Royce Speaks On Writing "The Message" & "The Way I Be Pimpin'"

[TRG]

The Way I Be Pimpin'

Royce Da 5’9”: “I wrote that song for Dr. Dre. And it was just an idea. I was just being a little kid trying to figure out what direction Dre should go. I wasn’t much of a visionary back then so that’s what I came up with. It was me, Em, and Dre sitting in the studio one day, going through beats. Dre was told me and Em to pick some shit, go back to the hotel room with it, and write so we could come back the next day.

“So I picked that beat and the ‘Throne Is Mine’ beat. I wrote both songs that same night. When we got back to the studio the next morning, I laid both of those down. They were just reference vocals. I don’t know how those leaked out. ‘The Throne Is Mine’ leaked recently. It popped up online and people thought it was a solo song of mine, like it was new.

“[Working on 2001] was surreal. I hadn’t been rapping that long and here I am, around Dr. Dre and Eminem. And it was kinda crazy because I’d sent my demo when Em was out in Cali. Em had just got his deal and he was spending a lot of time out there. I had sent him my demo and he played it for Dr. Dre. Next thing I know, I’m on the phone with Dre and he’s telling me he liked my shit and he wanted me to come out there and help out.

“It was just like, ‘Wow!’ I was still living with my parents. I tell my father, ‘I’m going out to California to work with Dr. Dre!’ He’s like, ‘What?’ I think that was the moment where it was like, ‘Maybe he’s not just chasing some rap shit no more. Maybe he might make something happen with this.’ I got out there and just did whatever Dre needed me to do and it felt great.

“I felt a little bit accomplished because people found out that I was around Dre and Em. I had taken a meeting with Tommy Boy before, and they had passed. They said they liked the music, but they’d pass. When they found out that I was around Dre and Em after that, I went back and had another meeting with them. I played the same music and got a deal. I didn’t have one new song, it was the exact same demo.

“I didn’t even ask [why my ‘The Way I Be Pimpin’’ didn’t make the final cut] because ‘Xxplosive’ is a way better song. Once I heard it I was like, ‘Okay, yeah, they did that.’ I never asked no questions. That’s how the recording process goes, sometimes things get rewritten, I know I do it all the time.

“Dre always has a vision, he knows how to make albums. I trust his judgment 100%. When I heard it was a whole new song, I was like, ‘I’m pretty sure it’s something better. Whatever he decided to change it to, was better than what I did.’ And it was.”


http://www.complex.com/music/2011/06/royce-da-59-25-essentials/the-way-i-be-pimpin#gallery


The Message

Royce Da 5’9”: “I wrote the verses, but I didn’t even know about [how Dr. Dre’s brother was killed]. I was rapping about an experience that I had. I just felt like, ‘Okay, maybe it would be dope if Dre can paint a picture that people can relate to.’ I wrote the song and when I went in the booth and laid it, Dre was quiet. And I remember thinking to myself, ‘Damn, why is he so quiet?’

“That’s when the whole thing about his brother came up. It was just God’s work. That was the only thing that I did for him that felt like something. You cut random joints when you’re doing an album—like ‘The Way I Be Pimpin’’ and ‘Throne Is Mine’—you don’t know what’s going to make it. But that song just felt like something that needed to be on there. It fell into place. He didn’t sit me down or say, ‘Yo, I wanna rap about my brother.’ It just happened.

“I was rapping about a friend of mine who got shot in the neck. He was standing on the corner with some people, somebody rolled up and shot him. Nobody knew what it was for. He wasn’t beefing with nobody or nothing. So when I found out about it, I was hitting his pager and everything. Everything I said on that song, I absolutely went through. That’s why I felt like people were going to be able to relate to that.

“Rell originally referenced it. I didn’t know Dre was gonna get Mary on there. I heard it right before the album came out. That was dope. He actually upped the ante [by getting Mary]. She went in there and killed it.”


http://www.complex.com/music/2011/06/royce-da-59-25-essentials/the-message#gallery

[TraceOneInfinite]

Nice piece.  Like the photo of Em and Royce chillin with Dre's wife around that time.  Interesting to hear he was still living at his mom's crib at the time.

I would of liked to have heard more about "The Throne Is Mine", because I considered that to be the best unreleased track that's floating around out there.  That could of been a huge comeback hit for Dre.   Also, Royce was saying it just leaked in 2003, but it leaked was back in summer of 99' I think, cause I remember getting it from the www.dreday.com forum and bumping it nearly everyday around 99'/2000'.   

Too bad Royce had to go and fuck with Tommy Boy at the time.   If he would've stayed in house with Aftermath or gone to Shady Records or something like that, he could of turned his underground/unreleased tracks into a classic, platinum album.

[No Compute]

If he would've stayed in house with Aftermath or gone to Shady Records or something like that, he could of turned his underground/unreleased tracks into a classic, platinum album.

An album which at Aftermath/Shady wouldn't have been released.

[Dre-Day]

nice stories.

If he would've stayed in house with Aftermath or gone to Shady Records or something like that, he could of turned his underground/unreleased tracks into a classic, platinum album.

An album which at Aftermath/Shady wouldn't have been released.

with the support of eminem and dre? it could have worked

[GangstaBoogy]

^ stat quo disagrees

Dope story about "the message". But it makes dre look even more pathetic; the dedication you released to your brother was really a verse royce wrote about a friend of his? #notwinning

[GangstaBoogy]

Oh and the worst part, he didn't even give Royce the credit and he didn't receive any royalties.

[West$ide Boi]

nice stories.

If he would've stayed in house with Aftermath or gone to Shady Records or something like that, he could of turned his underground/unreleased tracks into a classic, platinum album.

An album which at Aftermath/Shady wouldn't have been released.

with the support of eminem and dre? it could have worked

but now that he's signed to Shady he got that chance back

[Digital Pimpin']

IIRC, Royce wasn't signed by Aftermath because of some shit with his manager.

[HighEyeCue]

nice stories.

If he would've stayed in house with Aftermath or gone to Shady Records or something like that, he could of turned his underground/unreleased tracks into a classic, platinum album.

An album which at Aftermath/Shady wouldn't have been released.

with the support of eminem and dre? it could have worked

yeah, I don't know about platinum but it definitely would've been a nice album

[OG Hack Wilson]

Oh and the worst part, he didn't even give Royce the credit and he didn't receive any royalties.

[OG Hack Wilson]

^ stat quo disagrees

Dope story about "the message". But it makes dre look even more pathetic; the dedication you released to your brother was really a verse royce wrote about a friend of his? #notwinning

haha so true