On a recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, guest Royce Da 5'9" shared his thoughts on the state of the rap game. "I haven't taken a real deep look out into the landscape, but from where I'm sitting it looks like J. Cole is the only one being competitive," he says. "He's the only one rapping with the kind of conviction that says he values the #1 spot as a lyricist."

He continued, "As far as the younger generations I see a lot of them not hanging their hat on the lyrical part of creativity at all. They are finding different ways to impact and to resonate with people, which is fire. That's when the elder statesmen such as myself start trying to learn."

In other Royce news, The Detroit Pistons announced a six-piece retail collection, curated by the Grammy Award Nominated producer, and songwriter celebrating the life and legacy of Detroit-born producer, songwriter J. Dilla.

The retail capsule features a two-piece in-arena exclusive available only at the Team Store at Little Caesars Arena on March 13 as the Pistons celebrate 313 Day against the Toronto Raptors, as well as four additional designs available at both the Team Store at LCA and Pistons313Shop.com.

“When designing the capsule for the J. Dilla Pistons partnership, our aim was to honor Dilla's essence,” Royce said. “Our interpretation of the iconic Donuts album cover was pivotal to the collection, as the album holds significant historical importance within Hip-Hop circles.”