
Hip-hop fans really thought Eminem was taking shots at Jay-Z but under one of the posts on Instagram, Royce Da 5’9” responded to a fan who asked: “You not gonna answer this but they saying Em was throwing a shot at Jay in that Tobey joint. Is that true? On which Royce responded with “Of course not.”
If you thought another hip-hop war was brewing between two rap giants, it’s not. Sorry. Check out Royce’s response below:
The Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef is an ongoing rap feud between Canadian rapper and Compton rappers. The conflict escalated in March 2024 after the release of “Like That” by Future and Metro Boomin, featuring Lamar.
Their first collaboration was in 2011, on Drake’s album Take Care, with another collaboration a year later on Lamar’s album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. Lamar later dissed Drake and several other rappers on the 2013 song “Control” by Big Sean, saying he wanted to “murder” them in music. He clarified that his verse was intended to be seen as “friendly competition”.
In 2023, J. Cole proposed on the track “First Person Shooter” from Drake’s album For All the Dogs that he, Drake, and Lamar were the “Big Three” of hip-hop, prior to stating that he feels like Muhammad Ali, implying that he sees himself as the greatest out of the “Big Three”. The conflict was reignited in March 2024 when Lamar dissed Cole and Drake on the song “Like That”, rejecting the existence of a “Big Three”. Cole then responded to Lamar on the diss track “7 Minute Drill”, which Cole thereafter apologized for and removed from streaming services.
Drake then released the songs “Push Ups” and “Taylor Made Freestyle” in April, with the latter containing AI-generated vocals of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg. “Taylor Made Freestyle” was later deleted from social media after Shakur’s estate expressed its disapproval of the song and threatened Drake with legal action. In response, Lamar released the song “Euphoria” on April 30 and “6:16 in LA” on May 3. Drake responded with “Family Matters” later that day, accusing Lamar of being a domestic abuser and alleging that one of Lamar’s children was fathered by Dave Free. Twenty minutes later, Lamar released “Meet the Grahams”, accusing Drake of being a sexual predator and fathering another secret child. Lamar then released “Not Like Us” the following evening and on May 5, Drake responded with “The Heart Part 6″, denying Lamar’s accusations and claiming his team gave Lamar false information about the secret child.
While majority of hip-hop fans think Kendrick Lamar has the victory, Royce 5’9” thinks that the actually winners are the hip-hop fans who witnessed one of the biggest beets in the history of rap. “Somebody just asked me, who won?? My reply: THE FANS.” said Royce on Instagram. You can check the post below:
Eminem has just sent the fans into madness as the Detroit legend shares pictures of himself in the studio with Dr. Dre, Royce 5’9″, The Alchemist, Denaun Porter and his recent Shady Records signee, Ez Mil. It is highly possible that all these artists that appear in the picture are featured on the new album or Eminem just invited them for a listening session.
One thing that we know for sure, Dr. Dre will be on the album. “Let me tell you something. Let me explain something right now. Eminem is working on his own album which is coming out this year and I actually talked to him and he said it was okay for me to make that announcement right here on this show. So yeah, the album coming out, I got songs on it and it’s fire. I’m actually going to hear entire album for the first time tomorrow. He holds his music close to his chest so I have not heard everything. I have not even heard everything complete that I’ve done but I’m gonna hear it and he’s putting out album this year. There are things on there that I have to mix that I’ve done but I got a chance to hear album in its entirety.” said Dr. Dre during his visit on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
In the caption of the new post, Eminem wrote: “Nuthin 2 see here… plenty to hear!!!” Busta Rhymes, Bizarre of D12, Boldy James, Fredwreck, Nasaan, King Iso, Adam22, Helluva, DJ Pooh, R-Mean, have all reacted in the comments. Royce 5’9″ also posted the picture with the caption: “3-21-24 At @drdre ‘s House …” On which DJ Premier commented: “On my Born Day. That’s a good day!” Busta Rhymes also commented King Crown emojis. Nasaan, Dem Jointz, Page Kennedy, Smoothvega, have also commented. Ez Mil also re-shared the post with the caption “‘La lang.”
