A few days ago (February 1st) Royce Da 5'9 and DJ Premier made their long awaited return as PRhyme, and dropped their first single (titled "Era") to their upcoming album PRhyme 2 featuring East Harlem,New Yorkemcee Dave East.
The track will live on PRhyme 2, which is set for a March 16th release date, and to go along with the song, Royce and Premier managed to grab East for the music video, which you can check out below. Who's excited for the return of PRhyme?
(*I do not own this video, song, or the rights to them*)
For such a long time Detroit emcee Royce Da 5'9 was living in the shadow of Eminem, but in just the last 2 years or so (still with no new Slaughterhouse album in sight, we're getting impatient guys) Royce has stepped into the limelight by himself with some incredible guest features, and not to mention the critically acclaimed joint album with DJ Premier, PRhyme. With Royce's new Layers album on the horizon (which is set for an April 15th release date), Royce's first solo album in 5 years, it's going to be interesting to see how Royce has evolved from Success Is Certain to now, because the title Layers can only mean one thing; we haven't quite gotten to know the real Ryan Daniel Montgomery yet. Here's 4 things I want from Royce's newest Layers album.
"Niggas dissed Marshall after they copy his whole reference, like we won't send an actual firing squad to they studio, that'll Basquiat they whole session"
Now seeing as it's Royce, obviously he's going to bring the bars, and if you know Royce you know DAMN WELL he's going to keep the riff raff in check (not the rapper, obviously, although I'm sure he'd have no problem saying something if it came down to it). Royce is already creating a buzz around his newly released song "Dead President Heads", with rumors that he's dissed J. Cole for mentioning Eminem's name in Cole's song "Fire Squad", but if you've ever heard Royce speak of the newer young guns that he respects in the game today, Cole would be one of the first names to come out of his mouth, probably right next to Kendrick. Royce wasn't dissing Cole, it seems all Royce was doing was keeping the competitive riff raff alive in hip hop that he and his Bad Meets Evil brethren Eminem love to do so much.
Great Story Telling
By the looks of the track listing for Layers, we might be getting a story telling type of album from Royce. It's probably too early to tell, but when the album starts off with the very descriptive and narrative-like first single "Tabernacle", we might actually get to really know Royce a bit more than we've gotten to know him in his last albums. And seeing as "Tabernacle" is just a taste of his story telling abilities (see also "On The Boulevard" and "Security" off of Royce's last solo album Success Is Certain), Layers could be quite an informative listen for fans.
Better Production
Now the real hip hop heads would tear me to shreds once they read what I'm about to say, but I'm really hoping for some better production on Layers. Obviously Royce is always one to do his thing no matter what the beats sound like, and working with DJ Premier is a win for a lot of fans, but I wasn't entirely impressed with the beats on PRhyme. With the newest Royce leaks ("Tabernacle" and "Dead President Heads") I'm already sensing that this album's production will top Royce's last 2 (PRhyme and Success Is Certain), so Royce is stepping in the right direction. Go ahead and call me crazy for not being impressed with PRhyme's beats, but we all know that Royce and Premo are hip hop to the core. Sometimes the DJ scratches and the old vocal samples (not to disparage sampling altogether) can be too much for albums, I say bring in the 808s and do your thing over those Royce! (It's a horrible guilty pleasure, but I do love it, and I'm sure nobody else could argue; 808s get people moving.)
LET'S GET SOME GOD DAMN SLAUGHTERHOUSE MUSIC!
(*I do not own these songs, videos, or the rights to them*)
Okay so this last point might be a bit of a lashing out by yours truly, but I WANT SOME FUCKIN SLAUGHTERHOUSE MUSIC! HAVEN'T YOU MADE PEOPLE WAIT LONG ENOUGH? WHAT'S THE POINT?! The last little bit of news dropped about the mythical Glass House album was around January, and Crooked I was quoted as saying that Slaughterhouse will drop the album "when the game needs it." WHAT KINDA PROPHETIC BULLSHIT IS THAT?! Even a collaboration every now and then is good to hold people over, but this is starting to get really Shady guys (pun intended). New Royce, Joe, Joell and Crooked solo albums are great, but they just don't compare to the chemistry that all 4 have on a track. This "Voltron" crew looks like it's starting to fall apart, but I really hope I'm wrong. No word on whether the album is coming this year, all that they say is that "it's coming." Don't let this become another Detox situation fellas. Anyways, Layers looks to be another solid project from Royce, and we'll get to see how he's going to shift the game again on April 15th.
