Slaughterhouse "Slaughterhouse" album review

There is a type of song in hip-hop music called "The Posse Cut." It dates back to the beginning stages of hip-hop where a group of Emcees get on a track and just tear it up. This is not a regular group of rappers, but individuals who jump on the same track. The songs are not meant to be anything other than lyrical slaughters. The hook does not matter and there is no underlying song concept, just a hot beat and hot rhymes. Everyone has their own idea of the perfect Posse Cut, and throughout the history of hip-hop we have seen many different combinations of people ripping tracks, but never before has a group been formed from a Posse Cut. Well, that time is here. Joe Budden, Royce the 5'9", Joell Ortiz and Crooked I are four emcees representing different areas and different situations, but have one thing in common, they have felt disrespected by labels. For Joe Budden's last album they all hopped on a track and called it Slaughterhouse. The reaction was too strong to ignore and a mere 5 months later, this group of highly skilled emcees have dropped an album under the collective, Slaughterhouse.

For the purpose of this review, I have eliminated the skits and added a few of their posse cuts to round out the album.

1. Sound Off- Following what we know about these guys, they start with just an all out assault on a horn heavy beat, that starts slow and then revs up and lets the four guys run all over it. It feels like a sprint track with Royce starting off and then the other three guys following with some hotness. It is almost eerie how well these guys fit together because their styles are very different. The only real concept of this track is for the emcees to introduce themselves and what this album will be about and that is LYRICS! The beat is hot, but it not over powering, because it is merely meant as the scrim for them to paint on and paint on it, they do. Joe closes this track and it is fitting because he does come the best, but the four emcees do not appear to be in competition with each other, they just want to push each other. 5/5

2. Lyrical Murderers- In what sounds like a west coast beat, Crooked I leads off with the line "Lyrical murderers, blame Rakim" This sets up yet another assassination of a beat. These guys are committing murder all over this album. This is another pure fire track, with no real concept except for all four guys talking about how they lyrically murder beats/haters/weak emcees. The hook is basic because the focus is on lyrics and with lyrics like "This is lyrical murder/Me and every track have a physical merger/ When I stab it in the chest I'ma bit of a curver/ So it bleeds to death, like the middle of a unfinished burger" it makes sense to just let these go all out. 5/5

3. Microphone- The guys are at it again, getting in a dope beat and letting weak emcees know they are not welcome in hip-hop. Royce leads it off, yet again. he is a great table setter because he sets the bar high but he is a team player. Songs about how skilled people are can get repetitive but these guys are so damn talented, I could listen to a whole album of just them saying things like "I could kill your career with one word." There is no hook on the track, which gives it a mixtape feel, but, the beat is too good for a mixtape, so they just kill it without worrying about song structure; they just want to unleash insanity on the track! Oh and BUdden KILLS it with: FUCK record sales or who the machine markets best
I'm the last muh'fucker that y'all should test/ I'm the sharp shooter, you the nigga I target next/ Too many frontin like y'all that fly/ REACH it, cause we set the bar that high. 5/5

4. Not tonight- This should have been the lead single because the beat is so clean and so crisp and the hook is singable and easily repeatable. Of course, that is where the single like qualities end because then Royce hits lead off and hits a double with an incredible flow and great lyrics, and then Crooked I gets off this killer line "You talk about how your pockets are big, I wanna talk about how I am pac mixed with big." OH MAN!! Each man catches fire in his own way, but the track is what sets them up. It is a wonderfully produced song that really lets each man go in and "catch wreck" as we used to say in the 90s. 5/5

5. The One- This was the actual first single with a girl on the hook singing "Sex and drugs and dirty money." The track has a little rock edge and the emcees follow suit with verses that name check rock stars and talk about rock star lives. It is sex drugs and rock and roll and is really the first song on the album that is not just about killing a track and the guys do not disappoint. The lyrics stay hot, but they all really stick to the concept of the song. Crooked I has my favorite verse, but because of his flow and how he lets the words at the end of each line sit for a second. Crooked is the one I knew least about in this group and this is where he started to make me take notice because he is not just rapping, he understands changing flows and style. Plus the song ends with Budden and Ortiz trading barbs in a couplet style verse, which I would have liked more of on the album. The sirens in the beat do get annoying after about 4 listens though. 4.5/5

