Mar 10, 2016 http://djbooth.net/news/entry/2016-03-10-royce-da-59-turned-down-dr-dre The "what if?" stories in hip-hop are often more interesting than reality. Did you know that Nas was supposed to record a "Gimme the Loot (Remix)" with Biggie but he got so high in the studio he had to leave? Did you know that Duck Down Records almost signed Eminem but backed out in the final stages of the deal? And did you know that Dr. Dre offered to sign a young Royce Da 5'9" but Royce turned him down? "I made the decision to sign with Tommy Boy instead of Dr. Dre back in the day. I don't really regret it, because by saying that I'm saying I regret where I am today, which couldn't be further from the truth. But sometimes I wonder what would have happened, what kind of music would I have been able to make? Because he was offering me a $200K budget and unlimited Dr. Dre beats, and Tommy Boy was just offering me $1 million. At 20-years-old the million sounded like such a more valuable deal, when in actuality it wasn't at all." So yes, in retrospect it seems like Dre was clearly the right choice. UNLIMITED DRE BEATS? Those alone would have been worth several million dollars, if they had just managed to come up with one "Lose Yourself" level hit Royce would be washing his hands with diamonds, not to mention the prestige and respectability it would have brought. At the same time though, hindsight's always 20/20. Tommy Boy, the label Royce signed with instead, was a legitimate force at the time, $1 million is a lot of money, and let's not pretend like signing to Aftermath was some sort of guaranteed meal ticket. Far more artists got crushed under the weight of Dr. Dre's massive wheels than became stars in the own right on Aftermath, so who knows? Ultimately, Royce is right, how could he possibly regret anything. He's currently one h--- of an emcee in his own right, half of Bad Meets Evil with Eminem, half of PRhyme with DJ Premier and one-fourth of Slaughterhouse. I'd say his career worked out just fine. Still though....unlimited Dr. Dre beats? By Nathan S, the managing editor of DJ
Mar 10, 2016 Holy Jesus, if Royce would've sign with Dre... just imagine songs he would make Few hits on Dre beats and he'd be much bigger than he ever been. On the other hand his career is very prolific. Good article.
Mar 10, 2016 sounds all magical but lets not forget how many rappers did nothing on aftermath.. and already famous rappers, not 20y.o newcomers
Mar 10, 2016 It could've turned out great but on the other hand it could've meant nothing. Apart from a few artists Aftermath is a graveyard of a label, which is a shame. Royce on Dre beats, though Imagine if Royce blew up under Dre and we'd have an Em album followed by Royce followed by Bad Meets Evil.
Mar 10, 2016 Royce is nice either way, would've been tight but the music he made in that era was still great. Just not as popular as it should've been
Mar 10, 2016 Kendrick's gonna see this & smack the s--- out of Dre since he still hasn't even rapped on one original beat by him lmao
Mar 10, 2016 Made the right choice tbh. He would have struggled to be anything other than a ghost writer, look at all the rap careers ended in Dre's studio. I wouldn't trade the good projects we had.
