Rock City

Rock City is the debut studio album by Royce da 5’9″, released November 26, 2002, on Game Recordings and Koch Records.

The story

Royce recorded the album in 1999 and 2000, after his work with Eminem as Bad Meets Evil drew attention. Signed to Columbia Records, he clashed with the label over its push for radio-friendly singles, and the planned release stalled. Columbia dropped him in December 2001. When an unauthorized promotional bootleg circulated in February 2002, Royce re-recorded most of the tracks and issued the album as Rock City (Version 2.0).

Sound and production

Production came from DJ Premier, The Neptunes, Trackmasters, Ayatollah, Red Spyda and Reef, among others, with Eminem credited as an executive producer. Guests include Eminem, Clipse, Pharrell, Twista, Tre Little and Amerie. The singles were the DJ Premier-produced “Boom” (1999), “You Can’t Touch Me” (2000) and the title track with Eminem (2002).

Legacy

The album peaked at No. 29 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 7 on Independent Albums. HipHopDX reviewed it favorably, RapReviews scored it 8 out of 10, and AllMusic and Vibe also rated it positively.