Exclusive Slaughterhouse Interview
August 18th, 2009 | By Big Dom
The Kiss of Life
Interview: The Journalista // Photographs: Freddy Mahugu [nattyphoto.com]
In this present era of Hip-Hop commercialism, “swag”-eration and all-around disassociation with the pioneering characteristics that ignited the genre, various rap icons have attempted to channel a time when a rapper’s 16 bars represented a genuine love for the rap game. Even for Hip-Hop’s most gifted this is no easy task, especially during an era flooded with symbols of material gain and empty interaction. Still, many try with good intentions to revive Hip-Hop with temporary lyrical painkillers.
Now, finally, there’s a quartet with the cure: Joe Budden, Royce da 5’9”, Joell Ortiz and Crooked I. Independently, they are all brusque, cunning, poetic scholars with a love for combat; whether lyrical or situational. Now, with the release of the album Slaughterhouse, the group of the same ill name ironically gives Hip-Hop the kiss of life. Debuting with over 22,000 in sales last week, this is the dose of real Hip-Hop the world is depending on.
How does it feel to be referred to as superheroes of this rap era and to be called “The Fantastic Four”?
Royce: It’s a good feeling. Everything’s been going good. I think they call us a supergroup because we can all hold our own lyrically and individually. I think we’re getting a lot more attention paid to us now [than we were before] just because we formed everything together.
Some Hip-Hop heads and critics say that there are too many egos in Slaughterhouse for the group to work and be successful in the long term. What do you say to those critics?
Joell: None of us are ego-tripping. We get in there and we do songs together and get a buzz going, and we completed a dope album; all four of us. I think we form one dope a** MC. That’s how I be looking at it. We’re all pieces that make up the super-group. Royce refers to us as Voltron; these four ill lions that make one beast. And that’s what the album is - all four of us coming together and forming one beast.
Royce: This sh** is working because of the timing. We doing it at a time when we’ve already went through the egotistical bullshit. Whenever we disagree, we shed all our problems in one meeting. We’ve never been in a situation where there was an issue and we couldn’t squash it. As long as we stay on that page we’ll be together.
For each of you, what tracks produced the most chemistry between the four of you and, as a result, are your favorite songs on the album?
Royce: I can’t name a favorite track; that’s like asking which one of my kids I like the best. But one song is “The One”. We went in [the studio] and we decided to drop a whole lot of rock star names. We added the KRS-One element to keep the Hip-Hop element in it and we saw the way the beat was swinging and just went in and laid the verses, kept it moving and made that the single.
Joell: The record “Pray” just sounds dope. The concept is dope. Joe couldn’t have put any more feeling out there and the guys just ripped the verses. It’s a therapeudic record, so I listen to it a lot just to be reassured that everything’s gonna be alright. And even though sh** is rough, sh** gets better.
Why do you think the four of you compliment each other so well?
Royce: You know what? I still haven’t figured that out yet - on the mic and off the mic - even when we’re doing stuff live and all together. It’s just the personalities. I don’t think anybody in the group can be replaced with anybody. There’s other people out there that can go lyrically, but I’m not so sure that their personalities would fit. I think the right personalities got together. It’s not just four dope lyricists.
Joell: Yeah, exactly. Both Royce and I are Cancers, so we gone make sure sh** its alright. [laughs]
Royce: That’s gone really make it cool. [laughs]
Joell: Oh, and then you got Joey and Crooked. [both laugh]
Crooked has made it clear that the music Slaughterhouse makes outweights the money. Do you all feel the same way?
Royce: Now calm down, it’s not that important. [Joell laughs]
Joell: This is the way we feed our family now, but we’ re not willing to compromise our artistic integrity because of money. But [we] wake up and pray and go to bed and pray and thank the Lord that the thing that we love doing the most is providing for our families. We just don’t let the thought of being extra hungry compromise our art. That’s all.
