Going into this I had huge anticipation and excitement for the level of lyricism that I expected. Having never fully immersed myself into the 2 predominant Slaughterhouse albums out, I was slightly apprehensive about perhaps some of what the song-making would be like, especially without Eminem in the picture at all. But in terms of rhyme schemes, wordplay and flow, all the funnest parts of Hip Hop, Joell and Crook did not let me down and the study of this album is where my enjoyment of music comes alive.
Slaughterhouse - a 4-piece monster group binded together by an intense focus of rapping technique and samurai-like skills, but with a pen instead of a blade. Voltron assembled together through rap, composed of Royce da 5'9, KXNG Crooked, Joell Ortiz and Joe Budden. And although this looks like a Slaughterhouse album, smells like a Slaughterhouse album, and sounds a bit like a Slaughterhouse album, it isn't one. Back in 2017, Joe Budden hung up the mic and pursued his career in the media, and then later podcasting, in this time he underwent well-known beef with Eminem over his comments on Em's 2017 Revival record. Words were exchanged in song and in podcast, but ultimately, the dust was settled. Meanwhile Royce in these recent years has been creating quality albums like Book of Ryan and the Grammy-nominated The Allegory, he's been busy with his own stuff and reaching fame levels he hadn't previously touched. Joe Budden's a retired MC making bank doing his podcast and Royce isn't doing a "Slaughterhouse" record without Joe, that is not Slaughterhouse in his opinion. And I don't think it is either. Also, with Royce's solo success, Slaughterhouse can quite easily be put on the back-burner and it's not going to harm Royce's pockets. Slaughterhouse never reached the commercial success that Shady Records wanted them to in the first place.
But where does this leave Joell and Crook, the other two members. Well, here. Finally, off Shady Records and an independent entity, I believe Crook and Joell thought that this would have been the turning point in the hiatus where they finally get the band back together and make some damn music (or finish Glasshouse, the 2nd album they were making on Shady Records that was never completed due to multiple issues). However, Budden's still sat on his sofa and Royce is still sat on his beliefs that Slaughterhouse ain't a thing without all 4 of them. On this new side-record, Rise and Fall of Slaughterhouse, Crook and Joell attempt to detail the come-up and the comedown and figure out where the hell this all went wrong. Below I will highlight some of the coldest moments on the album and discuss what I liked/didn't like about various tracks as well as attempt to add my 2 pennies about the situation being discussed. Here we go cos there's a lot...
Kicking off the album was a short intro track just over a minute long that had various monologue's from 3 different times and contexts, firstly, there was Sway introducing Slaughterhouse to a live audience before they come on stage, Sway is waxing lyrical about them, if you have seen the Hammer Dance music video then you'll have clocked that this is the audio from the start of that video where we actually see Sway talking to the audience on the stage. We then have legendary lyricist Talib Kweli talking about how as serious MC himself he liked the idea of 4 independent killers coming together and he asks how did that come together. And the last voice we hear, which is a high-pitched Kxng Crooked talking about how Slaughterhouse came together from collaborating on the same joint for the first time, Royce goes "That's a slaughter", leading Crook to suggest "Slaughterhouse" for the name of the track, and the rest is history. I've only properly heard that song once and it is fire to be fair, need to give that another try for sure.
The first actual song I wanna talk about is Backstage. This was the second single I heard from Crook and Joell shortly prior to the album release. The gospel instrumental was super nice and really added weight to the words the MC's were spitting, the chipmunk-sounding vocals drifting in and out were enjoyable too in my opinion. The hook felt a little overly simple and didn't add a whole deal of value apart from tie the song in properly with the name of it. Crook goes second on this track, and it must be said, this is certainly one of the verses of the album and year so far. The beautiful consistency and detail along with wordplay abilities to maintain his religious, bible-themed verse and tie it in with his reality was incredible. It reminded me of a battle rapper going in on a fully themed round - really top-tier lyricism from Crook, exactly why I was excited for more when this released. Some brilliant rhyme schemes as well, my favourite being these 4 bars coming about mid-way through the verse, with a clever flow too - "measure the precious like tryna measure the deserts, feelin' lesser and lesser, Joseph never treasured my efforts, he couldn't sport a GOAT like shepherds and leopards, but I'm a king like Nebuchadezzar" - Yikes, I love his vocabulary and the way he gets his points across, especially in that last bar, it is a highly creative way of saying Joe didn't value Crook's talent but he's a king anyway. Nebuchadezzar was a king from 605 to 565bc and was a king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, regarded as the empire's greatest king. Defo didn't Google that. But pretty cool and unique simile though.
