Royce Da 5’9″‘s Production Skills Shine In “Making Of Black Savage” Doc

Royce Da 5’9″ has added another talent to his arsenal.
Today marks the arrival of a brand new Royce Da 5’9″ single, the stacked posse cut “Black Savage.” In honor of the Cyhi The Prynce & T.I.-assited drop, Royce has delivered a detailed Making-Of documentary titled The Process. Kicking off with a behind-the-scenes look at Royce’s studio setup, which includes an epic picture of XXL’s “Shady 2.0 Boys” cover, Royce paces while the instrumental plays. As the chorus rolls around, Royce’s inner producer comes out as he explains his vision to the engineer.

“This record in particular, I don’t want to use the word difficult,” explains the Detroit legend. “It was a challenge. I’ve never made beats before. I was a member of Slaughterhouse, and I was the one responsible for other parts of the song, other than my verse. Crooked really likes the way I hear things – like ‘yo, have Royce touch my vocals.” He reveals that he’s been practicing on Pro Tools for a minute now, learning a few beat-making tricks from the homie Mr. Porter. Speaking with Hopsin, who appears to be sitting in on the studio session, Royce teases that he’ll be producing his upcoming album in full.

It got to the point where Royce was surprising his longtime collaborator Six July, who praises Royce’s beat-making acumen. Yet Royce recognizes his limitations, praising his collaborators Six July, Porter, DJ Premier and Bink as being constant sources of inspiration. “You don’t start making beats as an adult and become better than these guys,” he says. “I don’t even aspire to be that. It wasn’t like I’m competing with something. I just wanted it to feel right.”

And that’s only episode one. Episode two finds Royce and his team dealing with an artist’s bane: sample clearance. Kicking off on a somber note, Royce gets a call explaining that things aren’t exactly smooth sailing on that particular front. Revealing that the song was part of the Jay-Z led Roc Nation NFL initiative, Royce found himself facing an important deadline. Presented with the challenge of remaking the beat without the original sample, Royce assembled the brain trust for some clutch last-minute creation. It’s crazy to see how far Royce has come, and we can only hope he continues to deliver these documentary-style glimpses into his process. Be sure to peep that “Black Savage” song right now, and check out both episodes below.

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