When Eminem broke his musical silence Wednesday with “Survival,” it was with the help of an unfamiliar but luring female vocal. With sultry assertions that “This is survival of the fittest/ This is do or die,” the hook left most fans wanting to know more about the siren behind it.
Well, her name is Liz Rodrigues, and as one of the singers for up-and-coming Canadian band the New Royales, she seems to be taking her “Survival” lessons to heart by making serious plays in the competitive hip-hop game.
Composed of Rodrigues, fellow Canadian singer Erik Alcock, Grammy-winning producer Chin Injeti and veteran hip-hop producer DJ Khalil, the New Royales have only released one track of their own —– a cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “Today.” But that hasn’t stopped them from making a bit of a ruckus in hip-hop, collaborating with genre heavyweights 50 Cent, Jay Electronica, Slaughterhouse and the Clipse, among others.
Rodrigues lent her vocals for Bishop Lamont’s Dre-produced “Rain” as well as Slaughterhouse’s “The One.” Still don’t recognize her? Check out Pitbull’s fiery “Can’t Stop Me Now” video, which features her front and center.
Frequent collaborator Dr. Dre has reportedly deemed the New Royales “the new crack,” and they haven’t even put out their first mixtape, Freedom’s For the Brave. They linked up with Eminem on his 2010 album, Recovery, and it seems one try was enough to get him addicted. How long until the rest of hip-hop gets hooked? We’ll have to wait and see, but if Rodrigues holds to her do-or-die “Survival” message, it won’t be too long.
source: mtv.com By Emily Blake