6. Cukoo- This is a hate it or love track and I fall on the love it side. The beat is insane. The sounds come from out of left field and not always on the down beat. The guys let that beat guide where there verses go because the song takes on the persona of four crazy people. Each guy goes nuts on the track and talks about what kind of crazy shit they would do. It would be perfect to hear Eminem on it, but these four guys do their best Eminem. Joell does not sound terribly comfortable over this twisted kind of beat because he has trouble staying right on the beat, but I like that they branched out and went and got a very weird track. It is another song without a real hook, which starts to feel like the status quo for Slaughterhouse, but it works. 4.5/5

7. Onslaught 2- Anytime Fatman Scoop is on a track, it has a really good chance of being annoying. His voice on a hook really gets grating, but here Royce leads off and makes sure we ar not even paying attention to Scoop with lines like "If I ain't better than you I'm harder to beat/ Probably cause I live by the art of for-keeps" Then each guy follows up with similar hotness. I am not sure I am in love with the beat and I wouldn't mind more of a hook to break up the verses. I need a little time in between each guy to digest everything they just spit, but Slaughterhouse is more interested in being in my face or ears at all times. I can respect it, but when Fatman Scoop starts talking over the beat, I am not always able to appreciate lines from Joell like "I ain't shabby with the nouns, I ain't shitty with the verb/
When I reach heaven I want the nigga Biggie to be like "Word"" 4/5

8. Salute Me- Pharoahe Monch should never be on a song where he is just supplying the hook, even if his voice is perfect on this more somber track. The song mixes images of soldiers with images of street soldiers. Mr. Porter produced the song and gives Slaughterhouse the first beat on the album that is slower and darker. It makes the group slow down the proceedings and we are better for it because each guy has an impeccable slowed down flow. These guys are so incredibly versatile. The song is nothing new, but all the guys come with more emotion than the rest of the album so it means something. It matters to a certain extent that these guys have all had people turn their back on them. The lyrics go a little too far into the gun play talk of so much rap music, though so it is probably my least favorite track up to this point. 3.5/5

9. Pray- The song where they all get real and let us know where they came from and what happened in their lives to take them to this moment. It is a "hood track" where four guys without much hope display their problems and Joell leads it off talking about his bad clothes, his bad hair and his drug addicted mother. This kind of honesty right off the bat really sets the tone for everyone else to really confess their problems. I love the beat and how it sounds like marching if you really pay attention, but how it also sounds like the track is raining down on these guys as they try and wash themselves of their sins and problems. It is the track that really shows this group is capable of being more than hot emcees. They are well rounded and they can be honest without sacrificing lyrical ability.

10. Cut you Loose- Mr Porter is back with a soulful track for the group to really air out their problems with hip-hop. Royce begins the song with " Hello Hip-Hop, good bye music." Royce spends his verse talking about how backwards the game is how disrespectful towards hip-hop people have become. Crooked comes next and expresses how much he hates so much of the music he hears today and says he would rather be waterboarded than listen to the radio. This is another no hook having track but this is a song that does need one. It needs four guys who love hip-hop trying to get back to real hip-hop. Ortiz's verse drips with a sadness and an anger that a lot of fans have with so much of the rap music in the world. Budden comes last and brings it all together saying that hip-hop has started to really disgust him. It is a hard song to hear, but the truth is stark and I cannot argue with it. 5/5

11. Raindrops- This is another track where the guys go through hardships and express how it was growing up. It is a horribly pessimistic tracks with lyrics like "What you call livin' life, I call dyin' slow." It is deeply sad and incredibly dark and it is awesome. The beat is really perfect and the hook is heart breaking and each guy really unloads. Crooked I's voice is so angry and so full of hurt that each word tears through my ears like bullets piercing skin. Many rappers grow up in broken homes and many see a lot of death in their young lives, and this is the kind of song that results from that life. It is a reminder of just how good I have had it, but again, the guys do not let down their lyrical ability just because they are sad. The song is still full of great flow, diction, lyrics and delivery. 4.5/5

