“This ain’t rappin, this is Street-Hop
Now get up off your ass like your seat’s hot.” – Nas

Real quick, top rappers in the game right now: Royce da 5’9″, Blu, and T.I. All three of these dudes are true lyricists that know how to make songs. Hiphopsite.com reports that Royce will be dropping Street Hop in the first quarter of 2009. The album will be executive produced by DJ Premier. We played the first single “Shake This” on Episode 67 and it’s a cot damn banger. I really think this goes beyond anticipation. It’s more like, give me the album right now, before I hurt somebody!

I’ll admit, I was late to jump on the Royce bandwagon. I mean, I loved the Bad Meets Evil joints, and the singles with Premier are classics (“Boom,” “Friend,” etc. etc.) but I never thought much of his solo albums. Maybe he was spitting pretty hard on those albums, but the production was lacking if my memory serves me correctly. However, my new found obsession with Royce began when I first heard “Motown 25,” a collaboration with fellow Detroit MC, Elzhi (who can spit flames if didn’t know already). Ever since then, it seems like everything I hear from Royce is absolute FIRE!

It seems that Royce is always near some beef no matters what he does. Remember how he got kicked off Dr. Dre’s 2001 back in the day? Or his beef with Eminem and D12? Or most recently, what about the exchange of words between him and Joe Budden? By the way, Joe Budden doesn’t hold a candle to Royce. Have you ever heard Budden’s beat selection? His beats are terrible rock rap style bullshit!

Anyways, on paper, Street Hop sounds like it could already be a contender for album of 2009!