Ryan Montgomery (born July 5, 1977) is an MC known by his stage name Royce Da 5'9". He was born in Detroit, Michigan then moved to Oak Park, Michigan by the age ten. To date, he has four studio albums (with one on the way) and numerous mixtapes credited to his name.

Bad Meets Evil
After the release of his 2005 album Independent's Day, Royce has kept a low profile even though he had promised a second album in December of that year, produced by Nottz. Royce recently went on tour with Mobb Deep, and ghostwrote the song "Tell Me" ft. Christina Aguilera for Diddy's new album, Press Play. He also does touring rounds to promote his new crew the M.I.C. (Make It Count), and is scheduled to make an appearance on Canibus' next album. ' Royce made a guest appearance on Canadian rapper Classified's 2006 album Boy-Cott-In The Industry on the track "Unexplainable Hunger", along with Canadian rapper Choclair.
M.I.C. is also the name of his independent record label. The M.I.C. members are as follows: Royce, Kid Vishis (Royce's younger brother),and June.
In a September 2006 interview with Elemental Magazine, Royce stated that, contrary to rumors, DJ Premier will not be producing the entirety of his upcoming album, but will be overseeing the project as Executive Producer, handpicking all of the beats. The Premier-produced track "Ding Ding" will be included, as well as four more beats from the producer.
Diddy not only recognized Royce's pen, the mogul also expressed interest in signing the lyricist to Bad Boy.

Today
Royce Da 5'9" was sentenced to jail on September 19, 2006 for violation of his probation. He went to court for a driving under the influence (DUI) offense which resulted in violation of his probation. The Oakland County judge subsequently sentenced Royce to one year imprisonment in Oakland County Jail, Pontiac, Michigan. He was in the process of making a new album with DJ Premier at the time of the arrest. However, on January 9, 2007, www.hiphopgame.com reported that Royce had been freed after his judge agreed to give him a work-release.
In May 2007 Royce Da 5'9" has recently finished and released the mixtape 'The Bar Exam' which features DJ Premier and Statik Selektah on the wheels of steel.

Jail
Royce Da 5'9" has been noted for his structure — often two or more of his lines will rhyme exactly, beginning to end. He also has been known to move from one rhyme scheme to another, then come back to the first scheme later in his verse. Phrasing is also a big part of his style, appearing to avoid putting things in simple or common terms.

Technique

Disputes
Eminem called Royce to the studio to participate in Dr Dre's 2001 project as a ghostwriter. He contributed tracks including "The Message" and the original version of "Xxplosive" titled "The Way I Be Pimpin'". The latter featured verses rapped by Dr. Dre about pimping and getting money, with Royce singing the hook. While working with Dr Dre, Royce recorded tracks presumably for his own project, including "The Throne is Mine" and "Stay in Your Place". This led to speculation that Royce was to be signed to Aftermath Entertainment. However, Royce's association with Dr. Dre ended when Royce's manager, Kino Childrey mis-spoke to a reporter about Eminem and Dr. Dre in the studio. When Royce refused to dismiss Kino, who was a long-time friend, his ties with Dre were severed and "Xxplosive" was retouched to its current state. Despite "The Message" being released on 2001, Royce was never paid for his efforts. He references this in "What I Know", from Death is Certain: "Who could raise me / after I been amazed by Dre / — and N.W.A. — / and you couldn't pay me / to back the staff for free. / I will believe it ain't nothin' Shady in the Aftermath."

Dr. Dre
In 2002, Royce would call Eminem and ask to be signed to Shady Records. Busy with his movie 8 Mile at the time, Eminem refused, but about a week later signed 50 Cent. Royce took this in stride, agreeing to do the Anger Management Tour with his crew D-Elite. While on tour, D12 took offense to a line Royce had written for the tour: "Fuck Anger Management, I need someone to manage my anger."
They took the line to Eminem, and from there a series of misunderstandings escalated the beef. A barfight between D12 and D-Elite culminated in Eminem and Royce not speaking, and a rekindled beef between Royce and all of D12, including Proof.
Detroit's radio stations were alive with the controversy, playing diss tracks back and forth which included "Smack Down" (D12 minus Eminem over 50 Cent's "Back Down" beat). The track opens with an audio clip from an interview where Royce disses D12, calling them "the worst rap group ever". It attacks Royce's street credibility and alleges that D12 made his career possible. Proof recorded "Many Men" (over 50 Cent's "Many Men" beat), which addressed false rumors that Royce had ordered a hit on Proof.
Royce released several diss tracks including "Shit on U" (over D12's "Shit on You" beat), which was mostly aimed at Bizarre. This track ridicules Bizarre's limited ability as a rapper and his suffering from a speech impediment. Royce also recorded "We Ridin'" and "Death Day" (over 50 Cent's "In da Club" beat). Royce Da 5'9'later recorded "Malcolm X" (over Capone-N-Noreaga's "Bang Bang" beat), featuring Tre Little of D-Elite.
While Royce and Eminem never directly dissed each other, the rap world focused on their relationship, mostly overlooking the beef between Royce and Proof, who had been even closer friends. The feud continued for two years. during which Royce suffered from a severe drinking problem, but released some of his most recognized material. For instance, his dark second LP Death Is Certain, which garnered favorable reviews from many publications and critics. (See links section for reference.)
In 2003, his conflict with Proof finally boiled over in a confrontation on the streets of Detroit. The two rappers' entourages gathered around them, but fled when they both drew guns. They spent a night in jail, working out differences, and eventually returned to the studio. In the DJ Premier produced track "Ding!", Royce name-drops his friend: "Rest in peace to Proof/probably rollin over in his grave/n*ggas poisoning his name/the misfortunes of the fortune and the fame".

Shady Records
Royce had a small dispute with Ruff Ryders over the line "Royce, Reef, Double R" on a song, and 1970s disco band Rose Royce, wherein they accused him of stealing their name. He had a problem with popular producer Kanye West over an unreleased song, "Heartbeat", the beat to which Kanye produced. Kanye maintains that Royce never paid for the beat but recorded to it and released it; hearing the song, the original customers decided not to buy it from West. After the disagreement, West vowed to never work with Royce again.

Discography