Royce Da 5'9"- Sucess is Certain

Fresh off of mainstream success from the Eminem-assisted EP Bad Meets Evil Hell: The Sequel, Royce is set to drop a new LP entitled Success is Certain a week from now. We got it a week early for ya. Assists are relatively small, from Eminem (half a chorus) on Writer's Block, to Travis Barker on drums on the track Legendary, to Slaughterhouse companion Joe Budden on My Own Planet. Lesser-knowns Kid Vishis, Nottz, and Adonis also stop in to help the cause of Royce, who is now unquestionably the biggest name is the Slaughterhouse quadrant (Brooklynite Joell Ortiz and Californian Crooked I round out the group).

As for the cd, it seems to me that after all the time waiting for the limelight, Royce has become somewhat complacent while in it. Taking a likeness from His braggadocio has always bothered me some, but none more on this cd. Legendary begins the cd, establishing the theme of self-promoting swagger. Royce doesn't often get out-rapped, but on My Own Planet Joe Budden does to him what Eminem does on most of Bad Meets Evil: not ethered by any sense, but definitely a TKO to borrow a boxing reference.

Royce opts for a lot of beats that try to be fast, hard and anthemic, on what seems to be a follow-up to 2004's Death is Certain. The titles tell an obvious story to the mind of Royce during these two recording sessions. in 2004, Royce was desperate, angry, and willing to spit bars to prove a point- that he was better than your favorite rapper. Personal struggles made the project easier to relate to.

The closing track, I've Been Up I've Been Down, addresses his "roller-coaster of a career", it seems to be too little, too late. Through one listen the project, Royce seems to be too focused on the two images on his album cover- cars and cash. The last line of the cd, Royce proclaims "They can take away the cars, they can take away the cash, but I bet ya they can't take the realness that's in me." Realness, maybe. But Success is Certain is certainly far from the pantheon of Royce's career. It is a shame that the biggest release Royce will likely ever receive does not contain his best work, or even a banging single, with apologies to Legendary and On the Boulevard. Oh well, Detroit could do much worse: at least he's not Big Sean.

Grab the album here, thanks to HHA.

Joe Budden- Mood Muzik 4.5 The Worst is Yet to Come

Somehow I missed Mood Muzik 4, so this one comes out with seven new tracks in addition to a bunch of songs of 4. Any true Joe Budden fan (gotta know more than Fire and Pump it Up) knows the Mood Muzik series are some of the best hip hop mixtapes out there. This isn't the best of the series, but with Slaughterhouse not currently doing anything thanks to various projects such as Royce's Bad vs. Evil collab cd with Eminem, he's gotta do something. Check it here

Also, some individual songs relating to the above paragraph:
Joe Budden- Ordinary Love Shit Pt. 3 The finale of a badass trilogy by the King of New Jers where he speaks on his relationship with Tahiry, whose ass will be more famous than anything she ever does.

Eminem and Royce Da 5'9- Lighters ft Bruno Mars (Off the Bad vs Evil EP Hell: The Sequel) Mark my words, you will hear this on the radio this summer. I'm happy for Royce that he will get airplay, but I'm not feeling this one too hard. Thanks a lot, Bruno. I wish you had stayed in bed all day and not done this song. The EP drops June 14th.

Props t0 2dopeboyz and nahright for the links