#172: PRhyme (Royce da 5'9 and DJ Premier)

This week on A Waste of Time with ItsTheReal, we welcome legendary lyricist Royce da 5'9 and legendary producer DJ Premier, together known as PRhyme, to the Upper West Side! We talk with the guys about their new album PRhyme 2, the most meaningful co-signs they've ever received, what Dr. Dre's studio speakers can do to an artist's music and their chest, how to react to internet trolls, all the numbers they have in their cell phones but never text, and their first ever TV appearances. Royce discusses working three jobs a day after graduating high school in addition to starting his rap career, all with the threat of his father sending him to the army hanging over his head. Royce recalls almost rapping for Redman in Detroit, the open mics around town, his one-way plane ticket to NYC, working with Pharrell and Chad and Kelis before The Neptunes blew up, and how he ruined his first record contract with Tommy Boy. Preemo reveals how he and Guru lived out of Branford Marsalis' brownstone in Brooklyn, meeting Dave Chapelle through Talib Kweli and Mos Def, knowing Ol Dirty Bastard when he had a staircase flattop in 1988, programming drums on Gangstarr records together with Guru, each of them punching buttons, and the absurdity of artists being paid to make an appearance in a music video. All that plus stories from the guys about Slaughterhouse, Jay-Z, Eminem, Danny Brown, Onyx, RZA, Killer Mike, and so much more!