(AllHipHop News) The Hip Hop duo known as PRhyme is returning with their second studio album on Friday, March 16. NPR Music provided a “first listen” of PRhyme 2 before its official release next week.
Royce 5’9” and DJ Premier also spoke with the media outlet about the project. In particular, the topic of “mumble rap” came up during the conversation.
“When you say ‘mumble rap,’ who are you talking about? Rappers who can’t rap that well? Because there’s a such thing as being really good at what you do, but you’re not a lyricist,” said Royce. “It doesn’t give me the authority to critique you as a lyricist if you’re not claiming to be a lyricist. It doesn’t make me an expert. It just means I do one thing; you do something else.”
Breakout rap star Lil Uzi Vert – who has referred to himself as a mumble rapper – became one of the faces of the generational gap taking place in the culture. Two years ago, the Philadelphian caught some backlash from Hip Hop purists when he refused to rap over a DJ Premier beat during an appearance on Hot 97.
Premo publicly defended Uzi and released a statement saying they were “all good.” It turns out, the legendary producer and Royce actually attempted to recruit the “XO Tour Llif3” hitmaker for the PRhyme 2 track “Everyday Struggle.”
“Uzi Vert was supposed to be on it with us,” Premier says. Royce originally recorded the hook heard on the song as a reference for Uzi to sing, but Uzi wanted to contribute his own hook and verse. He’s poppin’ right now, but he understood the concept. It just never came together schedule-wise.”
Back in 2015, Royce announced he wanted “real lyricists” such as Eminem, The Game, and Kendrick Lamar for PRhyme 2. The album does feature Chavis Chandler, Dave East, Roc Marciano, Yelawolf, Rapsody, Big K.R.I.T., Denaun Porter, 2 Chainz, and more.