Royce Da 5'9 Praises Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole for Staying True to Lyricism, talks Layers

[Deltron]

Royce Da 5'9 is temporarily back solo with the impending release of his sixth studio album, Layers. After being told he was "almost too versatile" when he first signed in the late 90's, Royce explains "This project is basically just me peeling back all of the layers of each personality that I am on each project and giving you everything in one project now that you were able to see it in parts prior to." In this clip the lyricist also admits being a part of Slaughterhouse and Bad Meets Evil has hindered him from doing more work alone. "That's pretty much what's been eating my time as an artist,"

At one point during the video Royce praises Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole for staying true to their craft despite it not being "cool to be a lyricist" in 2016, according to him. "He sits in that successful emcee space by himself, but he takes that hit. He doesn't sell the records that Drake sells," he says of Kendrick after calling him the "exception to every rule in hip-hop right now." He then moves on to backpack rap, and why though "it's not where all the hype is at," he'll continue to stay in that lane and push out real raps. "That's why nobody wants to rap against us," Royce adds about his Slaughterhouse crew. "Cause they know they'd get they a** handed to 'em. Anybody. Anybody, any crew. Anytime."

Catch Royce Da 5'9 talk about his unreleased music with Eminem, how he's interacting more with his "core fans" and more up top.

 

[mr.africa]

 

[H.J.Duck]

I think Royce was on point when he was talking about J.Cole when he said "he's so himself on records that it's almost the gimmick"

which is a positive thing obviously

 

[Deltron]

Thought Rock City was released on a major.

 

[onlylno]

But J. Cole is an average lyricist at best. That doesn't take away from his artistry but lyricism is not his strenght.

 

[H.J.Duck]

Thought Rock City was released on a major.

it was released on Koch. (now E1)

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).

 

[Deltron]

had that bootleg version, he left off some dope tracks when it became 2.0

 

[I love Latina women]

But J. Cole is an average lyricist at best. That doesn't take away from his artistry but lyricism is not his strenght.

 

[I love Latina women]

good interview

 

[Chip Skylark]

..

 

[SirBiatch]

these new rappers have to be injected into the convo. No one's mentioning them outta sheer love.

Kendrick and J Cole are equally shytty.

Also, at Vlad asking Royce "what else you working on". As though Royce isn't about to drop the album. That's what I'm saying. Most hip hop is so disposable nowadays, especially the so-called 'real hip hop' shyt. nikka just dropped an album and we're already asking 'what next'. There is no "lemme just bask in this fire you just dropped" because the songs aren't worthy.

 

[wingstop]

But J. Cole is an average lyricist at best. That doesn't take away from his artistry but lyricism is not his strenght.

some people think good/positive content = lyricism

 

[RAW_SPK]

some people think good/positive content = lyricism

i always had a problem with that rhetoric

 

[NigerianDonDada]

some people think good/positive content = lyricism

Been trying to say this for the longest

 

[NV-ME]

i dont know wtf yall think doesnt make cole a lyricist. big words alone dont make you a lyricist.