Royce da 5'9"

Royce da 5'9"

Royce da 5'9" is the stage name of Ryan Daniel Montgomery, an American rapper from Detroit, United States. He is also known as Royce 5'9". His work is rooted in hip hop, and he builds a career across solo releases, duos and groups.

Career

He begins his solo recording career with Rock City in 2002. The album is originally planned for 2001, but delays linked to disputes with Columbia Records mean it arrives independently. He then releases a run of further solo studio albums: Death Is Certain (2004), Independent's Day (2005), Street Hop (2009), Success Is Certain (2011), Layers (2016), Book of Ryan (2018) and The Allegory (2020). These albums are self-released after his debut and are described as receiving critical acclaim.

The Allegory earns him his first Grammy Award nomination, for Best Rap Album, in 2021.

Collaborations and groups

Montgomery is closely associated with Eminem. They meet in 1997 and form the hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil in 1998. Their single "Lighters", featuring Bruno Mars, reaches number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and appears before their debut EP Hell: The Sequel in 2011. The EP debuts at number one on the Billboard 200 and marks one of his strongest commercial performances.

He also forms the supergroup Slaughterhouse in 2008 with Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Kxng Crooked. The group releases the albums Slaughterhouse in 2009 and Welcome to: Our House in 2012. In 2014, he forms PRhyme with producer DJ Premier, and the duo releases two albums.

Other affiliations

He is listed as a member of Bad Meets Evil, Slaughterhouse, PRhyme, D Elite and 701 Squad. He is associated with Artegia Music.