On March 16th, Royce da 5’9″ and DJ Premier–collectively known as PRhyme–will release the second installment of their self-tiled album. After the project’s first single, “Era,” with Dave East, the duo are back with another boom-bap record titled, “Rock It.”
Over Premier’s signature scratches, Royce entertains raps fans with his top-notch wordplay, witty metaphors and hilarious lines.
“I write for Sean Price and Dilla, my mic is Thriller/My ratchet blows is trapping souls like Bryson Tiller/They sprayed the crib, left lead in the ornans/And that’s the very thing that gets me out the bed in the morning/I got the bread in the corner, got my career in the sauna/I got no fear of dishonor, I bled, lived through trauma/First the Fat Boys break up, then Bow Wow retires/And now y’all disrespecting the King,” raps Royce.
PRhyme was released in October 2014. Two years later, Royce released his solo effort, Layers. Shorty after the release of Layers, the Detroit rapper spoke to VIBE about his album, and his elementary school teachers.
“They [teachers] always used to tell my parents, ‘He’s capable of doing more if he just applies himself.’ Then, when I developed any type of relationship with a teacher they would always tell me that I might want to think about taking up a trade,” says Royce. “If I had a dollar for every time I heard that. I don’t remember conversations with teachers where they actually spoke to me like college was an option. [They were] putting it into my young mind, and making me rule out education, and that’s not fair. Other kids in different environments don’t go through that. ‘A trade, learn how to be a plumber?’ It’s nothing wrong with being a plumber, they make good money, but that’s never a first option.”
Royce continued:
“I’m not in a position to preach. I’m pretty much talking about myself. I’m talking about shit that I’m guilty of,” says Royce. “I just don’t want you to get fucked up. It’s like Jay Z’s “hopefully you won’t have to go through that.” Everything that I’m talking about I either went through it, witnessed it firsthand, or it’s something that went on around me, and affected me in some way. And that’s what makes it important to me, which makes me want to talk about it.”
Stream “Rock It” below.