Send "Slaughterhouse " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Rapreviews |
 "Lyrical murderer, blame RakimI'm a sniper shootin my way into your lame top ten Pistol at your head if I ain't next to Eminem Then I bust in your face like Lil' Kim Niggaz better pray to the lyrical Lord that I fall off like the umbilical cord before I fill up the morgue This is how a killer record with the double-edged triple syllable sword, I'm iller than all Dineri, seem I'm a literary genius Bury niggaz with words, a cemetery linguist Most rappers are comedy gold They like they boyfriend's sodomy hole, they full of SHIT!" Parental advisory - driving around while listening to the self-titled Slaughterhouse album can be dangerous to your health. Possible symptoms include swerving uncontrollably due to spontaneous mirth and wrapping your shit around a telephone pole due to tears of laughter blinding your vision. The fearsome foursome of Joe Budden, Crooked I, Royce Da 5'9" and Joell Ortiz aren't playing around on their self-titled debut. They mean it quite literally when they say this is a Slaughterhouse, because people are going to wind up dead from listening to this album. If the side-splitting punchlines of the above quoted "Lyrical Murderers" don't do you in, the pounding bassline and heavy hitting black piano keys will have your head nodding so hard that it snaps and rolls off your shoulders. Give TheRealFocus... the respect he's due, and make sure you're wearing a neck brace when you do. The formation of the Slaughterhouse crew is either a happy accident, intelligent design or the best of both. They first appeared together at the same time on one track on a Joe Budden album, and the chemistry was immediately apparent. All four men have a cult following on the internet among rap's most discerning fans, but seem to have a hard time translating that love into the kind of major label distribution and big number of units sold that they'd like. Forming a supergroup was the ultimate FUCK YOU to their naysayers and doubters. If you won't buy any of our individual albums, just TRY to deny four superstars all rocking at one time, top notch rappers who vow to "kill your career with one word" if you think you've got more lyrical ammo. How many rappers do you know who will brag "If you are what you eat, HOW COME I'M NOT PUSSY?" With punchlines taken to Chino XL levels of viciousness and beats to match, Slaughterhouse is so far ahead of the game that even the pre-release singles they leaked aren't dope enough to make the cut here. Take Royce's word for it when you hear his rapid-fire flow on "Onslaught 2": "My niggaz is dimes, my bitches is dimes I came up behind Eminen in 99 and I took the baton I been runnin shit every since then, slaughtered MC's Sittin watchin my green grow, like I'm waterin seeds The problem with me is I'm the heart of the streets Niggaz callin for beats, they can't even call the police If I ain't better than you I'm harder to beat Probably cause I live by the art of for-keeps I get indicted after my product's released We a different form, a different centrifugal force Every line is like grippin on a stick shift in a Porsche My niggaz asked for direction to go on this track I said FUCK A DIRECTION, spazz out!" Coming into "Slaughterhouse" I wanted to be skeptical, and think that even hot shit on the internet didn't make for a hot album. The Slaughterhouse crew upped the ante at every turn though, and some of these tracks were recorded so close to release date that there are R.I.P. Michael Jackson references. Did they literally LIVE in the studio making gems? You might think so. They had to have lived, breathed, eaten and shit hip-hop to come up with this abattoir of awesomeness. I'd like to be able to pick out songs to criticize on this fifteen track promo copy, but I'm struggling for something to complain about. MAYBE the beat on "Microphone" by The Alchemist could have been a little hotter, and when the only joint you can even consider picking on is an Alchemist track, that's a statement in itself. Playing this album at random is just as good as playing it straight through. I hit the button and land on "Pray (It's a Shame)" and fall in love. RealSon pours heartfelt soul into the track, and the crew all rap about their personal struggle to overcome the obstacles in life: "Growin' up in the hood'll leave your mind baffled/We put haters in the past like time travel/That's my murder story, I'm past purgatory/I need prayer though, Joey put a word in for me."...full text |
| Allmusic |
| While this supergroup represents three different geographical flavors of hip-hop -- Joe Budden and Joel Ortiz both from the East, Crooked I from the West, and Royce Da 5'9 coming out of Detroit -- their self-titled debut Slaughterhouse brings to mind the fiercest offerings from the N.Y.C. groups Mobb Deep and M.O.P. The album is tough, cold, and relentless to the point that you could call it limited, but unlike the aforementioned duos who act as traditional crews do, Slaughterhouse present their lyrics in a roundtable fashion. These four veteran voices trade lines with old-school open mic hunger, performing in a get-in-get out-and-prove style that comes from years of being underappreciated and mistreated. This means shock value is the thing with "Lyrical Murderers" offering both "Most rappers are comedy gold/They like their boyfriend's sodomy hole" and "I'm ridin' with my daughter in the front/With the AK in the baby's seat." Notice that another boasting track called "Microphone" follows and the redundancy becomes clear, but you wouldn't fault Devin the Dude for putting two weed songs in a row. Slaughterhouse deserve the same forgiveness when it comes to declaring war on the industry, and even if "Cuckoo" shouts "I don't need a hook for this one", tracks like the Bacardi-swingin' "Not Tonight" or the guitar rockin' "The One" show they can create radio worthy monsters without the major-label sellout. Well-chosen guests like Fatman Scoop and Pharoahe Monch increase the thug appeal while earthshaking productions from the Alchemist, DJ Khalil, and Mr. Porter seal the deal....full text |
| Popmatters |
| Every year the hip-hop community hypes about a handful of albums with the hopes that one will be able to “save” hip-hop or bring it back to its roots. Last year, we saw that kind of talk about Q-Tip’s The Renaissance, Nas’s Untitled record, and several others. Were any of them really the savior? No, of course not, even though Q-Tip’s album was stellar front-to-back. And were they even trying to be? Probably not. But either way, they were subject to a load of hype and backlash as soon as they dropped. And 2009 is no different. The “same shit, different day” adage is basically the essential quote for the hip-hop community, particularly online. This year, fans have been slobbering over hearing, amongst others, the next Jay-Z record (The Blueprint 3), the sequel to Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek’s classic Train of Thought, and super-group Slaughterhouse’s self-titled debut. But the reason for their hype is very different from that for Jigga and Reflection Eternal. For those records, heads are more or less hoping the respective artists can deliver another classic in the vain of the albums they follow. Although, to be fair, almost everyone should be hoping that Jay slays The Blueprint 2 and trumps or equals The Blueprint. And the same goes for Kweli & Hi-Tek, though they haven’t worked on a full album together in 2000....full text |
Slaughterhouse lyrics
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