Slaughterhouse — the 4-man group of reject rappers who joined forces with a mission to revive lyrical rap — is now pretty much over. After releasing his last album, “Rage & the Machine” (2016), Joe Budden, one quarter of the Slaughter, retired from rap and became a media personality. And now, fellow member KXNG Crooked (also known as Crooked I) posted a video on Instagram announcing that he, too, was no longer a part of the group. The message hit fans of hip-hop in mixed ways, because while some were shocked and angry to learn about the group’s death, most of the fanbase have seen the writing on the wall way before this happened.
Although it is a sad day for rap in general, the group hasn’t released an album since the controversially received “Welcome To: Our House” (2012) under Shady Records, and the last collective project to see the light of the day was the mixtape “House Rules” (2014). Since then, save for an occasional feature or a cypher, the Slaughter has been not only inactive, but cut off from everything. Communications with the fanbase were, as always, pretty much non-existant, with occasional blanket statements from Royce da 5'9" or vaguely snide remarks from Budden. As such, Slaughterhouse fans have been conforming to the idea of this outcome for a while now, especially after Joe aired a bit of backstory from Slaughterhouse’s missing project, “Glass House”, on his then-platform “Everyday Struggle”. That day, him and Crooked I had a bit of a misunderstanding over social media, and Crook let slip that he might’ve had already been off of the 4-man conglomerate since then.
Not everyone got the message, though, and fans of the supergroup kept asking and harassing Joe and Crooked over “Glass House” on social media — especially after their more recent interactions. As such, KXNG Crooked felt the need to stab the last nail on SH’s coffin and declare his non-participation, one day after Joe Budden told him “I love you, Crook, but shut the fuck up” on his podcast.
The mystery of “Glass House”, the unreleased third album, tells the story of how the group’s fall came to be. In May 2013, Slaughterhouse members halted their solo projects to record the album, which was to be executive produced by friend of the group Just Blaze. In November, Joe Budden stated that the album would be released in early 2014. Here’s when it starts to show. In May 2014, the mixtape “House Rules” is released, and there are a lot of telling messages in there. On “Offshore”, Royce da 5'9" airs a few thoughts on his verse:
For whatever reason, Shady Records still believes in us
And whatever they see in us, Interscope don’t
Comments being made like, “N***as old and they pathetic”
Now, how many times have we proved n***as wrong?
And how many n***as you think gon’ come out of them offices
And try to show up when we blow up?
Some are gon’ even try to take the credit
While we was doing the album the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League manager was like
“Them n***as album ain’t never coming out, them n***as don’t even like each other”
Well fuck the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League manager
I would tell you to tell him I said it but talk behind backs is for amateurs
That part is important for many reasons. One, it shows that, despite Shady Records being a graveyard of artists, having killed pretty much every talent they signed besides 50 Cent, the blame this time might’ve been more on Interscope. Two, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League was stated as participating in the album’s production, but apparently things were said, and they weren’t nice. Three, Royce is pretty much letting us know that there was trouble behind the scenes. We can rely on the music, because on interviews, as always, we were fed blanket statements and vague answers whenever the topic came up. 2014 came and went, and no “Glass House” for us. In February 2015, Royce da 5’9" said in an interview that the album was “close to being finished”, blaming the delay on behind-the-scenes bureaucracy. That was the last time anything was said about the project. Every question about it was ignored or received with cryptic remarks.
Since then, Slaughterhouse entered a very mysterious hiatus, and Joe, Royce, Crook and Joell Ortiz (the quietest of them all) did their own thing, furthering their solo careers (and Joe, also, his now famous podcast). In February 2017, on the “Joe Budden Podcast” (then named “I’ll Name This Podcast Later”), Joe confirms the words of the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League manager and states that “Glass House”, while actually done, will never be released.
Of course, people have been asking for the album to be leaked, but that can’t be done by any of the members, lest they want to pay Shady Records, producer fees, etc. If there is a leak, pretty much all the members have stated they’ll support it and help spread the word, but it’s a hope that SH fans have lost a long time ago. What sucks about all of this is not just the group’s end, but the way things are unraveling.