I was seriously 4 months old when this album dropped and I think it's amazing. This is hip hop to it's core, period. Yeah, sure, Illmatic has been talked about since it came out, got 5 mics in The Source and is rightfully deemed a classic album (and it earns this right, almost undebatable unlike other albums that have came out where everyone wants to argue if they're classics or not), but many people don't realize the influence it has had on hip hop since then. There are countless rappers who say that if it weren't for Nas' Illmatic then they wouldn't be rapping (Kendrick, yes, Kendrick Lamar is one), and it would be blasphemous to say that rappers today did not draw some inspiration from Nas and Illmatic. If you disagree, then, well, I would just have to prove to you why Nas is one of the most flawless lyricists of all time. Class is in session.
It Ain't Hard To Tell
Today's hip hop differs so much from that of the "golden age" of hip hop, a lot of it worse than it is better, and even thought I'm only 21, just by listening to a song like "It Ain't Hard To Tell", you can definitely tell that Nas was out for blood on his critically acclaimed debut. Where is the hunger to be the best for rappers today? I certainly can't see it (at least in most of the rap dudes played on the radio), you'd expect these guys to want to show why they've "earned" their spot on the radio, or these gold and platinum album sales. It's too hard to tell that if it's the difference in how big battle rap was in the streets of New York compared to how it is now, but that could be a strong case for it. Anyways, Nas shows his true skills on the mic AND makes you dance with this absolutely amazingly produced Large Professor track.
Memory Lane (Sittin' In The Park)
Story telling created, originated and perfected by the best there is to do it. It's debatable whether Nas is the best story-telling rapper ever, you could probably put B.I.G. and Tupac up there with him, but you know every time Nas has a story to tell, you listen, and you get every detail about the entire story. Life in Queens is rumored to be a struggle, but Nas makes it sound like a coming of age tale in this addictive boom-bap jam. "One Love" also could take the cake as another fantastic story told by Mr. Nasir Jones.
N.Y State Of Mind
(*I do not own these songs, or the rights to them*)
If you needed a reason to get pumped up, get hyped, or was looking for a song to make you feel some type of energy (not drain you of it, keep calm Drake), then "N.Y. State Of Mind" is that track. Whether you're waiting to pull that next bank heist (hopefully just on "Grand Theft Auto 5"), you need some pump up music for your next game or need it in the gym to get that next set of reps knocked out, Nas' "N.Y. State Of Mind" is the song for you (not to mention it features more great story telling in the first verse, hopefully Nas didn't get in trouble for any sort of debauchery he spoke of in this song, rappers really should be more careful of their hustle). This songs drums still kick like crazy and sound great in the whip if you want to bump, and of course you can thank the legendary DJ Premier for that.
So here's to Illmatic turning 21! I'll be damned if I'm not allowed to buy it a drink, it deserves that and much, much more. My introduction to this album was as late as could be, it had to be around 2012 when I first bought it (had to see what all the hype was about) and since then I've played "It Ain't Hard To Tell" at least once a day, no joke. The word "classic" is thrown around so much and so often that it's hard to even tell if it means anything anymore, but if it still had any pull or credibility talking about music, then Illmatic remains a classic in the way it revolutionized beats, rappers and their story telling, and in the way it has pushed the envelope and will continue to for many more years to come. Whose in favor of Nas ending his career on an Illmatic 2? I can dream.
There are many heavily slept on hip hop acts that really don't get the shine they deserve until the point and time comes around when a project drops. I'm saying this not only as an avid observer of hip-hop, but as another example of one of those sleepers (as much as I hate to admit it myself). Joey Bada$$ has been all over the internet since about 2012, and he really got big after his acclaimed mix tape 1999 dropped in June of the same year. Joey has built a following of loyal fans based on his "trapped in the 90s" style and his impressive lyrical capabilities, which is even more impressive because of his incredibly young age of 19 (that's right, born in 1995, I'm starting to wonder what I'm doing with my life). Joey's debut album B4.DA.$$ is set for release in early 2015, and I'm having good feelings about it even as new of a fan as I am, and I'm about to tell you why.
