Ryan Montgomery

Ryan Montgomery, also known as Royce Da 59, is an American rapper from Detroit, Michigan. Voted as one of the most underrated MCs in the rap industry, Royce has three full-length albums credited to his name, despite being through more career upheavals than most artists experience over their whole careers. He is better known for his freestyling skills, purportedly not having lost a single rap battle. A helpful boost to his career came when Rockstar Games hired the Game Records label on for the rap music radio station "Game FM" in Grand Theft Auto III. Several artists from the Label, including Agallah, Sean Price, Black Rob as well as Royce Da 59 were featured on "Game FM". Royce himself contributed three singles: "We're Live (danger)", "Spit Game", and "I'm The King". The song "I'm The King" was edited specifically for the game, and is arguably better than the original album version. As an underground rap artist, Royce garnered hype with his successful underground hit "Boom". The DJ Premier-produced track was later found on the artists debut album; Rock City 2.0. However, most recognition came after collaborating with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, the duo formed a group called Bad Meets Evil (with Royce occupying the 'Bad' half, and Eminem the 'Evil' half). Bad Meets Evil produced a number of hits such as "Scary Movies" and "Bad Meets Evil", with the latter track featuring on Eminem's album The Slim Shady LP. The group was short-lived however, with an altercation occurring between Royce and Eminem's clique D12 prompting Eminem and Royce to cut off any connections. Royce is generally considered to have emerged victorious from the feud, calling out the entire group in his scathing track entitled "Malcolm X". Though the rivalry has cooled down enough to allow Royce and Proof, a member of D12, several public interviews, both parties have declared the situation had a deep impact on their relationship. In 1999 Royce contributed as a ghostwriter for Dr. Dre's album, 2001, on the song "The Message". Royce has since released three albums and three mixtapes.