New York, NY – Royce Da 5’9 caught a lot of people off guard when he publicly dissed Yelawolf on The Allegory single “Overcomer” last month.
The song — which found the Motor City MC calling Yelawolf a “vulture” and “punk ass” — led to a brief e-battle between Nickle Nine and the Alabama-bred rapper, but it wasn’t clear where things left off — until now.
During a recent interview with Genius’ For The Record video series, Royce provided a bit more detail on the situation, however he still didn’t divulge what exactly went down between them.
“He was a friend of mine,” Royce told Rob Markman at the 29:30-minute mark. “I felt disrespected by something that transpired, and that was just the way I chose to deal with it. I felt like I could’ve dealt with it in a few different ways. I chose not to because I don’t want to promote negativity. I don’t want to engage in silly, public, back-and-forth beefs. And I did feel like I needed to hold him accountable.”
Royce went on to explain he felt Yelawolf waited too long to reach out to hash out their differences.
“There wasn’t a communication line between us,” he said. “The window of opportunity for us to communicate closed, and it’s because he didn’t initiate it. So I just felt as friends, you would initiate that communication and give that clarification to me. But that never happened.”
He then admitted Yelawolf tried to get in touch with him following the release of “Overcomer,” but evidently he wasn’t feeling it.
“He reached out,” Royce said. “Oh yeah, after that he reached out. We didn’t speak, but he reached out after that. I don’t wish him nothing but the best. I don’t wish any ill will on him or anything like that. But I took offense to what he did and I moved on. It’s not the first time.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Royce talked about The Allegory, Eminem’s skit on the album and more.