Royce The 5’9 checks in with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio Overtime. Photo Credit: Shyrone Haskins

Man, I remember the first time I caught on to Royce da’ 5’9″

It was my junior year of high school and I wasn’t allowed to watch music videos on MTV or BET.

So, what’s a guy to do? I did it anyway!

My mom would tell me she was going to check the bottom of the cable box and see if it was hot when she came home from work. So, naturally, I found the cheat code. I ran the cold water in the kitched sink until it got extra cold, then I got a sponge and cooled the cable box. By the time my mom came home, the cable box was cooled and was left the way it was when everyone left for school and work that morning.

Why are these details important, you ask? This set the stage for the formative years of my hearing Royce da 5’9’s music.

Well, I clearly remember coming home from school and checking out the music video for Rock With Me.

That song, Royce’s, also featured Eminem. I’d been sold on Eminem since he appeared on the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards and marched into the entrance of Radio City Music Hall with a ton of Eminem look-a-likes.

In turn, Eminem shook Carson Daly’s hand and left Fred Durst hanging while rapping to the hit, “The Real Slim Shady.”

Now that I’ve bored you, I say all of that to say that I thought Royce was talented in Rock With Me and the collaboration of he and Eminem meant the world to me back then.As talented a lyricist that Royce is, one would wonder who else he repects lyrically.

In a recent conversation on Scoop B Radio Overtime, Royce da’ 5’9 broke it down for me. “Biggie, Jay-Z, and Nas were in terms of albums were the first albums that I was able to appreciate from a technical, lyrical, standpoint,” Royce da’ 5’9″ told me on Scoop B Radio Overtime.

Royce da” 5’9 Checks In With Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson On Scoop B Radio

“I’ve always been influenced by Redman, Ras Kass, the Helter Skelter album was a big album in my household. D.O.C. is a criminally slept on emcee out of the west coast. I think had he not had that accident he shoots to top three easily, Big L.”

Big L??  Yup Big L, Harlem’s finest! He’s very underrated. Royce thinks so too. “Criminally underrated,” Royce da’ 5’9 said.

“I think Big L was better than Jay-Z at that time, just in my opinion. Let me know if y’all disagree because we can argue.”

Nope, we’re saying nothing. 

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The announcement made Thursday [April 21], marks the very first time in VMA history that the iconic award show will be held at the staple landmark and will mark the ceremony’s return to New York after three years in Southern California.

“The ‘VMAs’ at MSG is a New York story too good to resist,” MTV president Sean Atkins said in a press release. “The VMAs deliver some of pop culture’s most defining moments and we’re grateful to our New York home and Madison Square Garden for rolling out the red carpet for what is sure to be the biggest night in music.”

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio even took time to comment on the historic moment. “From the red carpet to the accolades to the performances — and everything in between — the VMAs are an incredible showcase for so many talented artists,” he said. “It also goes without saying that hosting the awards in our city means a boost to our small businesses and restaurants and more jobs for the thousands of crew members who work to bring the show into homes around the world.”

Since the awards debut in New York in 1984 at Radio City Music Hall.  Since then it has been switched between being held in New York and Los Angeles, with Las Vegas and Miami both hosting one each. The award show’s last visit to New York was in 2013 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center for the show’s 30th anniversary.

Hosted by Miley Cyrus, the 2015 VMAs offered up plenty of memorable moments, including Kanye West’s infamous declaration that he’d run for president, Taylor Swift’s reconciliation with Nicki Minaj and we can’t forget Nicki’s infamous checking of Miley Cyrus-“Miley what’s good?”

You can catch the 33rd annual Video Music Awards live Sunday, August 28th.

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Dave Chappelle touched down at Radio City Music Hall last week to kick off his 10-show tour that has already seen a live performance from Kanye West. Fortunately, the excitement doesn’t end there. Before drawing the curtains on last night’s show, Chappelle brought out the Queensbridge emcee, Nasty Nas, to perform his legendary debut album, Illmatic in its entirety. Chappelle’s very own orchestra backed up Nasir.

Nas kept the audience enthused as he ripped through classic cuts such as “Made You Look,” “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That),” “NY State of Mind”and more.

If you reside in the NY area, you’ve still got time to catch Chappelle live until the 26. Other performers set to make appearances are The Roots, Busta Rhymes, DJ Premier, Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu.

Check out some of the clips below.

The post Video: Nas Performs Illmatic at Dave Chappelle’s Radio City Music Hall Show appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.