PRhyme

As two of hip-hop's most respected elders, DJ Premier and Royce da 5'9" individually built their reputations in the 1980s and '90s but came together in 2014 to deliver a debut album full of classic, swaggering hooks and raw, cutting rhymes in PRhyme.

DJ Premier was born Christopher Martin in Houston, Texas and rose to prominence as the beat maker in New York duo Gang Starr and producer for major acts such as Nas, KRS-One and Christina Aguilera. Royce da 5'9" (real name Ryan Montgomery) had been a sideman for Eminem and part of the supergroup Slaughterhouse with Joe Budden. Royce originally had the idea to make a Slaughterhouse album by hiring a master producer to use samples of legendary Los Angeles arranger Adrian Younge, but the project turned into a collaboration that put Younge's music at the core, with a newly-sober Royce delivering some of his most reflective and personal lyrics and Premier rolling back the years and creating scores of funky, strutting back beats. Their self-titled debut also featured guest spots from Mac Miller, Schoolboy Q and Jay Electronica and reached number 59 in the US charts, and they returned in 2018 with follow-up 'PRhyme 2', which was built around the sounds of Philadelphia producer Antman Wonder and included contributions from Cee-Lo Green, 2 Chainz and Yelawolf.