After the disastrous debacle that was the MTV Hottest MC’s of 2009 list, it feels good to have some exciting hip hop news to bring to the Muffin.  The news I speak of is the upcoming release of Street Hop by Detroit’s other golden son, Royce da 5’9″.  Out on 10/20/09, the album finds Royce trading verses with Busta and his Slaughterhouse brethren (Joe Budden, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz), and features beat construction from the likes of Emile, Mr. Porter, and your favorite producer’s favorite producer, DJ Premier.  Street Hop will hopefully be the pinnacle of Royce’s already ridiculously productive year, a year that saw him put out the acclaimed Bar Exam 2 mixtape (legit free d/l here), The Revival EP and the powerhouse collabo Slaughterhouse disc. Now I’ve been a Royce fan for a hot minute now and I’m hoping against all hope that he finally gets a little recognition after this album…but sadly, I know it won’t happen unless he throws Lady Gaga, the Wack Eyed Peas or some other MTV-friendly “artist” on a single.  Not to worry, I know I’ll be bumping some 5’9″ for the foreseeable future, and hopefully all of you in Muffinland will too after sampling some jams. The first song below finds Nickel Nine easily lacing through a Premo heater, while the second showcases Royce’s ever-present hunger as he absolutely devours Busta in the aptly-title ‘Dinner Time’.  In the words of the man himself, “I’m ready to show all these other rappers just how wack they really are.”  Go get ‘em Royce:

Royce da 5’9″ – Shake This

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Royce da 5’9″ – Dinner Time ft. Busta Rhymes

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…but that’s not all folks!  I’d like to take a minute so sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air. Wait, that’s not what wanted to tell you. What I wanted to address were the rumors that Royce (and maybe the rest of Slaughterhouse) is going to be signed to Shady/Aftermath in the near future.  Given that Royce and Em have recently reconciled their differences, it certainly is a possibility, and the clues are definitely out there  — Exhibit A: Busta’s appearance on Royce’s album (Bussa Buss is on Aftermath); Exhibit B: Royce releases the ‘October 20th’ freestyle over a Dre beat, and, perhaps the most telling of all, Exhibit C: Slaughterhouse ominously standing behind Em in the ‘Forever’ video.  All parties have been relatively tight lipped about the situation, but if this goes down it could finally give Royce the exposure he deserves and, more importantly, it could give us more heavyweight collabos between Mr. 5’9″ and Mr. Shady.  I included some old school Royce/Em songs below to whet your appetite…just imagine the possibilities!

Eminem & Royce – Renegade <– you’ll have to ignore the annoying ass DJ, but it’s worth it

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Eminem & Royce – She’s The One (remix)

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Street Hop will be out October 20th and will be available wherever good music is sold.

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B-B-Bonus jam! So apparently Royce was recently on DJ Green Lantern’s show and dropped a less than satisfactory freestyle. Not happy with such a performance, Royce anted up and released this freestyle over Jigga’s D.O.A. shortly thereafter and totally redeemed himself...

Royce da 5’9″ – D.O.A. (Redemption)

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Twitter: Follow Royce as he tweets exclusive updates in the days leading up to the release of his album…and for all Muffin related goodness be sure to follow myself, Bootsy and Frank!