By Odeisel

The Fantastic Four are a family.  They each feed off each other in times of crisis, and while formidable alone, they are the greatest team in the world as a unit, with each representing a force of nature.  Slaughterhouse isn’t the FF but its members alone are deadly indeed.  The mercurial Joe Budden.  The monstrous Joell Ortiz.  The relentless Crooked I.  The ruthless Royce the 5’9. The self-described “outfit similar to Voltron” has come together to light the way with their self-titled debut Slaughterhouse.

The opening salvo “Sound Off” makes it immediately known that the crew is going for the jugular.  Each verse slowly builds momentum with a minimalist intro then at a moment’s notice goes nova with each emcee going hyper speed with reckless abandon.  A stunning opening song and a prelude of things to come.

One thing the album has in abundance is lyrical prowess.  Each emcee brings something different to the table.  They rap over many different kinds of beats at various speeds. Slaughterhouse is one of those albums that you won’t learn the words to for a while.  The group brings out the best in each other, sequentially upping the emcee ante. Layers of rhymes exist and you’re not sitting there waiting for the punch-line because there isn’t enough time to waste; the next line is already on top of you.  To their credit, no one is seriously outshined and actually at one point they all seem to have the upper hand at one point or another. Where Royce is outright domineering, Ortiz generally manifests himself in the middle of a song with a couple performances that force you to pay attention.

Joe Budden is perhaps the lead personality here if not the best rapper and he’s taking no shorts, in particular when he’s planting that Slaughterhouse flag.  Lines like ”too many blueprints, not enough architects” put certain top cats on notice that while their reign on the top was longer than marathons, there are some who could care less in terms of coming for that spot. Overall, Crooked I probably has the least presence but he more than makes up with that with his deft performances specifically on “Salute” where be batters the slow grinding organ-powered track.

This album is full of well spit verses and stellar performances all round. Songs like “Not Tonight” which sound like upbeat records are where surprisingly some of the illest rhymes delivered dwell. The STREETRUNNER produced banger is all but eaten up, digested and shat out by Royce the 5’9.  I couldn’t do it justice by writing it out because there’s so much there, but stuff like “The nose on my gun look like Pinocchio lying” is just a chip out the whole cookie. STREETRUNNER who has the largest number of tracks on a roster that includes The Alchemist and Mr. Porter, is the musical star of the album.

“Cut You Loose” features the group divorcing themselves of the H.E.R. that Common used to love.  The track features each emcee’s frustrations with Hip-Hip, from the politics to the stress it puts on relationships and it’s ebbing creativity.  An exasperated Budden, surely tired of the omnipresent drama that has clouded his career like Shleprock exclaims “Method Man you can have that bitch.”

All is not perfect.  The single “The One” when compared to the production and the performances that lie elsewhere on the album comes off as forced and weak, but it is the obligatory single.  It’s kind of wild listening to them rap about Royce and Patron knowing his recent history but hey we all have our demons. “In The Mind of Madness” is a skit that ads nothing to the album and the following song “Cuckoo” is reminiscent of an early Redman/early Eminem: highly skilled crazy shtick that doesn’t resonate across the board. It sounds dated.

The album’s main issue however, is too much mustard on the hot dog.  They would have been better served on a couple songs letting just two of them go off and throwing some rhythm changes to the album.  Just about every album has you waiting for each and every verse and they keep coming in waves. It can wear you down aurally. Every song didn’t need every emcee and the album takes a step back by having a bit too many performances by them all. It lengthens the album, which doesn’t often leave you begging for more. It’s like thanksgiving. The food is great, but you ate so much you’re just there tired and swollen; too satiated.

All in all, the boys did their job.  It’s not iconic, it’s not going to set off a trend unfortunately but it’s very dope.  Not classic, but very dope. It’s been a while since we had an album that was this lyrically ambitious, specifically one without wack beats. This album is a solid listen musically and is gonna be a bitch to memorize.  We could use more of these.  One thing they don’t establish however is their own sound.   Although STREETRUNNER handles the bulk of the production they don’t have a Manny Fresh, a RZA or an Eric Sermon that shapes the sound of their movement.  I think history has shown that that’s necessary for a true supergroup to takeover. A few tweaks, and Slaughterhouse can be the answer to more than a few prayers.

  Out Of Five

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