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| KXNG Crooked smoking a daffer |
I'm gonna back it up one in the tracklist and quickly discuss Ain't Nobody Mad, the track prior to Backstage. For me, Joell's flow was far too easy-going and he never gets out of 2nd gear. I understand he wanted to show he was this easy-going guy who's never mad, but to me I did not believe that. Saying you're not mad doesn't prove that you're not mad, it just highlights that you could be. The thick effects on Crook's hook were overbearing and added to the corniness of the song. My fears of their songwriting abilities started to flare at this point as this is still very early doors in the tracklisting. Crook's flow at the start of his verse was pretty naughty and his rhyme choices were cool, he subverts the listener into thinking (well I did anyway) he was going to use "listen man" as his rhyme scheme, perhaps rhyme it with "Instagram" for example as he mentions "Twitter" in the bars, but instead his flow takes him in a different stream and pathway - "Listen man, I'd rather rap about it than to ever fuckin' Tweet about it, any fuck shit that happened we allowed it, you can disagree or be a G about it".
Next we got Flood Waters featuring Sly Piper. Wow this song is certainly a standout for me. I found it really creative, the beat hits so differently to any other beat on the project and the way they ride it, particularly Joell, is beautiful including some gorgeous rhyme schemes and flows. While some of the beats on the project felt slightly generic, this one certainly didn't. Meshed well with the verses and definitely the chilled our soulful chorus from Sly Piper. The particular mention of Joell's rhyme scheme is when he says "we becoming numb, no more one-on-ones, we just run our guns, that conundrum that got me wondering if the love is done". That had me gassed on an emotional level and I love that the technical side of Hip Hop can do that.
Just a note on the instrumentals - I'm not going to lie, I would have preferred this album on grittier boom bap beats throughout, however, that could have felt like jumping on the bandwagon and sort of renaissance of boom bap Hip Hop we have seen in the last few years lead by Griselda. So in some ways, it was refreshing and cool to hear intensely rhyme scheme focused rapping over (for the most part) contemporary trap production.
Coastin' is one of the most interesting and direct songs on the album in terms of the verses. The intro describes the game as a beautiful women and the toxicities that can live within relationships between man, women and any gender. The hook from Traxx Sanders sticks to this theme of a struggling relationship where it feels very one-sided and the love is only really going in 1 direction. In the verses Joell and Crook stick to this, but instead of being a romantic relationship, it is their relationships with Royce and Joe Budden that they discuss. Joell feels let down and potentially snaked from false promises, for example the lyric "what happened to let's separate from Shady and go independent crazy, that's a definite no maybes, got that release in black and white, I thought Slaughter had a new life but it was Brenda's Got a Baby'. I felt slightly more bitterness towards Joe than Royce. I get the impression Crook and Joell like Royce still, and they probably like Joe too but to see that you really have to understand their relationships and peel back what you see at surface level. Crook's verse on Coastin' was even more dramatic, with mentions of dissing Lupe Fiasco after he dissed Royce back in 2021. That would be incredibly exciting and entertaining and would be difficult to determine which way that would go. Crook also brings forward his truth in that he brought deals to the table, he tried to contact Joe Budden, but Joe was not responsive. Crook also reflects that dissing Lupe would not bring him any money and he suggests they could have used the album as a vehicle for dissing other MC's with this nice bit of wordplay - "let's go and make a classic joint, and we can shoot at whoever using the album as a vantage point". Since the album dropping Joe Budden has said on his podcast, even that is something he would not want to do anyway. Overall, Coastin' is one of the more direct songs, and "hostile" is maybe the right word to use. The most contempt is probably on this track and Fukglasshouse. Coastin' is where they reveal much of their side of the story and is certainly an interesting listen. I hear what the guys are saying, but the way I see it, it seems Royce and Joe were on completely different things to Crook and Joell, they perhaps weren't in the Slaughterhouse mindset, and ultimately, that cannot be forced. But I can see why Joell and Crook wanted to put this all out on a song, and fair play to them for doing so.