Joey Bada$$ is keeping the real hip-hop alive (this is me speaking as an old time, OG type of old man who discusses hip hop as "it was only good back in the day." I've never actually done it myself, but I'll assume it's a lot more fun to do than to listen to). His sound is unlike many other rappers that you'll hear today, and my first guess is because of his New York influence (I'd also like to go on record to say that Joey's sound reminds me so much of Nas). Now I'm not going to get into what New York has done for hip hop (even though it's practically the mecca and the birth place of it all), you can research that on your own, but being an up and coming rapper from New York, there is definitely more pressure on your music and your sound than the average rapper, mostly due to the legendary history of New York hip-hop.
Now I mentioned that I'm a fairly new Joey listener myself, my interest peaked when I first gave his 2013 mix tape Summer Knights a listen, and I was certainly impressed. It doesn't get more hip-hop than tracks like "Word Is Bond", "95 Til Infinity", or "47 Goonz", and I'll admit "47 Goonz" makes me feel like I have the street cred to go out and do some dirty deeds myself. Not to mention the elite production featured on this tape, including one track from DJ Premier, another from Statik Selektah, and one from DOOM. And this track isn't on the tape, but Joey also went over a beat from the legendary J Dilla (I don't know how you become cool enough to do that at age 19, or get the qualifications to do so, but obviously Joey is cool enough). Joey is a refreshing product of the 90s. A very young one, but certainly refreshing, yet familiar on his take on life in the streets. And no matter how hard I try, I can NOT get this song's beat out of my head. If I get reminded of it, it's over.
By far my favorite Joey track (at least until "Christ Conscious" came out). All of Joey's music seems to have that "sitting around the house and chilling, maybe I'll do some laundry" type of vibe to it, although I personally can listen to it doing practically anything. Anyways, what do I expect from Joey's album you might ask? Aside from some more story-telling and personal songs, I'd say a bit of the same of what he's already put out. Normally this would be a bad thing, for anybody else a change of pace is good, but for Joey, staying true to his sound is what his fans need. You could go as far as saying it's what HIP-HOP NEEDS. To be able to say that the 90s (which to many is the golden age of it all) can still live through an emcee as young (and not to mention downright talented) as Joey Bada$$, I think the old heads can still live with a bit of hope. There is no word on who will be producing Joey's debut album, although I wouldn't be surprised to see some from heavyweights like DOOM and DJ Premier, and the producer that handles most of Joey's beats, Kirk Knight (give or take a few more names). So until that day comes, enjoy the supposed first leak off of B4.DA.$$, "Christ Conscious", and the music video accompanying it.
(*I do not own this video, this song, the song above, or the rights to either*)
It seems Royce Da 5'9 is taking it to the next level with this one. Earlier this week a short video surfaced of DJ Premier joining alongside Royce rapping in a video over what you could only assume was some choice Premo production. People of the internet were rather excited about what this could possibly mean, but since then no further details were released...until now.
PRhyme is going to be a full length Royce Da 5'9 LP with DJ Premier taking the reigns handling production. It's hard to tell where Premo is going to take the production with on this one, whether or not he chooses to sample certain artists or keep the sampling to a minimum. He did have this to say about the album recently; "I've never sampled just one artist, I'm known for my reputation and my creativity. I wanted it to be my traditional thing where I sample everything I find, but I am really proud of how the project came out and Royce is one hell of a pusher." From the sounds of this it seems there is a minimum of sampling from Premo, but time will tell what we see in terms of production on the album.
PRhyme will boast some MONSTER features, however. It is confirmed that the project will feature Dwele, Killer Mike, Common, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Mac Miller, of course his fellow group mates Slaughterhouse, and Royce and Premo even managed to grab Jay Electronica for a feature. Are you excited yet?! PRhyme has not been given a release date yet, but is rumored to be put out before the end of the year.
The route the Slaughterhouse members have been taking for their music releases has been an interesting one to say the least. Crooked I's last release Apex Predator was put out about halfway through last year, Joell Ortiz's House Slippers saw a release a bit more than a week ago, while Joe Budden has plans for his EP Some Love Lost in November and the release date for the album All Love Lost has yet to be determined.
Being that it is almost October already, so far it seems like these releases from Joe and Royce will spill into next year, while Slaughterhouse as a whole will supposedly be featured on the anniversary project Shady XV and also have their album Glass House coming (no release date given) as well. So far it seems next year will be a very exciting year for Slaughterhouse and Shady fans alike, but all you can do now is wait. Check out the teaser video for Royce and Premo's PRhyme below.
(*I do not own this video, or the rights to it, Royce Da 5'9, DJ Premier, or PRhyme*)
