15 Best Royce Da 5’9 Freestyles

Royce Da 5’9″ can probably rap in his sleep. For over two decades, Royce has been dropping gems in his lyrics and bone-shattering bars that would make any hip-hop head’s heart flutter. From his early days with Eminem, to his solo work to Slaughterhouse to PRhyme, there are few people in hip-hop who are in the same league as the Detroit native when he raps on the mic. Some of his best moments are when he freestyles over another artist’s beat.

Recently, Royce Da 5’9″ has been jumping on a handful of instrumentals and treating it like a punching bag. When he shows off his lyrical prowess it’s like an endless verbal assault. His recent string of freestyles kicked off with him spitting over Phresher’s hit single “Wait a Minute” and continued with a freestyle over DJ Khaled’s “I Got the Keys.” The latter freestyle was so good, Eminem texted Royce to praise him. “Really? Ur an asshole. Those fuckin freestyles u put out r devastating. Incredible. I hate u. Die,” Slim Shady wrote in the text to Royce Da 5’9”, which he shared on Instagram.

If listeners thought Nickel Nine was going to chill, they were wrong. He gave the people two for the price of one for for “Beats Keep Callin’” when he freestyled over Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” and French Montana and Kodak Black’s “Lockjaw.”

From those last three releases, it looks like Royce may be putting out the fourth installment to his much beloved The Bar Exam mixtape series but that’s all speculation. However, XXL looks back at the best freestyles Royce Da 5’9″ has done in his career thus far. Check them out below.