Last time Eminem dropped the full body of work was more than 4 years ago. Em dropped his 11th solo studio album Music to Be Murdered By on January 17, 2020, through Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records. Just like Eminem’s previous studio album Kamikaze (2018), the album was released with no prior announcement. The album was produced by many producers, with Eminem and Dr. Dre serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from Skylar Grey, Young M.A, Royce da 5’9″, White Gold, Ed Sheeran, the late Juice WRLD, Black Thought, Q-Tip, Denaun, Anderson .Paak, Don Toliver, Kxng Crooked and Joell Ortiz.
The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 279,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. Subsequently, Eminem became the first artist to have ten consecutive number-one albums in the US and one of six artists to have released at least ten US number-one albums. Music to Be Murdered By reached number one in 16 countries. Music critics praised Eminem’s lyrical abilities and the improved production after Kamikaze, while criticism was directed towards the album’s formulaic song structure, lack of innovation, and shock value.
On December 18, 2020, Eminem released a deluxe version of the album, named Music to Be Murdered By – Side B, without any prior announcement. It includes the original album’s 20 tracks along with 16 new ones. It includes a variety of features, with guest appearances from Skylar Grey, DJ Premier, Ty Dolla $ign, Dr. Dre, Sly Pyper, MAJ, and White Gold…Check out Eminem’s latest post below:
Nasaan and Royce 5’9″ have recently sat down with Way Up With Angela Yee where they talked about Nasaan’s upcoming album Error 404 that’s releasing on April 25, 2024, featuring BabyTron, Royce 5’9″, Icewear Vezzo and more. They also talked sobriety, Cordae, Eminem, Paul Rosenberg, Obie Trice, Big Proof, their biggest mistakes and much more.
Nasaan & Royce 5’9″ on Cordae
Nasaan: I don’t even have a problem with the dude. I actually like him as a person. I picked on him a few years ago and then my fans just loved it. It’s like an inside joke. That’s messed up. That’s mean. I probably gonna stop. So, shout out to Cordae though. It’s rooted in competition. It’s not like a personal beef.
Royce 5’9″: I love Cordae. He is so emotionally intelligent. That’s why I didn’t think anything of it. And you know how the rappers are when they are young. I was the same way. I was doing more than ripping pictures.
Royce 5’9″ on DJ Premier and Eminem
Me and Preem working on, it’s a joint thing we do together called PRhyme, so we working on third installment right now. As far as me and Marshall, all he has to do is sent me a text message and I’m to the studio whenever he’s ready. We pretty much do that on his time. And he’s always on some type of time. He’s always on some sort of mission. I don’t know what he’s doing right now but I know he’s recording a lot of stuff.
Nasaan on Paul Rosenberg
When Paul discovered me I was somebody who was just really good at rapping. I didn’t have myself figured out. Now I understand more who I am, not only as an artist but as a person. There is more to steer and guide now. Paul is helping and plying a part and it’s easier for him to understand who he’s working with. He’s a big homie. He’s always in my corner.
Royce 5’9″ on Obie Trice
I have not spoken to Obie Trice in a while. I bumped into him couple of times but it was an environment where we could really like kick it but I’ve heard some things. I’ve got that feeling [to reach out and talk] couple of times watching him. That’s a slipper uphill slope. I don’t wanna step on toes or say anything that’s gonna offend anybody. I know, how us as addicts, we get defensive when people come at us in any kind of way about our problems. If ever the opportunity for me to speak to him, if he ever feels the need to speak to somebody I’m certainly somebody he can definitely reach out to. I’m always available for that. That’s like a big thing to me too as well. Just not only being sober but taking the steps through my sobriety helping other people. It’s so tough to do because you don’t wanna seem like one of those people who got sober and now you coming from a place of judgement.
Royce 5’9″ has recently done a question and answer session for his fans with his wife on Instagram where he addressed his past beef with Yelawolf, shared his opinion on Eminem’s “Doomsday Pt. 2” song, commented about NF, gave high praise to J. Cole and teases another Bad Meets Evil project.
What do you think about NF?
Is that a guy from, is he like a Christian rapper? Rap real good, Christian rap? If so, yeah, I like him. He cool.
Who is the best rapper right now?
