Redman & Royce 5’9 Put Weak Rappers On Notice

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Royce 5’9 is amidst an incredible three-album solo run. 2016’s Layers, 2018’s The Book Of Ryan, and 2020’s The Allegory are some of the best Hip-Hop releases of that window, as well as the Detroit, Michigan MC/producer’s career. During that time, the artist also delivered a second PRhyme installment and 2022’s compilation, The Heaven Experience, Vol. 1. That project combined recent album and mixtape highlights with some new songs, including a Big K.R.I.T. collaboration. Nickel Nine uses that same title for a new EP, The Heaven Experience. Named after Royce’s studio and company, the six-song collection features Royce and Redman’s on a collabo’, the simply-titled “Royce & Reggie.”

Redman Explains Why He Used To Keep A Tissue In His Nose

The song begins a soulful vocal sample and Redman kicking off the rhymes. “It’s Red’, ni**a, my bars up, I hit the gym / I see you walkin’ in my shoes, they’re my old Timbs,” begins the Def Squad legend. He splashes with lyricism like, “I’m workin’ smarter not harder / No ‘Dora’s’ for my daughter / She learnin’ to be a boss like her father / When it come to MC’ing, ni**as ain’t got a clue / That’s why no mission impossible, yo, for me to cruise / And haters hate, ’cause I rock with that Coldplay / ‘He ain’t gon’ last; he gon’ fall,’ I say OK!” Royce follows with lines that even subtly address his 2021 fallout with former podcast partner Lupe Fiasco. “My underground train of thought is something you new slaves just can’t abolish / Askin’ do Trump wear a toupee / It’s crazy as asking do I bump ‘Murals’ by Lupe / Fly Frontier, cry tat tears onto a new page / To a new moniker, god of you era, born winner / When I die, I’m gone with the wind, ‘Scarlett O’Hara.’” “Royce & Reggie” is produced by DJ Pain 1, who worked on Layers, in addition to credits for Public Enemy, Ludacris, and Jeezy. Back in 2012, Royce and Reggie featured on a Bun B loosie, “Stop Playin’.”

Redman is said to be at work on Muddy Waters Too, a sequel to his 1996 third LP.

Royce 5’9’s Most Powerful Song Of His Career Is A Call For Solidarity & Pride

In addition to “Royce & Reggie” the AFH playlist features Redman’s recent collaboration with Logic. Songs by Larry June & Alchemist, Tyler, The Creator, Meyhem Lauren, Madlib, DJ Muggs, Action Bronson, and a fresh Lloyd Banks & Method Man collaboration are also included.

#BonusBeat: From an early 2020 conversation with AFH, Royce 5’9 explains why he’s a GOAT MC: