Royce Da 5’9″ has revealed that he has been quietly battling a rare neurological condition that almost took away his ability to rap and speak. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Detroit MC opened up about his years-long struggle with lingual dystonia. This disorder causes involuntary movements in the tongue and facial muscles.
The condition, Royce explained, made recording and even basic speech extremely difficult. “My cranial nerves and my vagus nerve were all inflamed,” he said. “I got a genetic condition called the COMT gene that processes dopamine slower than normal.” The imbalance in dopamine levels, he added, caused symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease and made it nearly impossible to control the muscles in his face and mouth.
Doctors initially misdiagnosed his condition, putting him through several rounds of medication and testing before identifying the real cause. “I had involuntary movements in my face and in my tongue,” he recalled. “They put me on all these different kinds of medicines trying to figure it out.”
For Royce, the experience was devastating both personally and creatively. Known for his precise lyricism and intricate delivery, the idea of losing his voice was almost unimaginable. During that time, he stepped back from recording, unsure whether he would ever return to the booth.
Now, after years of treatment and rehabilitation, Royce says he’s finally turning a corner. “I’m almost through it,” he shared, expressing cautious optimism as he begins to ease back into recording. While serving as executive producer on the upcoming posthumous Big L album, Royce reflected on how the process reignited his creative drive. “I wish I was recording when we were doing this album,” he admitted.
His recovery journey has reshaped how he views both music and health. Despite the challenges, Royce’s perseverance stands as another chapter in his legacy and proof that even when the mic goes silent, the voice of an artist never truly disappears.