Royce da 5'9" — Street Hop

Royce da 5'9" comes from the commercial and critical success of the collaborative album with supergroup Slaughterhouse, shortly before releasing his fourth solo album, originally announced in 2006. At the time, it was thought that it would be fully produced by Premier, then at least half-produced by Premier, then overseen by Premier, then beats-selected by Premier. In the end, DJ Premier is featured three times here, once at the beginning, once in the belly of the record, once at the end. He exclusively mixes his tracks. The rhythm set is completed by Emile, Nottz, Frequency, Quincey Tones, Streetrunner, David Cross, Raf Moses, Mr. Porter and Carlos Broady. Guests are Slaughterhouse, Kid Vishis, Phonte, Busta Rhymes, Trick Trick, Mr. Porter, K-Young, Jungle Rock Jr. and Bun B.

Published by One Records and M.I.C. Records (Royce label), the album gets a decent response in sales, but not what the boy expected: far in the pop chart, just in the top 30 among rap records, outside the top 10 among independents. It's one of the most disappointing records of the year. The production is irregular, poor, shoddy: the first two cuts deceive you, then you feel that there was no more budget, the budget was over, that Frequency beat is a joke. DJ Premier brings out three rhythms that are not from DJ Premier: I didn't look at the tracklist before listening to it, the rhythm of the song with Phonte goes completely unnoticed, and the last one is decent, just decent, but it doesn't look like a Premier, this is a sound carpet that will not go down in history. At song number ten, "Shake This", I was able to take the beat all the way for the first time since the album began, and then I wondered who was the man behind the keyboards capable of this work: DJ Premier. Easy.

Rap, there's not really something to go and see as far as the lyrics are concerned here. After the unwanted, almost obligatory effort that Royce made with the Slaughterhouse group, here the rapper shows a change of attitude compared to the past, he's hardcore, but he's so grossly, shouting things on economic rhythms. The record sounds just like a follow-up to the supergroup album, and that means it doesn't sound good. In this regard, it's interesting to note how Royce chooses one spot as a solo guest at the beginning for Crooked I, a spot as a solo guest at the end for Joell Ortiz and none for the other member of his group. In the posse cut, which feels like a contractual duty, Royce gives everyone two verses each and his first verse sounds almost like a dissing towards the same budden, maybe I'm just imagining it. With 70 minutes of braggadocio, 18 tracks + 1 skits that he would like to make you laugh and not make you laugh, the album is exhausting and never ends. 4/10.