Royce Da 5'9" Gives Props to Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole for Being Both Lyrical and Successful

Royce Da 5'9" has long been one of the most respected lyricists in hip-hop, both as a solo artist and in a group setting. The Detroit native's Layers project is dropping on April 15 and he is starting his promo tour and banging out interviews. During a sitdown with DJ Vlad, the Slaughterhouse member gave props to Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole for not succumbing to trends and blazing their own trail.

"I think right now in 2016 being a lyricist is considered not in style and on many levels it's considered not cool to be a lyricist," said Royce. "Sometimes I find that even high level, top-tier lyricists, they even find ways to kind of camouflage it so they don't come across as lyricists, be it in their content or they hide it in their swag a little bit...Kendrick Lamar is the exception to every rule in hip-hop. He sits in that very successful MC space by himself but he takes that hit. He doesn't sell the same number of records as Drake does. He may have to take that hit in sales to get the Grammy's and receive the creative accolades. That's my personal opinion."

While Royce has a point to an extent, both Drake and Kendrick have been very successful in terms of sales and at award shows. Their two most recent high-profile releases, If You're Reading This It's Too Late and To Pimp a Butterfly, both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, broke streaming records on Spotify and have been certified platinum by the RIAA. K. Dot's untitled unmastered. also came in at No. 1 on this week's Top 200 chart.

The Bad Meets Evil rapper also credits Cole for being himself and using it almost as a gimmick. "[J. Cole] lives in a space by himself too, man. I think he's quietly outselling most of the artists. He's so himself on records and it's almost a gimmick. Not putting anyone on the album, not wearing all of the high-price shit or pushing the fashion agenda and being about the lyrics and the real-life shit. Another dope ass MC."

Royce also revealed that he's working with Premier on another edition of PRhyme, is partnering with Mr. Porter to launch a talent development company and has unreleased songs in the stash with Eminem. Watch the whole interview above.

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