Hm, this is a good question. I don’t know. Probably Nasaan. I’m always afraid to give my opinion because…Yo, man, I was on Joe Budden Podcast and he asked me how I felt about the state of things. He asked me about my opinion how I felt about it and a friend of mine, another rapper who you all know but I’m not gonna say his name, texted me like two paragraphs message. How did you receive this? He was challenging me or something? Why do everybody think that I’m like when I break something down, the lyrics are the only thing that matter to me. Cause he was explaining to me the importance of melody and how melody is key and it ain’t all about the lyrics. I was thinking to myself, ‘yo, what the f–k do that gotta do what I said?’ I said that J. Cole seemed like the only guy I heard in a minute that’s like being real competitive and trying to be the best. I was not just talking about his lyrics. My criteria is how many boxes he checks. I don’t like when artist feel like they have to choose one or another. Biggie could do everything, tell stories, he made complete bodies of work, super lyrical, checked all the boxes, that’s my criteria.
How was “Doomsday Pt. 2”?
Yo, I wish I could f–king…I wish I had a device that I can put on people’s heads and make them forget about that whole f–king scenario. I’m really ready for that to go away. Benzino basically went on the entire press run, putting out records and guess whose name got worked up in the mix out of nowhere? Me!
Are you and Yelawolf okay?
Yeah, we are. One thing about me is I’m not about to just sit around and just be mad at people. It’s going to get addressed and we gonna come to some sort of a solution or we gonna move on. I’m not gonna sit around and just harbor feelings about people. He didn’t do anything that was surprising to me. So it’s just another thing. But I’m not tripping about him or anybody else.
What are your thoughts on Em’s verse on Doomsday?
Why? Why do you wanna know what I think? Because all I’mma do is say my opinion and the next thing you do you all like ‘oh, he like everything he do, that’s his boss. He got to get on here and defend him all the time. Why you talking for him?!’ but you can’t name one time I talk for him. Jesus Christ! They just stick me with all of that f–king worst titles. ‘Let that white boy talk for himself, man! What you talking for?!’ Like, bro, really?
Why have not you been on BMF?
That’s a good question. You should ask 50 Cent that. Next time you see 50, matter of fact, spam him and be like ‘yo man, why you ain’t got Nickel on BMF? He sold more dope than all of them n-ggas.’
Is there another collab with Em happening?
“Man, we gon’ do whole Benzino diss EP and square this away once for all. The winner gets crowned with Global Lyrical Supremacy Forever. Whoever makes the best diss records. I’mma do PRhyme 3 and diss everybody too.” said Royce 5’9″. From there, Royce’s wife continues: “Go on Marshall’s and make sure you say we need BME 3. The fans, don’t think you don’t matter. Cause I want to hear BME 3.” Royce 5’9″ added: “I told you we going to do it.”
Detroit Pistons honor one of their hometown heroes for the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. On February 7, 2024, what would have been J Dilla’s 50th birthday, Pistons’ announced the Dilla-inspired merchandise collection, paying homage to the late Slum Village production member. The capsule will be available for purchase on March 13 on Pistons313Shop.com.
The Pistons tapped Royce 5’9″, who developed a friendship with Dilla in the early 2000s while Royce was finding his footing in the Detroit rap scene, to serve as the project’s art director overseeing the capsule.
In an interview with Billboard, Royce said: “What better reason to come together in unification than Dilla. I’m honored to even have the job. Quality control, that’s what Dilla was all about. Have you heard a bad Dilla beat? I haven’t. My thing was ‘Let’s not redo the same thing over and over that’s been done. Be as original as you could possibly be… I would define him as the GOAT. I don’t really know any other way I could look at it. You had beatmakers and you had producers. I think J Dilla was both, but in the beatmaking category, I don’t think there’s anybody better.”
In another news, Grafh has recently released new song “Never Leaving,” produced by Royce 5’9″. You can bump the single song below.
