Rap-Up.com || Royce Da 5’9” Weighs In on ‘Watch the Throne’

Royce Da 5’9” can relate to Watch the Throne’s No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200. As one half of Bad Meets Evil, the Detroit MC topped the charts with Hell: The Sequel, his collaborative effort with Eminem. So what does he think of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s album? Royce speaks out on Throne’s importance to hip-hop and the differences between the rap duo’s projects.

“I think it’s real good for hip-hop that they did that,” Royce tells Rap-Up.com. “We put ours out, they put theirs out, Drake and Weezy allegedly putting one out. On the other end of the spectrum, you got Gucci and Waka putting one out. It’s good to have that balance. I don’t know if I would compare our project to theirs, if only because they’re so different.”

Royce, who just released his solo album Success Is Certain, went on to contrast Bad Meets Evil’s style—composing a few songs at first with no initial plan for an EP—with Throne’s constructed thematic vibe. “They went more for the album feel. It sounds like they were 100 percent comfortable with putting this sound of music out and it’s the same with us,” he explains. “We went in there and did kind of the opposite; just going back and forth and sparring lyrically. We just tried to rap on another level and didn’t try and worry about making a complete album.”

While Throne’s genesis goes back nearly a year, with a massive promotional buildup planned for months prior to the album’s release, Royce said he and Em consciously took a more low-key approach. “Our thing was we didn’t even want to raise expectations,” he admits. “We just wanted to announce we were doing it after we were already done and put it out 30 days later. Let hip-hop get a dose of what we could do and not worry about anything else.”

–Jason Newman

Posted in Eminem, Jay-Z, Kanye West | Permalink

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20 Comments

IamDonShiloh
August 18th, 2011 at 7:49 am
if only because they’re so different = They into illuminati fuck and we are not =)

fuck illuminati ! =(
but its A-G.O.O.D album =)

BME rools !@ =)

[Reply]
WatchTheThrone Reply:
August 18th, 2011 at 8:31 am
@IamDonShiloh, seriously do you conspiracy theorists just spend every second on the web? get a life.

[Reply]
uhuh
August 18th, 2011 at 7:55 am
he doesnt even like the album. wont admit it tho. its just politics.

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Mel
August 18th, 2011 at 8:32 am
Watch the Throne>>>BME

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Abdullah
August 18th, 2011 at 8:34 am
Watch the throne > Life
BME < lil waynes rebirth
lmao

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YUNG Reezy
August 18th, 2011 at 10:19 am
Royce is real man, says it how it is. Watch The Throne = Bad Meets Evil >> Tha Carter IV>> R.E.D. album>>>>> Ferrari Boyz>>>>>>>Kreayshawn

[Reply]
Drizzy Reply:
August 18th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
@YUNG Reezy, how does what you said make any sense? you’re comparing collab albums to unreleased albums to an artist.. seriously, there’s no point in bringing up anyone other than the people in the posts

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ThePleasurePrincipal
August 18th, 2011 at 11:02 am
What does, “They went more for an album feel…” even mean? Of course, they went for an album feel that’s what it’s called a collaborative album. That statement is very empty. On ‘Watch The Throne’ you can automatically tell that certain songs belong to Kanye and some belong to Jay. Sparring back and forth on a song means you made less of an album especially since Bruno Mars is featured on one of the tracks. *insert sarcasm* Give me a break.

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92blood
August 18th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
royce is talking shit and now he thinks too high of himself but what he should know is that NOW IS THE TIME FOR ‘THE R.E.D. ALBUM”

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Mettler
August 18th, 2011 at 1:17 pm
He spit flame on dat album. Lyricaly he rapped da game

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mr 50 cent
August 18th, 2011 at 2:53 pm
weezy will do a mill first week

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Vickthur Reply:
August 18th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
@mr 50 cent, no he won’t.

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joey Reply:
August 18th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
@mr 50 cent, yeah, he wont. not even close.

keep in mind, im a wayne fan, just telling the truth

[Reply]
ehh
August 18th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Lyrics and rhyming off each other was better in hell the sequel. But watch the throne had way better producing.

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Elduque Reply:
August 19th, 2011 at 7:39 am
@ehh, so true, agree 100%

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RadCru
August 18th, 2011 at 7:18 pm
The first guy who commented on this is an A-grade ignorant idiot. Illuminati aren’t the DEVIL’s SPAWN. They are a group of free thinking atheists who aren’t spreading homophobia, religious fanaticism, gender discrimination etc. They just live, like humans are spose to live, INTELLIGENTLY & peacefully! All that NWO crap is unproven crap for pete’s sake America was founded by intelligent Atheists or else you too would be under Queen Elizabeth and her bullshit religious autocracy.

The reason he said that they went for an EP because they were testing each other (royce & em) going back and forth on a track (similar to freestyling, no subject). Jay & Yeezy went for proper production therefore a proper album with proper tracks against a variety of subjects.

And seriously don’t compare artists such Em & Jay to freaks like Wayne or Game. Em and Jay tells stories whereas Wayne is bag of poor metaphors backed up by unique beats. Go thru each of their lyrics, you’ll understand Em’s although his are violent he talks about his messed up childhood and not about selling drugs on an iPhone.

WTT had a real album vibe to it, I loved it honestly whereas BME had a battling feel to it hence not much publicity was given to it.

@Abdullah – You have no idea about rap music. dont comment again :)

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unplugged
August 18th, 2011 at 11:10 pm
i personally enjoyed the BME album…i love the production on WTT(especially the swizzy beats which surprised me) but the BME was lyrical….very dope

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TRAYWEBB
September 28th, 2011 at 12:16 am
YOU HIT DE SPOT RADCRU

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TRAYWEBB
September 28th, 2011 at 12:25 am
Eminem is de dopest motherf in ds game disagree feel free……….u myt b de nxt victim if u act lyk a bitch born blind…midle finger up 2 ol ya hu dnt gt de rap game kip tokn lyk u getn shit while u aint…evrbdy gt smthn 2 brng 2 de table bt de ar standards fools

[Reply]
some other dude namd something
May 29th, 2012 at 2:39 am
Hell the sequel honestly wips the fcuk out of watch the throne.

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