Five Questions with Royce da 5'9 - talks Em + future of D12

[matz]

no idea if this has been posted but interesting quote about Eminem and the future of D12....

It's been awhile since we had a buzz-worthy hip-hop supergroup to shake things up.

Slaughterhouse, fresh off a much-ballyhooed pair of South by Southwest performances, is out to change that. Featuring Detroit veteran Royce da 5'9", Jersey rapper Joe Budden, SoCal staple Crooked I and Brooklyn's Joell Ortiz, the group just landed a high-profile deal with Eminem's Shady Records after a lengthy fight for release from the indie label E1 Entertainment.

The E1 deal produced a self-titled debut album in 2009, a work widely praised by hip-hop purists for its technical chops and high-concept lyrics. A six-track EP hit streets last month.

Formed after the rappers collaborated on a track for Budden's 2008 solo album, Slaughterhouse was linked with Shady almost from the outset: The group appeared in Eminem's hit video "Forever," and Royce's long relationship with his fellow Detroiter made a deal seem inevitable.

He sees tonight's show at the Royal Oak Music Theatre as a celebration.

"It's finally in motion," he says of the group's next chapter. "We're going to make it official and let Detroit know it's real, that we've actually arrived, and show that we're family."

While Royce will admit only that "we've got something up our sleeves," others associated with the show have dropped very strong hints that Eminem will make a cameo tonight.

Next up: a Friday gig at Central Michigan University, a quick trip to New York, and then back to Detroit to start cutting tracks for the group's first Shady release. Royce says the group will be bunkered in the studio for much of 2011, with the album due by year's end.

He talked with the Free Press as Slaughterhouse revs up for a big night in Royal Oak.

QUESTION: It took some time, but the Shady deal finally came into place. What made the wall finally crack?

ANSWER: A very good lawyer. (Laughs) Theo Sedlmayr. And a lot of patience from us. Also a lot of people willing to bend on certain things -- E1 Entertainment, Amalgam Digital. I think everyone saw that it would be something good for hip-hop to let it go ahead. We just had to get through the red tape.

Q: What has Eminem personally said to you about his interest and belief in the group?

A: Em pretty much vibes off wanting to work with people because he thinks it'll be fun for him. He's so not wrapped up in record sales and stuff like that. He obviously thinks the group can be big, but mostly he sees guys he thinks he can have fun with while making good hip-hop.

He had his time with D12, and he wanted a newer group of killers. He's not in our group, but he definitely wanted to assemble a team of new blood. But Slaughterhouse aggressively pursued Shady. We went after them, a place where we could really express ourselves and not worry about sales. I think that's the best mind frame for an artist to be in. And I think that's the way (Eminem) looks at it -- he feels we can all get together and make great music, and use his influence to make us go further in the game than we could have with an indie.

Q: So his fingerprints will be on the new record?

A: All over it. He hasn't used these exact words, but I'll go ahead and jump out the window and say it: I think he'll be the executive producer. He's very good at taking a record to a whole different level after we do what we do with it. He's good at choosing beats, maybe a verse here, a hook there -- anywhere he can help, he's willing to do it.

And he doesn't want us to do a lot of e-mailing (of tracks). We've had a lot of problems with hacks and leaks. So he wants us to be in one central location for the recording.

Q: Where do you see it headed musically, particularly compared to the first record?

A: We definitely want to go with the biggest producers possible -- anything that will put us ahead of the curve with radio. We've never been big radio artists. We can still do what we've always done, but with production that radio might lean more toward playing.

Other than that, we're all really focused on what everyone said we didn't do on the last album. We only had six days to record, and it turned out how it turned out. This will be more of a complete album. More input from other guys in the group. On the last album we just kind of went with it. We didn't have a chance to sit down and put foreheads together. This time we can. The sky's the limit when you do that. Put Eminem in there and it's even crazier.

Q: And the live show? It's tricky enough pulling off a group rap performance onstage, but when you're coming together from all corners of the U.S. map ...