Royce: Plus, you got a lot of artists out here that just be like, “I’m not in this for the money. I’m in this for the love and forget the money.” And the way they act and carry themselves, it sounds like they going away from the money. We not going away from the money. This is what we do to feed our kids. But we not thinking about “How much am I gone get paid from this issue?” while we in the studio session. We go in there and we’re concerned with the music. We wanna make sure that the music comes out right, ’cause no matter what they gone pay us, the music is gonna be out there and we gonna be there together. So we just wanna make sure everything is everything. But after the music is done and it’s time to go promote, we going out there to get the money.
Joell: That’s right.
Joell, what do you say to listeners that may be fans of yours, but perhaps aren’t fans of some of the other members of Slaughterhouse?
Joell: I don’t think that’s possible. Anyone that’s a fan of me is a fan because of my ability to rhyme really well, to be real, to be personal, to mix it up and do my very best on a beat and touch people. Not one of my group members are gonna not do any of those things. There’s no way you can be a fan of Joell Ortiz and not a fan of Royce da 5’9’’ or Joe Budden or Crooked I. You’re dealing with the same animal. I know that a couple of Crooked I fans didn’t know me, hadn’t had a chance to listen to me. If they fu**ing with Crooked, more than likely they fu**ing with me.
Royce: We like the challenge of winning over each other’s fans. We’re going on Tech N9ne’s tour in October and Tech N9ne has like a 90 percent sell-out rate. Whether we’re on the tour or not, it’s gonna sell-out, so we getting put in front of people that might not get a chance to see us. We getting hit with the opportunity to be able to win over new fans and we like that challenge. We do the same things as a unit and as individuals. I love the challenge of winning over people that love Joell Ortiz but weren’t necessarily into me for whatever reason.
Royce and Joell, the two of you seem pretty close. Did the two of you know each other before collaborating on Joe’s album?
Joell: As a person, Royce is my homie. He’s a really good friend of mine now and the same things that apply to ni***s I grew up with apply to him now. Musically, Royce is a genius and a teacher. He’s definitely teaching me. I learn a lot from being around him, as a man first, and as a musician second. Joe is a great friend of mine also. The same things apply for him and Crooked as well. They’re all my ni**as.
Royce: I didn’t know these guys before. [But] yeah, it’s the same here. I love all my ni**as in my group. Joell is one of the most important factors in the group because outside of his rhyming, he brings a personality to the group. Like, if I’m sitting in the room with him and he’s cracking jokes and making everybody laugh, and then I say something kind of funny, [everybody’s] like, “Damn, I didn’t know Royce was that funny.” Because I come off as serious. I’m a serious dude, but when I get around him and Joey, all the personalities come pouring out and it allows me to be my natural self. As far as the guys as MCs, there’s nothing I can really say. It’s self-explanatory. I’m just proud of the guys I got to meet outside of the microphone. I had a perception of them before I met them, because I didn’t know them before we did the group. But these guys, I think the whole world is gonna fall in with them just because of the whole package that we got.
Since Crooked I couldn’t make it today, tell the fans [that may not be familiar with the west coast lyricist] about what he brings to the group.
Royce: He’s the epitomy of a L.A. ni**a. He’s thorough from A-to-Z. He don’t have no ways about him. He’s a real ni**a. He’s been around for a long time. He’s humble. He’s just like the rest of us.
Following you guys throughout your careers, it seems to me that all of you are pretty serious guys. Who’s the craziest?
Joell: We all got our ways, man. [laughs]
Royce: I think Joey’s the most predictable to be unpredictable and outspoken. You pretty much know when Joey’s about to attack somebody. He’s the most visibly crazy one. But everybody’s got an edge to them in the group. Everybody’s got their ways and that kill switch. I seen it.
In addition to ‘Slaughterhouse’, this “Fantastic Four” also have individual projects in the works. Joe Budden’s ‘Escape Route’ was released on Aug. 11, Royce da 5’9” has an album due out Oct. 20, while Joell Ortiz and Crooked I’s album release dates are to be announced. The Slaughterhouse album will be E1 Music’s (formerly Koch) second consecutive #1 album this week.
