Crown Royal (album)
Encyclopedia
Crown Royal is a 2001 album by hip hop pioneers Run–D.M.C., It is their seventh and final album. It was released about 18 months before the murder of Jam-Master Jay. All songs but the title track featured guest artists including Fred Durst
, Stephan Jenkins
and Sugar Ray
, Everlast
, Kid Rock
, Nas, Prodigy
and Method Man
.
It is the first and only Run–D.M.C. album with a Parental Advisory
label, though most of the profanities are used by the guest artists, and some songs censor their profanities even on the explicit version.
Rolling Stone
(3/15/01, p. 78) said "Crown Royal uses the same musical strategy as their minor 1993 comeback, Down with the King
: guest artists, guest artists and more guest artists....But as on Down With the King, Run-DMC prove their old-school mastery without adding anything new to it; the tracks sink or swim depending on what the guest artist felt like bringing to the studio that day.
Entertainment Weekly
(4/6/01, p. 120) note that "on this hip-hop roast, new schoolers Nas and Fat Joe pay their respects with sparkling grooves....Run's rhymes are still limber." - Rating: B-
NME
(4/5/01, p. 43) - 6 out of 10 - "Proves the emperors' new clothes can look just as solid as their old threads."
Fred Durst
William Frederick "Fred" Durst is an American musician, director, producer and actor, well known as the frontman of the band Limp Bizkit.-Early life:...
, Stephan Jenkins
Stephan Jenkins
Stephan Douglas Jenkins , is an American musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist for Third Eye Blind. Under Jenkins's leadership, Third Eye Blind has sold over eight million copies of four albums: Third Eye Blind , Blue , Out of the Vein , and Ursa Major...
and Sugar Ray
Sugar Ray
Sugar Ray is a band from Orange County, California. The band, starting off more as an alternative metal band, first gained fame in 1997 with their release of the song "Fly". This song's success, coupled with its pop rock sound that was quite different from the rest of their material at the time,...
, Everlast
Everlast (musician)
Erik Francis Schrody , better known by his stage name Everlast, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and songwriter, known for his solo hit "What It's Like" and as the front-man for rap group House of Pain. He is also part of the hip-hop supergroup La Coka Nostra, which consists of members of...
, Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
, Nas, Prodigy
Prodigy (rapper)
Lance Albert Johnson Banks, better known as Prodigy, is an American rapper and one half of the hip-hop and rap duo Mobb Deep....
and Method Man
Method Man
Clifford Smith , better known by his stage name Method Man is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man...
.
It is the first and only Run–D.M.C. album with a Parental Advisory
Parental Advisory
Parental Advisory is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America to audio and recordings in the United States containing excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for "explicit lyrics" in 1985, after pressure from the Parents...
label, though most of the profanities are used by the guest artists, and some songs censor their profanities even on the explicit version.
Reception
Crown Royal was mildly successful despite poor critical reviews.Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
(3/15/01, p. 78) said "Crown Royal uses the same musical strategy as their minor 1993 comeback, Down with the King
Down with the King (album)
Down with the King the sixth album by hip hop group Run–D.M.C.. This album was generally received more favorably by fans and critics than the group's previous album, Back From Hell.-Track listing:# "Down With The King"...
: guest artists, guest artists and more guest artists....But as on Down With the King, Run-DMC prove their old-school mastery without adding anything new to it; the tracks sink or swim depending on what the guest artist felt like bringing to the studio that day.
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
(4/6/01, p. 120) note that "on this hip-hop roast, new schoolers Nas and Fat Joe pay their respects with sparkling grooves....Run's rhymes are still limber." - Rating: B-
NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
(4/5/01, p. 43) - 6 out of 10 - "Proves the emperors' new clothes can look just as solid as their old threads."
Track listing
- "It's Over" (feat. Jermaine DupriJermaine DupriJermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
) – 3:40 - "Queens Day" (feat. NasNasNasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
, ProdigyProdigy (rapper)Lance Albert Johnson Banks, better known as Prodigy, is an American rapper and one half of the hip-hop and rap duo Mobb Deep....
) – 4:18 - "Crown Royal" – 3:13
- "Them Girls" (feat. Fred DurstFred DurstWilliam Frederick "Fred" Durst is an American musician, director, producer and actor, well known as the frontman of the band Limp Bizkit.-Early life:...
) – 3:33 - "The School of Old" (feat. Kid RockKid RockRobert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
) – 3:20 - "Take The Money And RunTake the Money and Run (song)"Take the Money and Run" is a song recorded in 1976 by the Steve Miller Band. A song about two young bandits, it was one of the many hit singles produced by the Steve Miller Band in the 1970s and featured on Fly Like an Eagle. The song peaked at #11 on the U.S...
" (feat. EverlastEverlast (musician)Erik Francis Schrody , better known by his stage name Everlast, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and songwriter, known for his solo hit "What It's Like" and as the front-man for rap group House of Pain. He is also part of the hip-hop supergroup La Coka Nostra, which consists of members of...
) – 3:48 - "Rock Show" (feat. Stephan JenkinsStephan JenkinsStephan Douglas Jenkins , is an American musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist for Third Eye Blind. Under Jenkins's leadership, Third Eye Blind has sold over eight million copies of four albums: Third Eye Blind , Blue , Out of the Vein , and Ursa Major...
) – 3:14 - "Here We Go 2001" (feat. Sugar RaySugar RaySugar Ray is a band from Orange County, California. The band, starting off more as an alternative metal band, first gained fame in 1997 with their release of the song "Fly". This song's success, coupled with its pop rock sound that was quite different from the rest of their material at the time,...
) – 3:21 - "Ahhh" (feat. Chris DavisChris DavisChris Davis is the name of:*Chris Davis , British singer and guitarist*Chris Davis , Major League baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles...
) – 4:21 - "Let's Stay Together (Together Forever)" (feat. Jagged EdgeJagged Edge (band)Jagged Edge is an American R&B group, with the lead singers, Brandon & Brian, born in Hartford, CT on October 13, 1975, Kyle Norman of Decatur, GA born on February 26,1976 and Richard Wingo of College Park, GA born on September 3, 1975. Wingo was a late addition to the group, added after Kandi...
) – 3:19 - "Ay Papi" (feat. Fat JoeFat JoeJoseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
) – 3:16 - "Simmons Incorporated" (feat. Method ManMethod ManClifford Smith , better known by his stage name Method Man is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man...
) – 4:26