A: One thing about us, and the reason we've existed so long as a group -- because generally these things don't pan out -- is there's a God-given chemistry. We have that. You can't even really explain it. I might fly in an hour before a show, the other guys are already there, and everything just connects. We already have an hour-long show that's scripted out, but we're really good at winging it too.


http://www.freep.com/article/20110324/E ... ce-da-5-9-

[Sebizzle]

wait..first he talks about not worrying about sales, and then says theyre making "radio songs with big producers" ?

[DanWS]

wait..first he talks about not worrying about sales, and then says theyre making "radio songs with big producers" ?

Yea I know. Not really feelin the way he says "he had his time with D12" either (even though it goes without saying that Slaughterhouse are much better). I've never really warmed to Royce, I mean he is a very, very dope rapper but I just think as a person he comes across as a little selfish and manipulative.

[JAGODA]

So Em and D12 ended anymore?

[djdixie]

personally i think royce is the way he is becuase he still feels like it should have been him em and proof and not the rest of d12.

[DanWS]

personally i think royce is the way he is becuase he still feels like it should have been him em and proof and not the rest of d12.

Yea I get a sense of that too. It's like he wants Em all to himself or some shit :/ just comes across as kinda sly and underhanded to me

[djdixie]

im not fussy either way. royce is dope and i always liked the whole bad meets evil thing. imagine if things did turn out like that n how it would be now. what would em's tracks b compaired to the stuff hes putting out now.would he be so mainstream and doing ft's with rihanna and wanye and doing a track wi nicky m.

[slimshadylappin]

personally i think royce is the way he is becuase he still feels like it should have been him em and proof and not the rest of d12.

I would like a Bad Meets Evil album far more then a D12 album.

[DanWS]

im not fussy either way. royce is dope and i always liked the whole bad meets evil thing. imagine if things did turn out like that n how it would be now. what would em's tracks b compaired to the stuff hes putting out now.would he be so mainstream and doing ft's with rihanna and wanye and doing a track wi nicky m.

Well sure they wouldve done some really dope tracks together, but I don't think it's fair to suggest if he hadn't of fallen out with Royce then he wouldnt have ever done the Recovery-era type of stuff with Rihanna and Wayne. That's a little too much of a leap.

[djdixie]

i think em wouldnt have went so soft as he has done now. i dont think we will ever see the dark side of em anymore. the fire has officially went out. i will still be a fan of his but ive gotten to the stage where im not hyped about anything he does until i hear it.

[JAGODA]

D12 gets no love.

[slimshadylappin]

D12 gets no love.

There's a reason for it. Besides Em and Proof the others are just average rappers except for Bizzare who could lose rap battles with Katy Perry

[djdixie]

em has done a major change since relapse. relapse shits on recovery.

thats em's problem. he doesnt need to try and be relevant. his style will always be relevant. thats why he had/has so many fans.

he is now trying to hard to the extent he is changing completly. by doing things he thinks his fans want him to do. all his fans saying he sound do a ft with blah blah n he does n then they bitch about it.

[djdixie]

D12 gets no love.

There's a reason for it. Besides Em and Proof the others are just average rappers except for Bizzare who could lose rap battles with Katy Perry

lol

[NicoleEM]

Yea I know. Not really feelin the way he says "he had his time with D12" either (even though it goes without saying that Slaughterhouse are much better). I've never really warmed to Royce, I mean he is a very, very dope rapper but I just think as a person he comes across as a little selfish and manipulative.

Yep i feel the same way.I like Royce and SH but ..damn D12 are his boys.Dunno how to explain i have these mixxed feelings lol.I think D12 could get Em out of this "punchline" style.They were/are about having fun while doing music,while SH seem so serious.I just hope Em can handle both groups and doesn't "forget" abt D12.
As for comparing them,for me it's D12>SH.Maybe cause SH haven't gotten to their full potential yet,while D12 have 2 solid albums.We shall see tho.