Royce Da 5'9" - Rock City (2002)
Rock City.. A mediocre debut release by Royce da 5'9" or a magnificent concept album by KISS that your dad can't ever shut up about?? Thankfully, not the latter. Unfortunately, the former is still an option and very much correct.
Royce da 5'9" is a good rapper. He can flow pretty well, he can flow quickly, and has fantastic musical chemistry with Eminem, quite well shown on a track from "The Slim Shady LP", titled "Bad Meets Evil", a track that'd later become the name of their duo, and he felt like one of the few rappers back then who could fully keep up with Eminem's flow, and shoot lyrics right back at him with the same over-the-top comical violence and imagery. He's also ghostwritten for Dr. Dre before on the ending track of "2001", titled "The Message", so before he even had a debut album, he had his feet wet in the industry, which makes this album that much more perplexing to listen to!
The songs on here just aren't that great. Hardly any of them really stuck out to me, and to be honest, the album felt way longer than it needed to be, at an hour and two minutes, with the amount of time I enjoyed on it being.. I dunno.. About 20 minutes? Royce is certainly a good rapper, but there are so many things holding him back from his full potential on this album.
The title track is what made this album sell a fair bit back in 2002, and the reason why is because of that "(feat. Eminem)" attached to the song title!! Eminem and Royce?! BAD MEETS EVIL?! Killer combo! Too bad whenever you're done with the song, you'll be left with the average reaction of "Eminem was only on the hook?!" and almost feel as if you were lied to.
Speaking of guest features, they're pretty limited, which I consider good for the most part when it comes to hip-hop albums, but none of the features on this album really felt needed at all. Sure, you've got Tre Little appearing on three tracks, and a track featuring Clipse, Pharrell, and Tre Little as a trio accompanying Royce, but it's just not satisfying. The most noteworthy feature on the album, even though I'm admittedly not a fan of his work, nor am I too familiar with it, but Twista appears on "Let's Go" to deliver a verse that sounds nearly exactly like literally every Twista verse I've ever heard, but that's kinda neat.
The production? Some beats are pretty okay, like "D-Elite" and the stereotypical Neptunes track "Mr. Baller", but some of the beats sound as if you went to the Bronx with a roach (the type of joint, mind you) and gave it to a literal roach inside of a McDonald's in exchange for the insect giving you one of its beats. The beats sound pretty damn dated, so there's not even that to make the filler tracks ("Nickel Nine Is..." comes to mind) worth checking out!
Check out this rippity rappity rap I wrote!!!:
"Yo don't listen to this album, it's kinda shitty
And even though some of the lines are pretty witty
You'll still be wishing you weren't listening to Rock City
'Cause the only enjoyment you'll get out of it is itty bitty
SLAUUUGHTERRRRHOOUUUSEEE"
6/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