Eminem is not the only one Benzino is beefing with. Him and The Game’s manager Wack 100 are feuding again. Wack recently shared an audio of Benzino snitching on someone on his Instagram. Under the post, Royce da 5’9” commented: “Man, ain’t nothing to be throwing lead at… He’ll make sure his nephew gets thrown in the pokey and then sleep like a baby so he can wake up tomorrow and go to the only place that believes he would crack an egg… The white boy comment section…”
Someone replied to Royce: “Just an Eminem coat tail rider, what’s your comment on him disrespecting black women on those tapes? Silent.” Royce replied back: “You want me to address something from over 20 years ago? Why you wanna hear my thoughts on that if I’m a coattail rider? What’s your thoughts on Post Malone leaked audio? Justin Bieber? Never mind… You don’t care about any of them because none of these tapes affected you… It sucks to hear the s–t but we got bigger problems in our community than name calling… And your man ain’t took one step to elevate Black women since the Source’s inception… He hasn’t even elevated his child to a higher regard… And she a whole superstar… He a drug addict with serious mental health issues, who’s not fit to lead anyone anywhere… Now go sit your a-s down somewhere and stop addressing men you don’t know on social media… And if you know him personally, get him the help he needs before you end up at his funeral…”
On that, same person responded: “I’m not a fan of Post Malone or Justin Bieber so since I post about Eminem, I have to mention the other culture vultures? What has Eminem ever done to elevate the Black community, in anyway? I’ll wait. As a matter of fact, I know personally, Benzino has done a lot for Black community in Boston, has done a lot to stop gang violence, etc. Plus, his relationship with his daughter, is noon of social media business. We have no idea, what goes on behind closed doors. But, again, what has Em done for the Black community? Detroit community? Least are Proof’s children and family taken care of? Plus, I don’t care if it was 1000 years ago, do we forget about slavery? HELL NO.”
Again, Royce replied: “Well, I’m a Chief executive to the Marshall Mathers Foundation so I can answer that… My job is to make sure funds are disseminated to the right places and in the right amounts… Ever since the Pandemic there’s a fund in place that is set aside specifically for Black and Brown issues in underserved communities… Starting in Detroit… I’ve already spearheaded a Mental Health initiative… Dollar amounts are millions and higher… And yes, you do have to mention Post Malone and others… Fun Fact: Every single lyrical rapper got a record deal in Detroit after Em blew up… Everybody… Name another White rapper with multiple bros around him who are all touching 7 or more figures? And when you realize there are none, maybe you’ll address them… And tell Zino to stop saying Interscope “put black people around him.” That’s ridiculous… And I don’t know Proof’s widow personally so I couldn’t tell you her financial situation… That’s their business.”
Actually, those so-called racist tapes of Eminem were recorded 35 years ago, not twenty. When Eminem was 15 years old and heartbroken from his relationship with Black girl. Eminem even apologized for it on a song “Yellow Brick Road” from Encore album. In the song, Em raps: “Back in ’89, me And Kim broke up for the first time; she was tryin’ to two-time me And there was this black girl at our school, who thought I was cool ‘Cause I rapped, so she was kinda eyein’ me And oh the irony, guess what her name was? Ain’t even gonna say it, plus The same color hair as hers was and blue contacts And a pair of jugs, the bombest goddamn girl in our whole school If I could pull her, not only would I become more popular But I would be able to piss Kim off at the same time But it backfired I was supposed to dump her but she dumped me for this black guy And that’s the last I ever seen or heard Or spoke to the “Ole Foolish Pride” girl, but I’ve heard People say they heard the tape and it ain’t that bad But it was: I singled out a whole race And for that I apologize, I was wrong ‘Cause no matter what color a girl is, she’s still a…”
“Congrats to my good Bruddah @mrk_sx on the release of his new song featuring myself … It’s called #RunTheLights. Streaming Everywhere … S/O @fatbeats.” said Royce on Instagram.
MRK SX also expressed his feelings about new single on Instagram: “In 25 years of recording and mixing my songs, I have NEVER allowed anyone to touch the mix of my music…..But, this song was so so important to me, and I didn’t want to mess it up. I couldn’t think of a better person, man, sound genius than @amondjackson (the recent Grammy award winner btw) to make sure everything was perfect. Not only did he do an amazing job on the mix, I’ve approached mixing my own vocals totally different based on what he did to them. The list of artists that he’s worked with is far too long for this post, but I assure you that you’ve heard his work many times whether you knew it or not. Just wanted to thank my brother and to say that it has been an honor and privilege to get to know him, and learn from him over the years. “Run The Light” featuring @royceda59 is brought to you by @longstorylonger21 @fatbeats and the record was produced by @tmo_music @trackoholiks.”
