While the hip-hop world was soaking in the latest album from Royce da 5'9" on Friday, the Detroit rapper gathered with family and friends for a ritzy, laid-back dinner party downtown.

It was a night that included an emotional speech by his wife, recalling their life as high school sweethearts in Oak Park, Royce's eventual battle with alcoholism and his turn to sobriety in 2012, when "he miraculously pulled himself out of hell."

The crowd of about 60 — where fellow hip-hop guests included Denaun Porter, longtime Detroit rapper Marv Won and Slaughterhouse's Kxng Crooked — assembled in the Shinola Hotel's stylish Birdy Room for the occasion. Royce's two sons and three young daughters, romping around the room, lent a bright, energetic spark to the festivities.

All were gathered to help toast "The Allegory," the Detroit mainstay's just-released eighth album and the first to find him in the producer's seat.

Recorded at Heaven Studios in Birmingham — the former RMS Sound Studios, recently purchased by Royce and Porter — the 22-track collection applies the rapper's vintage wordplay to themes of cultural confidence, social transparency and hip-hop pride. It's the sound of a veteran artist plowing fertile new ground.

"The Allegory," a smart and deeply layered album with guests ranging from Eminem to Vince Staples, was quickly piling up glowing feedback Friday from fans and critics. But for Royce, gathering with those closest to him was "a great way to stay grounded," he told the Free Press.

He was also taking a modest approach to his musical achievements.

"I've always said of hip-hop: It's not a job, it's a lifestyle," he said. "Don't look at every album as another milestone. I just feel blessed to express myself creatively through the art."

He was noncommittal about what's next. Despite having fully embraced a production role on the new album (and with Eminem on his recent single "Darkness"), Royce said he's already looking for outside producers for his next project.

And he's even contemplating a career beyond music-making — perhaps "a new passion" to mentor young hip-hop artists. At 42, a veteran of the game since his teens, he's seen enough of the bad business dealings and other industry pitfalls to figure he's in a position to educate.

"The OGs have a responsibility to the next generation, to provide them information to keep these cycles from happening," he said.

Friday night showed he's got one promising young artist right in his personal orbit. His oldest son, a 22-year-old singer-songwriter who goes by Daniel Hex, serenaded the crowd with a smooth, charismatic set of R&B balladry, backed by collaborator Cheer Captain (Judson Branam) on acoustic guitar and keyboard.

Daniel Hex has already begun making waves in his own right: On Thursday, he'll perform at Detroit's El Club on a bill with 070 Shake of the fast-rising New Jersey collective 070.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.