RoyalTerms is an East Coast power duo consisting of Queens, NY-based host Royal Flush and Lawrence, MA-based host/producer Termanology. One of them became the de facto leader of ST. da Squad and others’ debut album Ghetto Millionaire became one of the most underrated albums of the ’90s. To date, none of them have crossed paths musically, so as fans of each artist, their own self-titled feature-length debut seemed fitting enough.
The Statik Selektah-produced “Terms of Royal” kicks off with an inspiring boom bap intro talking about the legendary status they’ve earned for themselves, while “Baby Don’t Leave” lovingly explains how the trunk and rap game are alike. In “Legendary Blocks,” starring Tek and UFO Fev, the foursome talk about growing up in their respective hometowns, while “Crack Era Survivors” looks back at the 1980s when cocaine flooded the streets.
Dru Hoffa joins Royal Terms from Angel Whispers to talk about breaking out of the gravel over an araabMUZIK beat and into “Problem,” describing a hotel party where the room is turned upside down. “Bedtime” skips over a gritty Cartune Beatz instrumental that talks about protecting what’s theirs, while closer “Impossible” takes up the last few minutes of the EP, shredding a soul sample that discusses not needing a globe to show their world to the world.
Similar to Teknology’s self-titled album a year and a half ago, RoyalTerms unites two veterans who have made a name for themselves in their respective fields over the decades to create an introductory piece guaranteed to please fans of Royal Flush and Termanology. Aside from a few guests, they spend most of the EP exchanging hardcore verses rather than high-quality boom-bap production and honing their artistic chemistry.
Score: 8/10