“Run The Light” is the first single from Long Story Longer Presents Ras Kass, Yukmouth, Swifty McVay, and MRK SX (Deluxe Edition) and is being released through iconic hip hop label Fatbeats. LSL is taking the industry by storm in 2024 with new music from the likes of Crooked I, D12, Yukmouth, Stevie Stone, Jon Connor, and Horseshoe Gang just to name a few.
Legendary hip-hop producer DJ Premier talks with Noah Callahan-Bever of Idea Generation about a journey from his early days as part of the duo Gang Starr, to producing for then up-and-coming rapper Jay-Z and helping to shape his sound, to carving his own lane, forming PRhyme with Royce 5’9″ and becoming one of the greatest producers in hip-hop history.
“Mike has pitched this idea, it was during them working on Slaughterhouse, but it was taking so long and Mike was like ‘how about y’all do a project like a quick EP where you use Adrien Young’s sound only and make a quick EP of Slaughterhouse.’ I was very against it. I was like ‘nah, I like to dig and make beats through digging.’ Everybody was leaning on me about it and it just went silent.” said DJ Premier.
Then he continued: “Time passed, Royce hits me again like ‘what me and you gon’ do?’ Royce was just getting sober and had not rapped a long time. And for me knowing the not sober Royce, his bars, his delivery is always on point, sometimes you sober up…I’m glad he’s sober because the most cleanest and healthy lifestyle is the best, that does not mean that you gonna still pull off the Royce that we all know and love. So, I remember I was in LA for some business. I met Amanda Demme there. She told me I’m photographer and she was like ‘I gotta show my stuff, it’s real wicked.’ She starts showing me all her stuff and I’m like ‘yo, this s–t is bugged out, damn.’ She asked ‘what do you working on?’ I said me and Royce are doing this project, it’s gonna be called DJ Premier, Royce Da 5’9″, we are not PRhyme yet. She’s like ‘you should let me do pictures for y’all.’ I’m like ‘with all these weird a-s pictures?? We gotta look like hip-hop s–t’ and she goes like ‘nah, it should be art! Let me do something creative.’ I was like ‘I’ll introduce you to Royce whenever we get to that point.”
“The next day, we are about to fly back and I’m packing my stuff. We have not heard anything from PRhyme yet. I had already made 3 beats that I gave to Royce and he said ‘I’m gonna work on them and let you hear what I did and see if you like where I’m going cause I have not rapped in so long. So you tell me if I still sound like Royce.’ When I was packing I decided to go Puff’s party. Right when I go downstairs and get a ride to the party, Royce texted me and goes ‘just sent the first song, tell me what you think.’ I was like ‘damn man, I’m leaving in the morning, I’ll listen to it tomorrow.’ But when I’m getting to the door to go to the lobby, I was like ‘let me listen to it now, it’s either him sounding Royce or I’m gonna tell him falling off,’ man, the song PRhyme is what he sent, as soon as I turned it on, I’m like ‘HE’S BACK’! And I listened to the rest of it, I’m like ‘he sounds like when he drinks, but he’s sober!’ I called him ‘dude, you are back! That’s the Royce I was hoping to hear! Let’s get this album cracking!'”
“Royce stays up in so many different hours. He’ll call you at all different types of hours of the day. He’ll stay up for five days straight, not sleep, just be recording. He’s like a Kanye in that regard. Right before I get to the airport, he goes ‘yo, how about we call ourselves a name like a group? Instead of being DJ Premier and Royce Da 5’9″‘ I was like ‘you got a name?’ he’s like ‘how about we call ourselves PRhyme?’ P and R is capital, P is for Premier and R is for Royce and ‘hyme’ just encompasses everything of hip-hop together. I was like ‘I like that.’ Started coming up with logos. He was like ‘yo, Eminem’s art guy is really good. Can we use Eminem’s art guy to do something? He showed me PRhyme logo and I liked it. And he said, from now on, we are PRhyme!”
“We have PRhyme, PRhyme 2, I love PRhyme 2 and PRhyme 3 is a doozy! That’s all I can say. That one we are not going to announce until it’s done but you are definitely going to be like ‘oh, sh-t!'” DJ Premier added. You can watch the interview below:
