Royce Da 5’9” is gearing up to release Layers in April, and sat down for a quick interview with Complex to discuss his past and where’s at in his career. The Detroit rappers speaks on his sobriety, his friendship with Eminem, and more. We’ve broken down the highlights for y’all below.
The best decision he ever made?
“To get sober. That happened September 12, 2012. I’d like to call it a spiritual awakening. I called Marshall and I said ‘I’m stopping drinking, I’m not drinking no more.’ He said, ’that’s the realest thing you’ve ever said to me. Come home.’ I came back to Detroit and he checked me into a hospital.”
On having Eminem to support him
“Calling Marshall and being able to talk to him about anything dealing with substance abuse is like an AA meeting.”
His biggest regret?
“I made a decision to sign with Tommy Boy instead of Dr. Dre back in the day… he was offering me a $250,000 budget and unlimited Dre beats. Tommy Boy was just offering me a million dollars. For whatever reason, at 20 years old, a million dollars sounded like a much more valuable deal.”
What does he think of Donald Trump?
“I don’t feel good about anything that seems like Donald Trump could even slightly become President. I don’t take a lot of what he says serious.”
On The Flint Water Crisis
“Terrorism can happen in many forms. It’s all about self-preservation these days, and a lot of things don’t happen by coincidence, even if they can be spun that way.”