Royce Da 5’9 recalled working in the studio with Diddy for his 2006 album, Press Play, during a recent appearance on The Breakfast Club. Royce says that he failed to appreciate the gravity of the moment at the time and messaged him a decade later to thank him for the opportunity.
“I went out there when Puff was working on the Press Play album," he remembered on the show. "This n***a had me in a midi room just writing verses over and over again while he was in the luxurious A-room with all the celebrities and shit. I was just like, ‘Man, this n***a ain’t pay me, this n***a grimy!’
Royce continued: “About 10 years later, after I was a little bit wiser, I looked at him in retrospect and I had to hit him on the DM to tell him how much I appreciate him and how much I took from that. It was because of that process that I started to re-write in my own creative process. I was like, ‘I don’t re-write my own shit like this, why don’t I approach this shit with this same kind of intensity?’ I pulled that from it and just the opportunity, sometimes we take for granted the opportunity.”
While Royce didn't end up with a verse on the project, he did land a writing credit for the track, “Tell Me,” featuring Christina Aguilera.
“I looked at him and thought about how many great things he’s contributed to the culture and how much the bad stuff is always placed in front of us,” he explained. “Every time you hear about these guys it’s, ‘they on drugs, they kissing this n***a in the mouth.’ Like, bro, these n****s been in existence since 1997 and have not stopped.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Royce discussed his tarnished relationship with Lupe Fiasco.
Royce's Breakfast Club appearance comes ahead of the release of his next project, The Heaven Experience Vol. 1, which arrives on Friday.