Hip-hop purists rejoiced when Detroit wordsmith Royce 5'9" and legendary producer DJ Premier joined forces in 2014 to create their first collaborative effort, PRhyme. It made perfect sense for the longtime collaborators, both incredibly gifted in their respective skills sets. Not only did that maiden LP grace nearly every "best-of 2014" list, but it proved that there's still a place in modern music for robust beats, vicious bars and technical triumphs.

After a long wait, the duo is back with its follow-up album, PRhyme 2. This second offering is lengthier than the first, giving it more room to explore different concepts, sounds and include assistance from featured guests. Some fans were concerned about whether Royce and Preemo could outdo their first installment, but now that the project has been unveiled one week ahead of its scheduled March 16 release date, it's clear that those worries were unfounded. Premier's beats are firmly within his boom-bap wheelhouse, chopping up modern-sounding samples from the brilliant producer Antman Wonder that will move young and old heads alike. Royce's cunning lyrical exercises are even more mind-blowing (peep his unbelievable freestyle for Funkmaster Flex for a taste). His punchlines, entendres, delivery, similes, schemes, patterns, metaphors, cadence and all-encompassing rhymes are not only sharper than before, but they're also more personal.

In celebration of this hip-hop haymaker, XXL has sifted through PRhyme 2 to handpick 20 of the best lyrics from the project. Check it out below and let us know if your favorite bars made the list.

  • "Black History"

    PRhyme

    "Em and the Slaughters, y'all don't have to look any farther for the rhymers/Y'all are the past, at the present time I'm the Future/'Cause all my competition tryin' be Desiigners/I'm just tired of being underrated by these lazy bloggers" —Royce 5'9"

  • "1 of the Hardest"

    PRhyme

    "To be the best you gotta have the respect/I do the same to you that I do to the Alphabet/I put the A, the B, the C, D, E, and the F in the back of a EMS/Before I go back to doing anything in rap for a G unless/I black but niggas like DMX, don't bark, it's dark and hell is hot like a furnace is" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Era"

    PRhyme Featuring Dave East

    "Discussin' Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies/That's probably why White people stay connected/My people stay corrected, White people stay protected/From the same dangers in life that my people stay subjected/The USA got a race obsession, hatred/I hope you know that's why I race my possessions/I treat my Porsche like Oprah and my Wraith like Stedman" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Respect My Gun"

    PRhyme Featuring Roc Marciano

    "I keep the same down chick around different tours/I tore down shit before now the shit be more/'Cause now ya boy sounds just matured/And your shit for clowns, CB4/I don't know, Rihanna, Rita Ora/Either or, it'd be an honor to be a fly on either wall/Of these giant divas anytime you see the dogs/Call the hyenas, we at war" —Royce 5'9"

  • "W.O.W"

    PRhyme Featuring Yelawolf

    "My rifle kick back when it get blazed in the sky/I'm a classic, I get dressed playin' Aquemini/Don't do some shit to get your wifey kidnapped/Have you on Twitter beggin' for your bitch back like Sage Gemini/Why these niggas gettin' their hair dyed and they nails polished/I'm like Biggie and Pac trapped inside of Big L's body" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Sunflower Seeds"

    PRhyme Featuring Novel

    "So when I drive I try to ride slower than Heinz pourin'/My mama told me to try to enjoy it/Take you a vitamin boy and stick to your diet and tore it/Keep risin' and soarin', don't put your mind on the evil/Keep your eye on the people who would kill just to be by you/And beware of those who appear to be dyin' to meet you" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Sunflower Seeds"

    PRhyme Featuring Novel

    "I am the absolute shit I actually speak latrine, PRhyme 2/All day you hear uzi, choppers and nines too/All day you niggas eat sushi, sausage and fondue/The drum dilla like Ma Duke/The Hummer red and it come atop
    Giant-sized shoes like clown suits/The rifle rightfully mine too, it might just heat up from the field in the clutch like when Mike and LeBron shoot" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Streets at Night"

