Royce da 5’9"

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Welcome to Royce Da Five Nines's MySpace page!

Ryan Montgomery, born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, moved to Oak Park, Michigan when he was 10 years old, later acquiring the nickname "Royce" during highschool after wearing a Turkish link chain with an R pendant resembling the Rolls Royce symbol. Royce and his best friend Jah Da 5'9" (also known as June or June Bug) began rapping at 18, and were the two shortest players on the basketball team, both standing at 5 foot and 9 inches tall.
Royce signed his first deal in 1998 with Tommy Boy Records, who was to release his much anticipated debut album Rock City. Royce left Tommy Boy Records, citing creative differences. He signed with Game Recordings, an independent label who helped him to negotiate a deal with Columbia Records. Columbia repeatedly delayed the release of Rock City, which was subsequently heavily bootlegged. Despite this, Columbia released Rock City, which quickly went out of print once Royce left the label. After leaving Columbia, Rock City was edited and re-released through Koch / Game Recordings as Rock City (Version 2.0). The album credits Eminem as executive producer, though his vocals were only featured on the title track "Rock City", both in the chorus and ad libbing. Before the release of Version 2.0, Royce built hype with his successful underground hit "Boom", produced by DJ Premier.
A helpful boost to his career came when Rockstar Games hired the Game Recordings label on for the rap music radio station "Game FM" in Grand Theft Auto III. Several artists from the Label, including Agallah, Sean Price, Pretty Ugly, JoJo Pellegrino and Black Rob as well as Royce Da 5'9" were featured on "Game FM", a radio station inside the game itself. Royce himself contributed three singles: "We're Live (Danger)", "Spit Game", and "I'm The King", the latter of which was edited specifically for the game.
Royce formed a crew in the late 1990s called D-Elite which included himself, Tre' Little, Billy Nix, Jah Da 5'9" (now known as June), Cut Throat/Cutty Mack, and Cha Cha, who is the only female of the group and is said to be Royce's little sister. The group appeared together on the original version of the album Rock City on a song titled "D-Elite Part 2". This was the groups only commercial release as a whole.
Royce Da 5'9" was sentenced to jail on September 21, 2006, for violation of his parole. He went to court for a driving under the influence (DUI) offense which resulted in failing his parole terms. The Oakland County judge subsequently sentenced Royce to one year imprisonment in Oakland County Jail, Pontiac, Michigan. He was in the process of making a new album with DJ Premier at the time of the arrest. However, on January 9th, 2007, www.hiphopgame.com reported that Royce had been freed after his judge agreed to give him a work-release.
After the release of his 2005 album Independent's Day, Royce has kept a low profile even though he had promised a second album in December of that year, produced by Nottz. Royce recently went on tour with Mobb Deep, and ghostwrote the song "Tell Me" ft. Christina Aguilera for P Diddy's new album, Press Play. He also does touring rounds to promote his new crew the M.I.C. (Make It Count), and is scheduled to make an appearance on Canibus' next album.
M.I.C. is also the name of his independent record label. The M.I.C. members are as follows: Royce, Kid Vishis (Royce's younger brother), June, Haus Dooley, and Sucka Free.
In a September 2006 interview with Elemental Magazine, Royce stated that, contrary to rumors, DJ Premier will not be producing the entirety of his upcoming album, but will be overseeing the project as Executive Producer, handpicking all of the beats. The Premier-produced track "Ding Ding" will be included, as well as four more beats from the producer.t to Bad Boy.
Diddy not only recognized Royce's pen, the mogul also expressed interest in signing the lyricist to Bad Boy. Nas has also stated that he would like to sign Royce to his new recording label, The Jones Experience, through Def Jam.
In 2002, Royce would call Eminem and ask to be signed to Shady Records. Busy with his movie 8 Mile at the time, Eminem refused, but about a week later signed 50 Cent. Royce took this in stride, agreeing to do the Anger Management Tour with his crew D-Elite. While on tour, D12 took offense to a line Royce had written for the tour: "Fuck Anger Management, I need someone to manage my anger."
They took the line to Eminem, and from there a series of misunderstandings escalated the beef. A barfight between D12 and D-Elite culminated in Eminem and Royce not speaking, and a rekindled beef between Royce and all of D12, including Proof.
Detroit's radio stations were alive with the controversy, playing diss tracks back and forth which included "Smack Down" (D12 minus Eminem over 50 Cent's "Back Down" beat). The track opens with an audio clip from an interview where Royce disses D12, calling them "the worst rap group ever". It attacks Royce's street credibility and alleges that D12 made his career possible. Proof recorded "Many Men" (over 50 Cent's "Many Men" beat), which addressed false rumours that Royce had ordered a hit on Proof.
Royce released a slew of diss tracks including "Shit on U" (over D12's "Shit on You" beat), which was mostly aimed at Bizarre. This track ridicules Bizarre's limited ability as a rapper and his suffering from a speech impediment. Royce also recorded, "We Ridin'" and "Death Day" (over 50 Cent's "In da Club" beat). Of these, the most hard hitting was "Malcom X" (over Capone-N-Noreaga's "Bang Bang" beat), featuring Tre Little of D-Elite.
While Royce and Eminem never directly dissed each other, the rap world focused on their relationship, mostly overlooking the friction between Royce and Proof, who had been even closer friends. That beef continued for two years, during which Royce suffered from severe depression and a drinking problem, but released some of his most recognized material. For instance, his dark sophomore LP Death Is Certain, which garnered favorable reviews from many publications and critics. (See links section for reference.)
In 2003, his conflict with Proof finally boiled over in a confrontation on the streets of Detroit. The two rappers' entourages gathered around them, as they spoke heatedly and brandished guns. The police arrested them, and they spent the night in neighboring cells, working out their differences. The two have since ended their beef and have been in the studio. This situation is addressed in Beef II, the second in a series of documentaries about beef in the rap industry.
Royce Da 5'9" Has A New Mixtape Out Called The Bar Exam.

Music:

Member Since: 8/31/2005
Influences:
"Boom" Music Video

"U Can't Touch Me Music Video

"Rock City" Music Video

"Hip Hop" Music Video

"Politics" Music Video

Type of Label: None