Royce is right at home at Right Track Studio in midtown Manhattan. It’s Monday night and he’s playing select tracks from his latest indie release, Independent’s Day, due out June 28 on his own M.I.C. Records. “I’m going to put the fire on the streets to generate the steam like an indie would, but with my team, I’ll be able to sustain the heat and collect the paper of a major label,” explains Royce.
His transformation from artist to businessman suits him well. Focused as ever, Royce has lofty goals for M.I.C. “We did this album ourselves, before we even went to the distributor. We’re the art department, the radio department, the press, we deal directly with the street team. We are the label, in control of every aspect of this project. We are about to do what a lot of Southern artists have been doing on the low. Over the last few years in Detroit, all of the main artists from the city couldn’t really do a lot together because of beef and past troubles. Detroit is a way too competitive city. I looked at Atlanta and saw how successful their artists are because they have this unified front. In Detroit, the fact that we were competing against each other was hurting us. So I decided to follow suit with what Atlanta is doing and bring Detroit artists together. There’s so much talent here, there should be multiple artists selling records and getting shine.” At the listening, Royce also said that his beef with Eminem was over.
According to Royce, Independent’s Day is not just this album’s title. It’s a mind state. “All the artists chosen to be collaborators are unsigned or independent and have been bubbling. We plan to take that underground buzz and put them over the radar.”
Royce also plans to drop another album titled July 5th, and then a collaborative effort with super producer Nottz called Politics. “We’re going to flood the streets with quality product and raise the bar of music in the market,” Royce relays.
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Partial Track Listing:
Politics feat. Cee-Lo Green
Lookin’ At My Dogs feat. Yo Gotti,
Wet My Whistle feat. Sara Stokes of MTV’s Makin Da Band
Ride feat. Big Herk
Right Back feat. Cheddar Boyz’s Juan
Chips On Pistons feat. Blade (R.I.P.)
Blow That
