Royce da 5'9"

Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9", is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, the two met in 1997 and formed the hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil the following year.

Royce da 5'9" built his reputation as Detroit's most technically precise lyricist through relentless mixtape campaigns and a decades-long creative partnership with Eminem that produced the legendary *Hell: The Sequel* EP. While his solo albums—particularly *Rock City* and *The Revival*—showcased intricate wordplay and production sophistication, his collaboration with DJ Premier on the *PRhyme* project became a modern boom-bap masterpiece, proving he could anchor a project alongside one of hip-hop's greatest producers. As a founding member of Slaughterhouse alongside Joell Ortiz, he helped define the late-2000s underground movement before eventually joining Shady Records, solidifying his place in the Eminem orbit without ever sacrificing his independent edge.