Royce da 5'9" facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Royce da 5'9"
Royce in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Ryan Daniel Montgomery
Also known as	Nickel Nine Nickle Royce 5'9" R-Dog Bad (as part of Bad Meets Evil)
Born	(1977-07-05) July 5, 1977 (age 47) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Education	Oak Park High School
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper songwriter record producer
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Heaven Studios Bad Half Gracie One M.I.C. (Make It Count) Columbia Tommy Boy E1 GAME Sure Shot

Ryan Daniel Montgomery (born July 5, 1977), known as Royce da 5'9", is an American rapper. He is famous for working with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem. They met in 1997 and formed the hip hop duo, Bad Meets Evil, in 1998.

Their song "Lighters" (with Bruno Mars) was very popular in 2011. It reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart. This song was part of their first album, Hell: The Sequel (2011), which topped the Billboard 200 chart. These successes brought Montgomery a lot of fame.

Montgomery also started a solo career. His first album, Rock City, came out in 2002. He has released eight more albums since then. His album The Allegory (2020) was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2021. In 2008, he helped create the hip hop group Slaughterhouse. They released two successful albums. In 2014, he formed another duo called PRhyme with producer DJ Premier, and they have released two albums.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Royce shared in an interview that his first stage name was "R-Dog," but he didn't use it for long. When he was ten, he moved to Oak Park, Michigan. He later got the nickname "Royce" in high school because he wore a chain that looked like the Rolls-Royce car symbol.

His stage name, Royce 5'9", comes from his height, which is 5 feet 9 inches. The numbers five and nine have also appeared many times in his life. He felt he found his path as a rapper in 1995. In his song "Tabernacle," he talks about his grandmother passing away on the fifth floor of a hospital and his first son being born on the ninth.

He started rapping at age 18. He was inspired by many artists like Ras Kass, Redman, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, and Jay-Z.

Royce's Music Journey

Starting Out and First Album

Royce met fellow Detroit rapper Eminem on December 29, 1997, through his manager. They formed a duo called Bad Meets Evil and made several songs together. In 1998, they appeared on a radio show for the first time. Royce was also featured on Eminem's first album, The Slim Shady LP (1999), on a song called "Bad Meets Evil".

Royce signed his first record deal in 1998 with Tommy Boy Records. He had turned down an offer from Dr. Dre's company, Aftermath Entertainment, which he later called his "biggest regret." After Tommy Boy Records closed, he signed with Columbia and started recording an album called Rock City. This album was named after Detroit, which was once home to Motown Records.

When the album was leaked online, Royce was dropped from Columbia in 2002. He then signed with Koch and re-recorded parts of the album, releasing it as Rock City (Version 2.0). Even though the album didn't sell many copies, his song "Boom," produced by DJ Premier, helped him gain recognition. This led to him working more closely with DJ Premier.

Royce da 5'9" in 2002

New Albums and Challenges

Royce signed with Game Recordings, where he recorded songs for the video game Grand Theft Auto III in 2001. His song "I'm the King" was featured in the game, which helped him become known beyond his work with Eminem. In 2004, he released his second album, Death Is Certain, which was well-received by critics. It included another popular song, "Hip Hop".

In 2005, Royce released his third solo album, Independent's Day. Around this time, Royce and his former friend Proof had a disagreement. They were both arrested and spent a night in jail in nearby cells. This time helped them resolve their differences, and they later went on two tours together.

Returning to Music and New Projects

After his release in 2007, Royce released a mixtape called The Bar Exam with DJ Premier and Statik Selektah. He also announced plans for an album with DJ Premier. Royce wrote the song "Tell Me" for Diddy's album.

In early 2008, Royce confirmed that he and Eminem had settled their past misunderstandings. He released The Bar Exam 2 and a retail version of his mixtape The Album. These projects featured music from various producers. He then worked on his album Street Hop, which came out in 2009. Its main song was "Shake This", also produced by DJ Premier.

Slaughterhouse and Bad Meets Evil Reunion

Rapper Joe Budden worked with Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, and Royce da 5'9" on a song called "Slaughterhouse." Because fans liked the song so much, they decided to form a supergroup with the same name. They released many songs in 2009, leading up to their first album, Slaughterhouse, which came out in August 2009. The group signed with Shady Records in 2011. Their second album, Welcome to: Our House, was released in 2012.

After Royce and Eminem became friends again, they started making new music. They released the album Hell: The Sequel in June 2011 through Eminem's label, Shady Records. Two songs from the album, "Fast Lane" and "Lighters" (featuring Bruno Mars), became very popular and were played often on the radio. This album helped Royce become more widely known in hip-hop. The album was certified Gold, meaning it sold over 500,000 copies. Bad Meets Evil also worked together again on the albums "Shady XV" and "Southpaw."

In August 2011, Royce released his fifth solo album, Success Is Certain. The title was a clever reference to his second album, Death Is Certain.

PRhyme and Layers

In 2014, Royce and DJ Premier announced they would release an album together as the duo PRhyme. They wanted to create music that was high quality and unique. DJ Premier used only music from Adrian Younge for the album's beats, which was a new challenge for him. In November 2015, PRhyme released a song called "Highs & Lows." In December, they released a special deluxe version of their album with four extra songs.

Royce da 5'9" performing in 2016

In May 2017, Royce confirmed that he and DJ Premier were working on a second PRhyme album, PRhyme 2, which was released on March 16, 2018.

Months after the first PRhyme album, Royce announced his sixth solo album, Layers, which came out in April 2016. He released the song "Tabernacle" to positive reviews, followed by "Dead President Heads." He also released a free album called Trust The Shooter EP before Layers.

Book of Ryan and The Allegory

In March 2016, Royce announced that a new album called Book of Ryan was almost finished. After some delays, the album was officially released on May 4, 2018. Later that year, he was featured on Eminem's song "Not Alike" from Eminem's album Kamikaze.

On February 21, 2020, Royce da 5'9" released his eighth album, The Allegory. It featured other artists like T.I. and Westside Gunn. The first song from the album, "Black Savage," came out in November 2019 and was featured in Jay-Z's "Inspire Change" campaign. In January 2020, Royce released "Overcomer" and "I Don't Age," which he said was the first song he made using his own beat. The album reached number 58 on the Billboard 200 chart.

In February 2021, The Allegory was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

Recent Music

In 2022, Royce released a collection of his best songs called The Heaven Experience, Vol. 1.

Personal Life

In high school, Montgomery was a good student. He mentioned in a 2014 interview that he sometimes had trouble focusing. Royce has two sons, James and Trenton, and three daughters.

Royce has a younger brother named Marcus, who is also a rapper known as Kid Vishis. Kid Vishis released his first album, Timing Is Everything, in July 2014.

Discography

Studio albums

• Rock City (2002)
• Death Is Certain (2004)
• Independent's Day (2005)
• Street Hop (2009)
• Success Is Certain (2011)
• Layers (2016)
• Book of Ryan (2018)
• The Allegory (2020)

Collaborative albums

• Slaughterhouse (with Slaughterhouse) (2009)
• Hell: The Sequel (with Eminem as Bad Meets Evil) (2011)
• Welcome to: Our House (with Slaughterhouse) (2012)
• Shady XV (with Shady Records) (2014)
• PRhyme (with DJ Premier as PRhyme) (2014)
• PRhyme 2 (with DJ Premier as PRhyme) (2018)

Awards and Nominations

Royce da 5'9" has received several awards and nominations for his music.