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| Royce, Joe, Joell, Crook (Slaughterhouse) |
Still In My Feelings showed Crook deliver a tight rhyme scheme with the bars "I'm in the lab measurin' raps in a pyrex glass, I live my life jet lagged, cause I'm in the fly S class, all black look like shit was painted by X Clan". Also shout out these 2 bits of wordplay in Crook's verses too, "my biggie bag livin' ruthless on Eazy street" and "just a little story to tell you how we got here, the bars make the sky cry cause the flow is God tier".
On the track Almighty, Joell has the best of it with a brilliant flow to finish his verse - "my chat devours half you cowards, please don't pass me flowers, till' my casket's lowered or I'm ashes here's a classic Yaowa" - I found this flow nasty and it really accentuated the aggressiveness of his verse.
From Dear Mama to Hey Mama, who doesn't enjoy a mama tribute track? Now Crook and Joell have given us theirs with Look Mama. The baseline was captivating, cool and extremely smooth and provided a perfect platform for Crook and Joell to run through their personal and self-reflective bars. I found both sorrow and inspiration from these verses. The adoration and gratitude for their mothers is a really sweet moment that is captured in the music. I particularly liked Joell's bars "this for the single mom who did it when my dad was lackin', funny he disappeared, but you made magic happen, you pat my back and rub my chest when that asthma attackin', baked me my favourite cake, I'd lick that batter laughin'.
The following song Sorry was equally emotional but this time there was inklings of potential resentment for Royce and Joe, but ultimately, resentment and frustration at the situation Slaughterhouse found themselves in. Sorry is an apology track aimed towards everyone the Slaughterhouse break-up negatively impacted. They touch upon fans who won't be able to see them perform together or get the chance to meet them, producers who never got paid for making beats for the Glasshouse album which turned out to be the album that never... This song has huge feelings of regret and even missed opportunity - lightning in a bottle that was dropped and lost. The beat has an 80's soulful feel to it, reminding me of Prince. Joell had a clever piece of wordplay - "we all went back to playin' 21, and individually, we won so yeah that meant the house lost".
Sorry is the last song on the original tracklist, however on the deluxe version which I was spinning there are two bonus tracks. These are both individual numbers, the first being Joell's called Dream and the second being Crook's called Cornflakes. Along with Look Mama, these tracks don't entirely fit the bill and the feel of the album. Basically, they are not entirely related to the rise or fall of Slaughterhouse. But in terms of my enjoyment, I am glad they were, especially Cornflakes.
Again highly personal, Cornflakes is Crook's story of his brothers and his way into learning about a better future for himself. The beat is awesome, my favourite on the album and another that felt unique versus the rest. There is a halloweenish, eerie piano throughout with a catchy note progression that created a spooky and mysterious soundscape. The content itself was really wholesome and brought out a sadness within me, and on first listen I distinctly remember getting goosebumps when he said "old man told me, your generation is violent for sure, and the cemetery's the only place you dyin' to go. And then he gave me a book called The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams". I'm not sure why that hit me the way it did, but after hearing the verse prior to this and having this moment detailed as the turning point for Crook it just felt incredibly potent and authentic. I'm not one to get deep but hearing something real in a world that can sometimes seem plastic sent my appreciation of this song through the roof.
To conclude, it was a pleasure for me to hear more content from Crook and Joell because it allowed me to get to know them more as people and MC's. Outside of features and a few Slaughterhouse songs, I don't really know their music. This was a great introduction.
Where would I play this album?
My optimal enjoyment came when listening to this album on the move, walking around but mainly on public transport. It certainly lends itself to being better when you're focused on the lyrics and what the guys are saying. I didn't love it in the gym but can see why it could work for some people. It's not a hugely sociable listen, but there are a few tracks, namely Flood Waters, Look Mama and Cornflakes that I could see myself showing to friends or listening to with people, even if it's just in the background.
Thoughts on the Album Cover.
I'm not huge on the album cover in all honesty. The reference on the front is clear with the image of the Slaughterhouse logo being on fire, if you don't know the Slaughterhouse logo is a pig tied up upside down. I just would have preferred something a little less obvious. I preferred the original colours of white and red over the deluxe cove which is black and red. All in all just slightly on the immemorable side.
Star Track - Flood Waters
8/10
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