Royce Da 5'9 Says That Artists Like Drake & J. Cole Are Bringing Lyricism Back

After releasing Hell The Sequel, his collaborative LP with Eminem under the name Bad Meets Evil, Royce Da 5’9 started noticing that lyrics were making a comeback in Hip Hop. Speaking with Thisis50.com, Nickel Nine explained that artists like J. Cole, Drake and Nicki Minaj are helping to bring back lyricism and changing the culture’s landscape.

“I think with Hell The Sequel, Watch the Throne, Drake, Nicki, Wayne, they whole camp, J. Cole, they whole camp… These guys that are lyricists are making it for lyricists to be cool again. I do think there was a time in Hip Hop where it wasn’t cool to be lyrical. Even Waka Flocka made a comment, he said, ‘I ain’t got no lyrics. Lyrics don’t make me money,'” he said. “I think that’s kind of changing a little bit now with the main guys being lyricists. The young guys is coming up. They’re killers.”

Watch the full interview below, where he also speaks on how he considers Eminem the best lyricist alive, what he would be doing if he wasn’t rapping and more.

DX COMMUNITY

Octavian Johnson

September 2, 2011 | 5:02 AM

Gave the /5

Did Royce Da 5'9" just say that Young Money is contributing to bringing LYRICISM back?.....Hip hop just died

Reply 0

Aaron Henry

August 21, 2011 | 3:01 AM

how the hell did he not mention lupe?

tairy hesticles

August 21, 2011 | 1:54 AM

Lyrics have been in hip-hop forever, throughout the bullshit trends that people hop on and abandon, and lyrics will still matter. Now, it seems to me that Royce is just following the script that many artist who are mainstream (now) are doing. There is a big difference between stating your honest opinion and following a script to stay in line. Mention someone who people in your camp have worked with before as "bringing something back" when it was never "gone" in the first place. Lyrics always mattered in the underground, but now that people like "Jay-Z and Eminem" say it matters in the mainstream, it happens to make a comeback. Lyrics always mattered to Canibus, but will Hiphopdx mention this????Of course not. Good luck with that.

Andre Cooper

August 21, 2011 | 12:47 AM

So i am bored and decide to check back in on some comments and what do i see.... Someone using my name lmao!!!! I could care less.... The proof is there and if you disagree you just ignorant and stuck in the early 90's..... I have damn near every rap album to name from big pun wu-tang the roots all the way down to master p gucci waka and so on.....Royce can say whatever he wants because at the end of the day he has his own taste... Haterz just find reason's to hate...I can't wait til nas says waka is his fav rapper...Watch how many nas fans turn there back...Kill yourself

Anonymous

August 21, 2011 | 1:27 AM

That's terrible going from wutang to master >>>wacka flame Ok, music is good to have fun and party, but at some point you have to challenge your brain and stop being an embarrassment.... stick with your nas!

August 20, 2011 | 10:28 PM

Drake? "She will, the again she won't but then again she will" those are great lyrics??

August 20, 2011 | 10:35 PM

lmao at these kids; that's just a hook, songs are structured differently than rap verses you retard, have you honestly read the lyrics to famed R&B/rock songs? think about the vocal instrument and how the lyrics and the background melody conflate to create a sort of atmosphere

Ally

August 20, 2011 | 8:32 PM

Drake Sucks, I can't believe Royce would say some shit like this :(

PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP MAN

August 20, 2011 | 5:07 PM

Wait a minute! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

Ramiro

August 20, 2011 | 4:50 PM

Thats the reason i've never bought any of his albums. Even though he has skills i never really agree with anything he says. He always sucking up to the people that are making it big.

August 20, 2011 | 5:02 PM

Word!

August 20, 2011 | 3:16 PM

love the taste of drake's dick up on my lips, waiting for the night he gon grab me by the hips, want his cum in my ass, give it a sip

Jake Kroes

August 20, 2011 | 2:42 PM

LOL, Really? Come on, look at the underground its all about lyrics. Ill bill, Slaine, Tech N9ne, Brotha Lynch Hung.. Like this is garbage, but for the mainstream, ANY ONE would think that lil wayne is an amazing rapper, or rick ross.. or whoever.. but people need to seriously look beneath the mainstream, Jedi Mind Tricks for example, amazing. Heavy Metal Kings, amazing. People are just too dumb when they listen to the mainstream to not realize that theres better hip hop out there. /rant

offroading

August 21, 2011 | 2:00 AM

So borderline, nobody in the underground would trade places with Drake in an instant? I think a lot of "underground" rapper aren't that by choice.

boaderline

August 21, 2011 | 1:42 AM

Being underground, your basically using your own brain and not leting the powers that be dictate to you whats hot, thats all. And if it was'nt for groound breaking lyricism there would not have been a hip hop explosion in the mainstream in the eighties with LL, RUNDMC, PE,NWA,KRS 1, we were listening to the powerful words they were saying. Lyricism is the only thing that seperates rap from normal pop culture

BluntedDaily

August 20, 2011 | 8:53 PM

I'm all for lyricism, but you can't be stuck on the underground. People who say mainstream is whack, doesn't spend the time to find the GREAT mainstream that is put out daily. Y'all listen to the radio and that's as far as you go, but there are still so many cuts coming from the mainstream it's ridiculous. Being an underground fanboy is, in my opinion, just as bad as being a radio fanboy.

VOR

August 20, 2011 | 8:50 PM

Your right, JMT is so relevant because they are so damn entertaining. Lets spit some political conspiracy bullshit on every album over some mediocre beats and get all these fucking internet losers help us get past the 1,000 album sell mark.

BEEZLEBUD

August 20, 2011 | 8:41 PM

what you jus posted is retarded, now re-read it over n over until you realise why its dumb as fuck and I never said what they spit was "smart" I said I understand it and it makes perfect sense, which it does, jus because YOU cant understand it doesnt mean its nonsense it jus means YOUR NOT SMART ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND IT!!!

August 20, 2011 | 6:58 PM

Just because you don't understand what he's saying don't mean it's smart to paraphrase Jay-z.

beezlebud

August 20, 2011 | 5:05 PM

jus because your stupid ass doesnt understand the lyrical content doesnt mean its "dictionary" rapping, I understand every single verse JMTs has ever spit and non of its "jibberish"

August 20, 2011 | 3:55 PM

JMT and similar artists blabber big words to try to sound intelligent and have no idea what the fuck they are saying. Pure rubbish, and I'm not even British. Some underground I like, but this dictionary rhyming bullshit sucks.

Load More Comments

Royce Da 5'9 Says That Artists Like Drake & J. Cole Are Bringing Lyricism Back

Subscribe to DX Newsletter

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! You’re Far Too Kind

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! You’re Far Too Kind

DX COMMUNITY

195 Readers Joined the Discussion

Octavian Johnson

Gave the /5

Aaron Henry

Gave the /5

tairy hesticles

Gave the /5

Andre Cooper

Gave the /5

Anonymous

Gave the /5

Anonymous

Gave the /5

Anonymous

Gave the /5

Ally

Gave the /5

PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP MAN

Gave the /5

Ramiro

Gave the /5

Anonymous

Gave the /5

Andre Cooper

Gave the /5

Jake Kroes

Gave the /5

offroading

Gave the /5

boaderline

Gave the /5

BluntedDaily

Gave the /5

VOR

Gave the /5

BEEZLEBUD

Gave the /5

VOR

Gave the /5

beezlebud

Gave the /5

VOR

Gave the /5