Elite wordsmith Royce Da 5’9″ takes a moment to address his absence from BET’s Hip-Hop Lyricist Of The Year category.
After over twenty years in the rap game, it feels like Detroit legend Royce Da 5’9″ has reached his final form. These days, when he’s rhyming on his own work — such as The Allegory, the first entirely self-produced album of his career — or blessing stations like the LA Leakers with endless onslaughts of bars, Royce simply feels elevated. It’s a rare level for an emcee to reach, obtainable only but a rare number of highly practiced and dedicated wordsmiths.
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Yet in spite of this, and all the acclaim his writing has received from fellow heavyweights, Royce found himself on the outside looking in when the BET Hip-Hop Awards Lyricist Of The Year nominations surfaced. A category that included: J. Cole, Big Sean, Drake, Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, and Rapsody. Aside from the fact that J. Cole has released a grand total of three songs, many have been quick to raise an eyebrow at some of the selections. It didn’t take long for Royce — one of the category’s notable snubs, mind you — to weigh in on Instagram with some thoughts.
“I been congregating in the wrong buildings, obviously,” he writes, on his Instagram page. “I’m ciphering with a big ass @bumpboxx outside the next @rocnation brunch with the doorway blocked.” Though earning nominations for award ceremonies such as these tend to require a certain level of mainstream recognition, it does feel this particular category paints a strange picture to the uninformed. This is, after all, a year where Royce Da 5’9″, Conway The Machine, Eminem, Freddie Gibbs, and Westside Gunn have all released albums.
Who do you feel has been the best lyricist of the year so far?