Prhyme – Black History

Two Hip Hop eminent elders recount their personal history and that of their art, in a potent hi-quality capsule

PRhyme is a running collaboration between deckmaster extraordinaire DJ Premier, and Royce da 5’9″ of Slaughterhouse fame. The latter is sick of being accused of trying to fill the place of late great Guru, Premier’s partner in legendary duo Gang Starr; he addresses this by both shouting out to his hero Guru and telling off the detractors who just don’t get it (they are instantly recongisable, apparently, because they are too dumb to pronounce Prhyme right).

On a classic movie car chase beat concocted by Premier, Royce kicks off the proceedings by evoking his difficult birth, health and law problems, and his son’s autism; and how he managed to come through all this thanks to persistence and “unconditional love” from family. No laments.

A prelude with Premier scratches brings on a surprising flip, and the track becomes less hurried, more determined and menacing. Royce gives a short bio of Premier and Guru, and praises their influence on great rappers who he goes on to namedrop. He finally tops it by declaring himself part of a small elite that includes Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T and Eminem.

A lot of history is covered here, and by calling the track “Black History” Royce is shooting for epic, but it is thankfully tongue-in-cheek and entertaining enough to avoid being overblown.