    PRhyme

    "Wonderin' how am I not dead, lookin' for righteousness/You wonderin' how you gon' get ahead, I'm on my ISIS shit/I do it for the streets, my niggas on parole without a suit/My dogs who wanna roll without a roof/The blogs and the critics/I exhibit logic like the rappers without chance, that's all independent" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Rock It"

    PRhyme

    "I write for Sean Price and Dilla, my mic is Thriller/My ratchet blows, it's trappin' souls like Bryson Tiller/They sprayed the crib, left lead in the awnings/And that's the very thing that gets me out the bed in the mornin'" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Loved Ones"

    PRhyme Featuring Rapsody

    "As the plot thickens either get rolled on or rocked with it/Make a decision, nigga the clocks tickin'/Feelin' chauvinistic, rollin' with the coldest bitches/And the whip's equipped with cold ignitions/It has just been brought to my attention that the mistress finally told the missus" —Royce 5'9"

  • "My Calling"

    PRhyme

    "Either they're criticizin' the music, comparin' numbers/Or makin' America great again, wearin' rompers/I ran bundles for that clown, I can't mumble/Or stand stumble, I sat down, I stand humble" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Made Man"

    PRhyme Featuring Mr. Porter and Big K.R.I.T.

    "I think you niggas see where I'm tryna go/I been around since Moschino and I seen palm trees/The D-Town don who will spring for them cream Don Cs/I ain't no Hypebeast though, I'm a mic beast, bro/I don't recite these flows, I homicide these hoes" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Made Man"

    PRhyme Featuring Mr. Porter and Big K.R.I.T.

    "Niggas in the streets aim terribly with that full clip/Turn into a marksman when it's time to miss me with that bullshit/My new religion, that bottle not a thang to me/I'm tired of you niggas like I'm tired of watchin' them slave movies" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Flirt"

    PRhyme Featuring 2 Chainz

    "You ever have a bad bitch try to kick it with you in your Twitter DMs?/I have—been a statistic and demonstrated against/Wicked minds of the twisted bitches challengin' scrubs/I had a bitch expose me on MediaTakeOut/And after her 15 minutes of fame was up/She hit my phone back apologizin', askin', 'Can we still fuck?'/Bitch, please, miss me—I'm paid as hell/I got the game locked—arcade's in jail" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Flirt"

    Prhyme Featuring 2 Chainz

    "Okay, came up the street like a ladder—Aladdin/I bust through the hole like McFadden on Madden/A matter of fact, that's a after effect/If the crime don't fit, then I'm takin' it back" —2 Chainz

  • "Everyday Struggle"

    PRhyme Featuring Chavis Chandler

    "I had nightmares of Joe Budden arguing with Lil' Yachty/Division between artists party until we sorry that we parting/That young man the same age my son is/He just on fire right now, same way that my gun is" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Everyday Struggle"

    PRhyme Featuring Chavis Chandler

    "But White privilege do exist, I agree though/Labels used to tell you what's popular, now it's VEVO/All they argue 'bout now is who is the hottest Migo/Pac and Biggie wasn't just artists, they were our heroes/As far as years, I've been out here moving for 10-plus/'Cause I'm about the youth moving, not about them against us" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Do Ya Thang"

    PRhyme

    "Nothin' says friend more than starvin' with your neighbor/Nothin' says family like arguin' and make up/Nothin' says wake up like that cold air through that plastic on your window in November/That breeze gave me chills like my introspective pen does" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Gotta Love It"

    PRhyme Featuring Cee-Lo and Brady Watt

    "And it's all for hip-hop, and we all together/I'm in Brooklyn with Talib in the bookstore/With Macklemore in the thrift shop/And I'm sober, yes, success the only thing causes this high/The rise and fall of the good guy, slash good fly" —Royce 5'9"

  • "Gotta Love It"

    PRhyme Featuring Cee-Lo and Brady Watt

    "Like Hulu, I used to dream about leavin' the block/Off honest MCin', man, fuck all this drama I'm seein'/Believe it or not, the scoundrels, skeezers and thots/It all goes down in the DM, even your stock" —Royce 5'9"

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