12. Killahz- Darkness permeates through every corner in this beat and Royce really gets things rolling with a verse about cutting some one's head off and dumping bodies in the river. The story telling is vivid and shocking, but so dope. The beat hits and Ortiz hits every line in perfect timing with how the beat moves. It is magical, even if they are really going dark here to wrap up the actual album. There is a girl on the hook just purring "I Love you baby" but the guys all respond "You in love with a killer." By the time this song comes up, you are sure you can understand the guys and this song sums up the album. They all come hard, it is dark and sad and the beat is perfect. 5/5

The following tracks are from the Slaughterhouse Mixtape:

13. Fight Klub- Fight Klub was a hip-hop club where emcees went to battle each other, so expect ill verses and crazy flow. Check and CHECK! Crooked I leads off and then Joe Budden picks up where he left off and then quickly Ortiz comes in. The guys are breaking rules about couplets and verses and they just want to tear into the track and they are not willing to wait, but Royce, for my money gets in the best with great lines like "The rap game like a St. Louis verses New York battle, nobody won/ A bunch of fuckin 2's and 3's like zone defense, and my personal favorite on the song:

Quit talkin 'bout me cause ya ass ain't dangerous
They call me Hustler because my mag game heinous
Show up to Detroit thinkin +Everybody Love+ you
And I'ma come and show you that ya ass ain't +Raymond+
Dumbin every line – me fuckin bitches
like the cops after a murder, they cummin/comin every time
Shell-toes and Wissam jacket, the contractor
Still pushin elbows like a linebacker
And y'all playin - my worldwide bitches
on my worldwide watch, I call it the broadband

WHOA!!! 5/5

14. Wack MCs- Sampling KRS1 is not something everyone should do, but these guys make the most of a song about wack emcees. This is pure vile anger aimed at a whole generation of wack emcees and the fans that pump them up for no reason. Slaughterhouse wants lyrics back in the game and they are going to do it themselves. Royce kills me with the making fun of the AUTOTUNE garbage. The song is about 4 people doing what they do best: lyrically killing a beat. It is awesome to hear 4 guys just after one thing which is to create the best hip-hop track they possibly can. Mixtape songs do not come much hotter than this! 5/5

15. Slaughterhouse- This is the ultimate posse song. Every single guy comes about as hard as humanly possible. In fact, they do not even seem human on this song. They are the ghosts of hip-hop veterans. They are the past, the present and the future for 7 minutes. 7 minutes in heaven takes on a whole new meaning. Everyone has punchlines, lyrics, flow, breath control, delivery and an ability to reduce the beat to blood and guts from stomping all over it. The amount of quotables on this track would take far too long to reprint, but I just want to produce one of the hottest lines I have heard in a long time from anyone and it comes from Joell Ortiz:

Never in a hundred years I thought I'd be a rapper
But in less than a hundred bars I knew I'd be a factor

And that is in the first verse!!! Someone get a fire extinguisher, Microphones are BLAZING!!! 5/5

16. Move on- At the beginning of this review I wrote that all four guys have felt disrespected by labels. This is the song where each of the guys takes time to explain everything that has happened in the industry and how they are ready to move on from all of their issues. The song acts as an interview; the last interview they will ever have about these topics. Joell talks about his drug addicted mother and his short stint on Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. Joe talks about all the problems his big mouth have got him in; Crooked I talks about the west coast and how he has separated himself from Death Row and then Royce talks about how he and Eminem grew apart and how he wishes the things said were never said. Each guy does a really good job of explaining things without pandering and the beat stays hot without doing too much. Each guy goes in for about 32 bars instead of 16 so we get 8 minutes worth of a dope song that shows four guys that are true emcees and guys to be reckoned with in this hip-hop game. 5/5

Slaughterhouse represents everything that I love about rap music. Four guys came together without trying to outdo each other in an effort to promote good music. The album is nearly flawless and has been on repeat for a month now. It is the kind of album I will go back to for years to come. It is the kind of album that makes you fall in love with music all over again. Joe, Royce, Crooked and Joell are all talented emcees on their own, but together they can be unstoppable!