"To many critics seems to be silly, to many frogs go ribbit but never leave lillys" - Joel Ortiz
Slaughterhouse slaughterhouse slaughterhouse. This group has been setting the underground a-blaze for a minute. Loaded with no lack-luster rappers on their roster, it's filled with all kinda lyrical goodness that the lyricist fan would love to hear. But, can these four co-exist to make a good album?
The cd starts off with Royce comparing the group to Voltron, basically saying when they get together, it's nothing that's gonna stop them. As far as this track goes, I think Joel Ortiz stole the show, after the break down... Well, maybe I wasn't hip on game, but I didn't know Joel had Twista / Bone Thugs potential in 'em. In this song, they also show that they know where they're good at and not, for example. At the tail, Joe Budden, after the breakdown, Joey didn't dare try to rhyme like he could go Busta Rhymes at any moment. He just threw in an extra few syllables and kept it moving.
But leave it to Joey still throw a personal agenda into a song or two. Now mind you, everyone does a wonderful job in the song "Microphone", but Joe seems to take some more shots at Wu-Tang and Jay-Z (and he claims the beef is 2 years old, whatever). When you say things like ..
"Treat old timers like fags who drop the soap, might got Alzheimer's, forgot that they was dope, to many dogs not enough barkin' yet, to many BLUEPRINTS not enough ARCHITECTS, ... Still every bar's a mess, fuck record sales or who the machine markets best!" - Joe Budden
Uhm, you might get a response, but regaurdless if it was tapping up anybody in general, it was still a fresh ass song, lol.
The group takes a shot at a "commercial" track, and it actually went well for them. "The One" has some heavy guitar assistance, and drums accompany them as they talk about a party life. But it's pretty obvious, at least to me, that Crooked I ran away with this one, easily the most entertaining verse.
"I'm the one who wants to Spear Brittany, give Pink some black and put it near kidneys, here kitty! " - Crooked I
It's really not alot of concept in this CD, more so of alot of what people expected, just good lyrics laced in with sick ass beats. But, about 11 songs in, with alil' help from Pharohe Monch, these four made a classic track called "Salute Me". And you will salute them after hearing that song.
The group continues to dig into the concept that was lack-luster in the beginning. Talking about struggles going unnoticed by God, with accompaniment with the organ in the background. It gives it an Erie feel. Your standout here would easily be Royce here, because he didn't talk on the struggle, he spoke on more of how it's gonna be bad for 'em and why. Much different road that everyone else took.
"When I die, God ain't gonna judge, he gonna deal with us" - Royce Da 5'9
They give us two more songs with pretty good concept, and end it back on a lyrical note. Now, although this CD is a treat for the underground listeners, the CD will leave you feeling just a little sour. Why? Because it very short, and when you consider the fact that it's four of them sharing one song, it seems like it goes by pretty quick. Also, having 3 different interludes doesn't help the length of the CD. But otherwise, if you want a CD you here you can practically go into non-skip mode, and you appreciate good lyrics, you can't pass this CD up.
Oh, and just to keep in the spirit of competition that this Hip Hop genre keeps itself in..
Crooked I won. Lol. Feel good about that you West Coast, and NorthWest people.
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