In a new Rolling Stone interview published on November 3, Detroit rap luminary Royce Da 5’9” revealed that he has spent the past several years battling a rare neurological condition that nearly silenced his career.
While serving as executive producer on the upcoming posthumous album by Harlem rap icon Big L, Royce shared that he’s been living with lingual dystonia, a disorder that causes involuntary movements in the tongue and facial muscles—making speech, let alone recording, a challenge.
The 47-year-old lyricist explained that the condition originated from inflammation in his cranial and vagus nerves, compounded by a genetic mutation known as the COMT gene, which slows dopamine processing.
“My cranial nerves and my vagus nerve were all inflamed,” Royce told Rolling Stone. “I got a genetic condition called the COMT gene that processes dopamine slower than normal.”
Further neurochemical testing revealed that his left brain hemisphere produces less dopamine than the right, creating both a deficiency and imbalance.
“When your dopamine is low, that’s like Parkinson’s, ADHD…” he said. “I had involuntary movements in my face and in my tongue. So they went on this long thing where they would put me on all these different kinds of medicines.”
Royce described enduring a string of misdiagnoses and medication trials before doctors began to identify the root cause, leaving him creatively sidelined and uncertain if he’d ever perform again.
Now, after years of treatment, Royce says he’s “almost through it” and cautiously easing back into recording. “I wish I was recording when we were doing this album,” he admitted, reflecting on his role in curating Big L’s long-awaited posthumous project.
The revelation marks a rare moment of vulnerability from an artist known for his discipline and introspective lyricism. For Royce, the battle with lingual dystonia was more than a medical struggle—it was a test of identity and endurance. His return to music, even in gradual steps, underscores both his resilience and his dedication to hip-hop’s legacy.
Through his perseverance and his work preserving Big L’s memory, Royce Da 5’9” continues to reaffirm his place as one of rap’s most cerebral and enduring craftsmen.
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