Joe Budden has said, in his song “Slaughtermouse”, that the group “could disband right then and it’d always be love”. There may be love still, but it’s really bad to see the group end in light of one member telling the other to shut the fuck up while said other throws occasional shade about loyalty. In the song Gone, from the first mixtape “On The House” (2012), Joe (again) states his disillusion with SH as a project openly, with the following:
Thought we were defying the odds, I thought that we weathered the storm
I thought that we’d travel the same road, I thought that we’d never conform
Don’t tell me you bastards tricked me, don’t tell me that I was just wrong
’Cause now I’m maskin’, it gets to me whenever we ‘bout to perform
Though we was about to heat up, it’s taking a while to get warm
If not for the fact that I love you n***as, and we all get along
I swear I’d been got
Thought we could all see the writin’ on the wall
Now I’m disheveled, we was rebels, it ain’t as exciting as before
Maybe the fact that I been solo so long has kinda spoiled me
Or when I’m annoyed do I try to avoid becoming a victim of loyalty?
We was so cutting edge — (yeah)
— my address is this fucking ledge
Won’t be unhappy, I know how I get when in this state
If I let her fuck me this time it’ll be considered rape
We were saviours on our own terms, I’ve learned
If any three of you have wavered let me know so I can wave good… nah
This, especially with the line “do I try to avoid becoming a victim of loyalty”, shows that Budden was afraid of stagnation and betrayal of SH’s initial vows (to resurrect “real hip-hop” and defy the mainstream) over the so-called loyalty to Shady Records and Eminem. “Welcome To: Our House” is a mixed preference amongst the fanbase exactly for being “too mainstream” to some, and it kinda shows — while there are good tracks in it, even the members themselves realize it didn’t live up to the potential that they showed on their first album, “Slaughterhouse” (2009), on E1 Music. Back then, Slaughterhouse showed promise in many aspects, with Royce’s “Voltron” reference in “Sound Off” working like a charm; 4 blackballed, rejected, underappreciated lyricists coming together to battle the mainstream that kicked them to the curb in the first place. Of course, things played out differently: following their success and the beef with E1/Amalgam, Slaughterhouse moved to Shady Records, big announcements were made, bigger words were spoken, and even bigger verses were made about the group’s future, but then came the second album. And with it, executive meddling, radio-friendly bullshit on previously unfiltered and raw rapping, and ultimately, a rift in the group that kept growing more and more.
All of that being said, it was fun while it lasted. We can all feel regret and mourn the (long-predicted) fall of what seemed to be our god-given release from the mumble rap takeover, but it’d be better to let Slaughterhouse die in peace. That goes to both the fans, who, 5 years later, are still asking aggressively about “Glass House” despite the glowing, neon-painted writing on the wall in Arial 70, and to the artists themselves, with all the absence, all the shading, beefing, and shut the fuck up-ing... This isn’t Slaughterhouse. Slaughterhouse is the group that delivered unreal bars. Slaughterhouse is the 2012 Shady BET Cypher — where most of them performed better than the Rap God himself. Slaughterhouse is the heart-wrenching emotion of “Goodbye”, and the hard beats of “The One”. Slaughterhouse is the webseries of their tours, with Joe and Joell racing in the middle of the afternoon, or Crook telling hood stories on the bus, or their stage antics in their wild, enveloping live performances. Slaughterhouse is Royce da 5'9" in his syllabical perfection and amazing metaphors, Joell Ortiz’s unparalleled funny bars and hunger, KXNG Crooked’s encyclopedic knowledge of all things rap and how it shows on his verses, and Joe Budden’s uncanny ability of touching people’s hearts with jokes and tears of his own.
We should try and be grateful, once the grief is over, that we were able to witness this history. And that most of us got, through Slaughterhouse, a gateway to these four rappers’ worlds, and got to know what amazing people they are both personally, and in their craft.
And may this be a lesson — battling the mainstream takes more than just will.
Thank you all for everything, and may the memories last forever.
