bigd99999's Full Review: Rock City [Edited] by Royce Da 5'9"
When you think of Hip Hop artists from Detroit, the first man that comes to mind is, of course, Eminem. However, Detroit has given us more artists, besides Em. There is of course, Em's crew D-12, the newcomer Obie Trice, the ridiculously stupid Insane Clown Posse, the sell-out has-been Kid Rock, and perhaps, the only other emcee from Detroit with potential: Royce da 5'9. You may remember Royce da 5'9 from the Eminem collaboration on Slim Shady LP Bad Meets Evil. Before that, he was ruling the underground freestyle scene quickly and swiftly. He reached his peak when he, and (could be former) friend Eminem recorded two memorable tracks and released it in Vinyl and as a single Nuttin To do and Scary Movies, the second of which was featured on the Scary Movie Soundtrack. It was only a matter of time before Royce released his solo. Unfortunately, his album was pushed back for several years, and eventually leaked online, forcing Royce to return to the studio. After a short while, Royce released a version 2.0 of his album, named Rock City.
Track List & Rating
1 - It's Tuesday (Intro) (NOT RATED)
2 - Rock City f/ Eminem (****)
3 - Off Parole (***)
4 - Sausage (skit) (NOT RATED)
5 - My Friend (****)
6 - U Can't Touch Me (**)
7 - Mr. Baller f/ Clipse & Pharrell Williams (***)
8 - Let's Go f/ Twista (**)
9 - D-Elite (***)
10 - Take His Life f/ Tre Little (***)
11 - Nickel Nine Is... (**)
12 - Boom (******)
13 - Soldier's Story (****)
14 - Who Am I (****)
15 - Life f/ Amerie (****)
The lead single from this album, the self-titled "Rock City" features long-time friend and famous emcee Eminem, for the hook. Royce da 5'9 basically introduces himself to the mainstream hip hop crowd with this banger, basically describing the area where he comes from, which is Detroit, Michigan. His lyricism is good, not great. He touches on everything having to do with Detroit from violence, to growing up, to women, to parties, to even hip hop. This is one of those songs that dangerously steps on the line of commercialism and underground appeal, because i can see why either fan would enjoy it. Eminem's chorus is normal, but nothing too special, and the same can be said for his vocal scratching, which isn't too bad at all, but let's face it, he's no Rahzel.
"U Can't Touch Me" is another track that you most likely heard, as it was played throughout radio stations, but not heavily. This track is sadly pure commercialism. Royce gives us a definitive club instrumental, with synthesized drums, snares, and claps, and his lyrics are poor. Royce gives us uninspired rhymes that range from thuggish gun play, to club anthems, to materialistic braggadiocio, which should appeal to all commercial fans. Not to mention that the jiggyness is added by a sing-song chorus, sung by an unnamed female vocalist. The lyrics are bad, and in counting, there is only about one or two good punchlines, and even then, they aren't that good. Oh yeah, if you want more club music, check out "Mr. Baller", same idea, but with a few more punchlines and a Neptunes beat, but nothing above average. Sorry Royce... try again later.
Royce takes on a triple cadence flow to match up to famous triple cadence speed lyricist Twista on "Let's Go". Royce spits in a fast style, backed by a fast beat. Twista outmatches Royce when it comes to speed, as expected. Royce raps materialistic and commercialistic lyrics about women, drugs, platinum, money, ice, and violence. Royce improves on the second verse a bit, rapping about his skills and adapting a multi-syllable flow, which gives the track points, but doesn't make it anything special. Twista raps a lot better than Royce in this style, and also improves the song. Another average track.
"Boom" is another song which was played on the radio and can be heard every once and a while. This is the best song on this entire album. Featuring a sombre instrumental with violins, synthesized slam drums, and a background bassline, produced by the legendary DJ Premier. On this track, Royce da 5'9 raps braggadiocio, mixed with some venomous battle raps and does everything that an emcee should do on a record. Royce gives us a multi-syllable flow, with extremely clever punchlines, metaphors, and similes, blending perfectly with Primo's memorable instrumental. Royce da 5'9 tries his best to elude himself from Eminem's shadow on this track, and achieves it, but the same can't be said for the rest of Rock City.
Where Royce achieves lyrically, production-wise he lacks on Rock City. The track "Off Parole" is a great example. We get an above average lyrical track about Royce's celebration of having no problems with the law, giving him time to complete his album, which is relatively good subject matter, but the Neptunes' ridiculously loud production kills the track. On "My Friend", Royce gives us an amazing extended metaphor as he compares his penis to a friend. Its still good, yet the beat slows down the quality of the song. The Street-Poetic and Home-Braggadiocio of "D-Elite", and the old school braggadiocio of "Who Am I" suffer from the same disease, pretty good lyrics, but bad instrumentals to back them.
The last song on Rock City is the introspective "Life", featuring Amerie. Royce raps introspective narratives in the same poetic way as a Black Thought or a Common would spit, directed at his son. Royce raps about growing up nowadays, and that life is harsh, and basically gives us a moving track, indicating that there is hope for his son. Amerie's soulful vocals complement Royce's poetic lyrics nicely. The instrumental is a soft mix of violin, high-key keyboard, and synthesizers blend perfectly. Another good track on a bad album.
Royce da 5'9's Rock City is one of those albums that borders on good and bad. On one hand, you have a relatively talented emcee, capable of spitting flames, being introspective and thoughtful, and unleashing a cadre of tight songs. On the other hand, Royce on the majority of the album tries too hard to be commercial and to appeal to the pop-crowd. He gives us more than one club anthem, and throws in the bling bling mentality on more than on occasion. But he also proves on a few songs that he is capable, so its really hard to label him as a commercial rapper, because i honestly think he is not that whatsoever. He has lots of potential, but needs to get his mind right. In my opinion, this album deserves no more or no less than 3 stars, and is purely average. In my opinion, Royce is going to have to try harder next time...
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