Search - Royce Da 5'9" :: Rock City

THE COMPLETE MC - Motor City's Lyrical Giant

windycitys-illest | Chicago, IL USA | 10/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not to mention that this is one of the illest MC's on the planet right now! Motor City Lyrical Giant ROYCE DA 5'9" is one of the most underrated Mc's ever. To begin with... the intro to this ROCK CITY(Version 2.0) has one of the illest beats I've ever heard. Which is produced by one of Puffy's Ex Hitmen Nashiem Myrick, and Royce's verse shows how ill his beat should be handled. TRACK2: Rock City - Is a nice beat produced by Rush, and it shows what Royce can do when he's passionate about something he loves like his city. TRACK3: Off Parole - Which is a NEPTUNES produced track - is an odd beat when u first listen to it, but it has Royce on his lyrical toes. The song is an example of what a nice MC can do over a nice neptunes beat, plus it could have been a single. TRACK4: My Friend - If u pay attention to this u might actually realize the creativity this man has, and I'm not gonna spoil it for u by telling u the genius of this track. Just think of the metaphoric chaos Common caused with "I Used To Love H.e.r", plus it's produced by PRIMO (DJ Premier for those that don't know). TRACK5: U Can't Touch Me - Besides this being produced by the Trackmasters and being Mr. Nine's original first single, this song is the ass mova' in the album. Plus it featured the Fine Ms. Beyonce' on the original version. Anyway it had me wanting to do the "Harlem Shake" and that dance IS WACK!!! Royce's lyrical artillery didn't slow down just cause it was a club banger. With lines like "Your jewelry look like that sh*t, they sell in the back of The Source" I mean what better punchlines could u ask for and that's not even one of the better lines in the album. Track6: MR.Baller Ft. Clipse and Pharell - If u like southern sounding rap u'll like this, plus it's produced by the Neptunes. At the end of the day the song sounds like and attempt at radio, but the previous track did a better job at that. It's just not Royce's fault that the beat just didn't cut it and it's a filler, but Royce still shined better than The Clipse. Track7: Let's Go Ft. Twista - Produced by another ex Hitman Carlos "Six July" Broady, is straight Windy City rhyming. Royce keeps up!, even with the fastest tongue in the rap world. The Beat is nice too, and anyone that likes tongue twisting will love this one. Track8: D-Elite - Royce boasts about his D-Elite crew on this one. The lyrics on this one are just too nice and I don't mean corny I mean too skilled, with lyrics like "I was trouble the minute my momma's water broke" and "I was raised by a postal employee! need I say more?" Produced by Ty Fyffe who produced Canibus's "2000 B.C". Just to keep it short, Ty came through on the 2 minute plus song too bad it was so short. Track9: Take His Life - Produced by DJ Mighty Mi who always comes through on his beats. This song is a nice example of why u should not mess with a thug, but even worse a lyrical assassin. Track10: Nickel Nine Is... - Which is produced by Reef who showed up with, metaphorically speaking a stage that Royce could rock over. Who am I kidding! Royce can ride any beat. Royce is just ill with his, and he is one of the most complete MC's in Hip Hop. Track11: BOOM - Just like when u first heard Biggie on the "Ready To Die" album song "Juicy" or the single "Party and Bullsh*t", this is what Royce showed on BOOM which was lyrical greatness. The song is what "Flavor In Ya Ear" was for Craig Mack, what "WOO HAHH" was for Busta, in other words it was the buzz this man needed. To this day this is an underground classic which was released as a single way before this album was released. To top it off, it was produced by Primo too. Track12: Soldier's Story - Produced by Reef this is one of the album's best songs, just based on the fact that it's true to it's title. "Trrrrrum! There! Now you know a soldier is coming", the verbal mimic of a drum on the hook is what makes this song stand out plus the lyrics obviously are never disappointing. Track13: Who Am I? - Carlos "Six July" Broady produced this one also. It sampled the song "Livin' Inside Your Love" by Earl Klugh which was also sampled for the score of the movie "Above The Rim". Royce pulls out his metaphoric pistols once again, with lines like "I'm the first to let u know, if something is real!", "I command fear", and "the only thing stronger than me is time, and yours is limited". You would have to listen to the song to figure out that he is talking about Pain literally the term pain. The lines make complete sense, once u open ur ears to the song. Track14: Life Ft. Amerie - This song! which was supposed to be Royce's Third single and gets my vote for one of the best thoughtful songs ever if not the best one. Is just pure genius, and if it's been done before Royce came with his own take on this subject. He gave advise to his son on this song that even I had to take after listening to it, that's how introspective the song is. Plus having the lovely Ms. Amerie singing the hook couldn't be more beautiful. Bonus Track: King Of Kings - Probably, if I'm not mistaken this is one of the best underground... NO! one of the best hip hop songs I've ever heard. It's just a beautifully crafted piece of art. It shows u why a couple years ago The Source magazine called this man "THE COMPLETE MC", and if u! for any reason! happen to not like this future Hip Hop "supa star"!!! u don't know what hip hop is. At the end of the day this album had chances of being a great album, but it's 1 or 2 album fillers killed those chances of this becoming a great hip hop... No! hold on! A classic album."

HOT DEBUT. ROYCE CAN REALLY FLOW.

Growly Pants | Philadelphia | 01/23/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Nice. Royce is one of my favorite lyricists right now. He's pretty much slept on. It's sad. Maybe its cuz of the beef with Eminem. Who know. "Rock City" is laced with nice beats and Royce can really spit some fire if he feels like it. I also liked "Death Is Certain" and I gotta cop his new joint today, so we'll see how he's coming along. This is what we SHOULD be listening to on the radio, not that crap pop rap they play 24/7/365. The radio and MTV are a joke. They're all bout little kids. Detroit has really become the birthplace for some hot lyricists. Check out Obie TRice's album "Cheers" his flows are hot too."

Solid debut - 4 stars is what I meant to give it

G$ | B-More, MD | 11/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Royce delivers a solid debut album, much more commercial then his next 4 but still solid. Has no real weak spots and one can easily listen through from track 1 to 15 without skipping (a couple of songs are average but there's no need to skip them). Has 1 classic, 1 near classic, 5 ok songs, and the other 8 are tight. Production is done mostly by Six July w/ a few by Red Spyda, Neptunes, and one with DJ Premier. Doesn't really feature too many people. Fans of his or fans of real lyrics should cop this one form one of hip-hop's top notch lyricists.



#1 - 8.5 (solid intro)

#2 - 8 (f/ Eminem on the chorus)

#3 - 9 (f/ Tre Little)

#4 - 7.5

#5 - 6.5 (weakest one on here)

#6 - 8 (f/ Clipse {Pusha T & malice}, Tre Little, and Neptunes)

#7 - 7.5 (f/ Twista - both rap fast on this one)

#8 - 7

#9 - 8.5 (f/ Tre Little)

#10 - 9.5

#11 - 9 (prod. by DJ Premier)

#12 - 7.5

#13 - 8

#14 - 10 (CLASSIC -- deep song f/ Amerie -- tight beat)

#15 - 8 (not on edited version)



b. Ryan Montgomery --- Detroit, MI

7 Mile --- ROCK CITY

check all my reviews"