There were certain concerns that Royce would not be able to come back with a solid album after his prolonged absence and his largely publicized beef with his former friend Eminem. If you are unfamiliar with the story, here's a shortened version; After coming up, Eminem decided to try to publicize his friend Royce. What started with a hot single and a fairly large buzz ended up in some complications and a failed record deal with Columbia. Not soon after, Royce and D12 member, Proof were arrested and Royce was booked for having a concealed weapon.

Coming back to a more underground sound, Royce delivers with Death is Certain. Unlike many artists, Royce stays on focus for all 15 songs of this album, with each track having an obvious relation to the dark theme of inevitable death. 5'9 seems to have matured past his petty beef, and although we see some name dropping and refrencing to Shady and his camp, we see no direct insults, and we even see some signs of now being past that, ('I'm against all this name-calling sh*t').

The album starts off all business, with a 12 second intro, which contains no words. Ironically, this display of silence (in which you can hear someone coming into a room), speaks volumes for the oncomming music. Royce then jumps right into a slim shady reference, by stealing one of his widely known lines ('My arms are heavy, knees weak, palms are sweaty'), and speaking of what has happened to him ('I dont care who's on top ... or who's wife is sniffin'), even if it is seemingly indirectly. The track is slightly above mediocre, and dosen't offer anything special, but the album takes a higher tone with the next track, Throwback. This song combines a heavy beat with an enchanting hook, a female accompaniment, and several layers to make this song work. This is one of the first instances of wordplay and multis we see from Royce, and also helps to portray the dark side of his album.

The next two tracks are incredibly different, and in that way, they majorly contrast each other. The first, What I know, is a somewhat mediocre track, with a much up tempo beat which doesn't sound like Royce at all, but we stand corrected as he switches his style. I Promise, is again another dark track, in which he reflects on his past, and why he is the way he is. Yet another amazing song my Royce, this is the first we hear of his son, where we can almost feel the emotion. Right after, we hear a small skit Call me never, where we hear Royce's answering machine, a skit that dosen't seem to fit the atmosphere.

Hip Hop, fits it's name, is a more upbeat track, and switches back and forth from being old school styled to being more of this new Royce. Gangsta, is a song that does not match up to anything on this album, but it seems to be appropriate for the theme of this album. From here, the album takes a definite turn for the best. The next half of his album is composed of 7 of the most lyrical songs to have been ever heard by Royce, all dark and chalk full of wordplay. Through all of them, Death is Certain Pt.2, and I and Me, are two of the greatest songs to be heard in a while. The last half of this album elevates Royce to a new stance in our eyes, leaving us with a new state of mind for him. If this is any hint, Royce is full of potential for the future, and isn't going anywhere.

Written By: m.jizzLe