Hip-Hop Wired: Now, let’s get to “U Looz.” Royce, how could you dislike such a hard instrumental?
Royce Da 5’9”: Well I didn’t didn’t dislike it. Let me clarify that.
DJ Premier: Yea, I went too far when I said that in early interviews.
Hip-Hop Wired: Then what exactly made you hesitant about the song?
Royce Da 5’9”: I made one of those mistakes as a writer, where at the end of your first verse, your last line sounds like the line that’s closing the song out. I didn’t realize what I’d done at that moment, so I was unable to come up with anything that sounded good after that line: “This is for my real Hip Hop ni**as who would never ever ask me if I’m here to replace Guru.”
At that moment, it didn’t dawn on me that I should move that line to the end of third verse. Maybe I had babies crying in my ear or some sh*t [Royce is a new father, once again]. I called Preme and said, “I can’t think of nothing else to this. Maybe you should send me something else.” My plan was to move on to a new record, because that was only the second song we recorded.
I had a vision in my mind of a project so off the chain sonically that I didn’t know what to expect. I was probably more critical of what I should have been from a sonic perspective and from the perspective of my lyrics. Sometimes as artist you need that opinion, that validation, from who you’re working with. I always love the beat, but in this case I was a little unsure about the rap.
Hip-Hop Wired: The list of features on this project is crazy. How did you go about selecting guests?
Royce Da 5’9”: It started off with me being a fan and having a mutual respect for those guys. Common was a bucket list situation; it had to happen at some point before I was done with this journey. It’s a feel thing.
Hip-Hop Wired: December 9th is a loaded release date, and quite possibly the best we’ve seen since June 2013, when Kanye West, J. Cole, etc. released. Where do you think the PRhyme album will stand among it’s competition?
Royce Da 5’9”: It’s definitely nothing else like it. Cole may be the closest thing to it, because he shows a lot of similarities from the golden era of Hip Hop; he’s definitely that breath of fresh air. Ghostface, you already know. Wayne is going to do something new [at the time of the interview, Wayne’s Tha Carter 5 had yet to be thrust into album release purgatory]. He’s always pushing the envelope, creatively.
I think all in all, it’s definitely going to be a great day for us, because it’s going to drive fans into the store and iTunes. I don’t even look at it too much of a competitive thing. We’ve carved out our own lane with what we do, and we’re gonna move.
Hip-Hop Wired: What about you Premo? From a sonic perspective, how do you think the project stands up versus others releasing that day?
DJ Premier: Anything that we do is for the betterment of the culture. The main this is how it’s pushed and what market you’re aiming it at. We have a great marketing team with In Grooves, and they’re doing their job very well. Royce, Adrian, and myself are good at social media; we man our own Twitter and Instagam pages. That’s me responding.
We understand what works for us, and that ties into what makes the album be just as powerful when it releases. We’re confident on how to last in the industry because of our experiences. We also focused on feeding our core audience, because that’s who’s paid us for our entire careers.
Hip-Hop Wired: HHW recently did a story on the greatest collaborative albums of all time, inspired by the announcement of PRhyme. Where would you rank your project on said list?
Royce Da 5’9”: Number one.
DJ Premier: Number one.
