Detroit emcee Royce Da 5’9″ is one of hip-hop’s most underrated acts. The lyricist (real name Ryan Montgomery) lived in the Oak Park neighbourhood of Detroit and was introduced to Eminem through his manager in 1997. By 1998, the two had formed their duo Bad Meets Evil. Following this, the songwriter was the beneficiary of vast exposure.
A lot of Royce Da 5’9″ success is a result of Eminem. Slim Shady helped many of the Detroit rappers he knew by including them in his projects. This led to them getting the spotlight, and this was highly beneficial for Royce as well as others, such as Obie Trice.
Montgomery has eight released eight projects, with his debut, Rock City, released in 2002. Since then, he has released seven albums, with his last body of work, The Allegory, getting released in 2020 through eOne.
However, the emcee also had a lot of success as part of the supergroup Slaughterhouse. Comprised of Montgomery, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Crooked I, the group’s debut mixtape, On the House, was moderately successful, but their second studio album, Welcome to Our House, peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 in 2012.
Although Royce Da 5’9″, hasn’t been highly successful commercially, he has always been lauded for his flawless and exceptional lyricism, with songs such as ‘Caterpillar’ featuring Eminem and King Green showcasing his fantastic penmanship.
However, in an interview with XXL, Montgomery praised Lil Wayne and claimed that his favourite Wayne song is “Any No Ceilings [track] because Wayne redefined what bars should sound like. He’s [the goat emoji].”
In the early noughties, Wayne had one of the most successful mixtape runs in rap history, and after the release of his Dedication and Da Drought mixtapes in 2009, the New Orleans native released No Ceilings. You can listen to the full project below.
