Royce Da 5' 9" Recalls Bad Meets Evil Gold Plaque Experience

Rapper Royce Da 5' 9" has come a long way. The Detroit lyrical wordsmith spent the past few years working the underground circuit following a major fallout with one time close friend Eminem. Somewhere in between the dominant rapper was incarcerated on DUI charges, a crime that originally stemmed from an arrest on weapons possesion charges. Post-prison, Royce began to experience success with his work with alongside group Slaughterhouse and most recently a reunion with Em that resulted in the EP Bad Meets Evil EP Hell: The Sequel. Fans were excited about the thought of two of their favorite MCs getting back together on the music tip and most recently had even more good news to enjoy when it was announced the album was officially gold selling 500,000 copies.

"It feels great to actually be accomplishing things," Royce told MTV News backstage at Rock the Bells. "Five years ago, I was in jail, so this is phenomenal for me, and I feel like it's starting the machine and it's starting the Shady Records movement, because this is a good springboard to get the Slaughterhouse project off the ground, and we wanna make being lyrical cool again. We want the kids to look at lyricism and feel like that's cool."

In January, it was announced that Eminem had signed the quartet — comprised of Royce, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I and Joe Budden — to his Shady Records label. While the foursome have been working on their Shady debut, Em and Royce revived their Bad Meets Evil group and dropped Hell: The Sequel in June.

Now, three months later, the project has moved more than 500,000 copies, making it Royce's first gold record. For the rest of Slaughterhouse, Nickel Nine's success provides inspiration.

"I was actually there when [Eminem's manager] Paul [Rosenberg] came in with the plaque, and that's an ill moment in history, because it's more than full-circle in my eyes; it's like full-circle and then some," Crooked I said. "I proceeded to get drunk off a bottle of Moët entirely to myself."

Joell Ortiz is happy things are looking up for his partner and jokingly contemplated hitting him up for a loan. "I'm gonna ask Royce to let me hold something. Things are looking really bright for him right now," he said, laughing.

"To have him on our team is only gonna make us better," Crooked said of Royce, "And to have somebody like Em willing to put the spotlight on his longtime homeboy, that speaks volumes, and I think a lot of people can learn from that."



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http://rapfix.mtv.com/2011/09/06/royce-da-5-9-recalls-bad-meets-evil-gold-plaque/