''Slaughterhouse'' is the self-titled debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by hip hop

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

, consisting of members

Crooked I Dominick Antron Wickliffe (born September 23, 1976), better known by his stage names Crooked I and Kxng Crooked, (stylised as KXNG Crooked and pronounced "King Crooked") is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is best known as a for ...

Joe Budden Joseph Anthony Budden II (born August 31, 1980) is an American media personality and former rapper. He first gained recognition as a rapper with his 2003 top 40 single " Pump It Up" and as a member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse. In ...

Joell Ortiz Joell Christopher Ortiz (born July 6, 1980) is an American rapper and a former member of the group Slaughterhouse. Ortiz grew up in the Cooper Park Houses in the East Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, formerly signed to Dr. Dre's Afte ...

and

Royce da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery, known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Montgomery is currently one half of the rap duo Bad Meets Evil with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, and ...

. The album was released on August 11, 2009 on

E1 Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had b ...

and sold 18,600 copies in its first week.

Background

In June 2009,

E1 Entertainment E1, E01, E.I or E-1 may refer to: Transportation Aircraft * Azcárate O-E-1, Azcárate E-1, a Mexican sesquiplane trainer * Fokker E.I, a German fighter aircraft * Grumman E-1 Tracer, an American airborne early warning aircraft * Hydra Technolog ...

announced the album. The group came together when

was working on a song for his ''

Halfway House A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...

'' album and enlisted the services of

and

for a song entitled "Slaughterhouse". Inspired by the vibe of track and the immediate chemistry of the four rappers, a plan was immediately made to form the supergroup.

Delay

The album release date was changed from July 7 to August 11. Royce da 5'9" said that the group wanted more time to put into set up and marketing with its label

. On his interview with

AllHipHop AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...

on June 12, Royce told: "Even though this roupis a new way of doing business, we still gotta stick to the old school script when it comes time to market this, to have the proper time to set up a record. We’re not idiots. We understand the concept of labels throwing something against the wall and seeing if it sticks. That’s not what we are in business to do. We’re still in the business of selling records, because we feel we have a great product to present to the public." The Detroit rapper also stated that the lyrics and the music came together in a way that made them want to generate maximum interest in the self-titled début. Royce continued: "All the push back has to do

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

is the set up. It's great music. My biggest concern with making the project is us picking the best beats possible. Rhyming is there. The best music possible is what I was always concerned with, that’s why a lot of songs came out so good. Joell Ortiz, a Brooklyn-bred artist, said that the process of creating the album was arduous, yet fun. "It was definitely the busiest session I had ever been in my life. To come out with the product that we do have, was ridiculous." On June 16 via SOHH, the group apologized to their fans and assured them there would be no more delays.

Music

The album features production from Focus...,

the Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

DJ Khalil Khalil Abdul-Rahman Hazzard (born October 16, 1973), professionally known as DJ Khalil, is an American music producer and DJ from Los Angeles. He is the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Self Scientific (along with rapper Chace Infinite) an ...

, Streetrunner,

D12 D12 (an initialism for The Dirty Dozen) was an American hip hop collective from Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 1996, the group achieved mainstream success with its lineup of ''de facto'' leader Eminem, Proof, Bizarre, Mr. Porter, Kuniva and Swift ...

's Mr. Porter and more. On June 18, 2009, a street single was released via Joe Budden's Twitter. The track is "Woodstock (Hood Hop)" which is produced by

Nottz Dominick J. Lamb, (born February 21, 1977) better known by his stage name Nottz (or Nottz Raw), is an American hip hop record producer and rapper from Norfolk, Virginia. Nottz has produced for some of the biggest names in hip hop, including Bu ...

and features M.O.P. on the hook. The first official single from the album was "

The One The ONE is a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at 100 Nathan Road. It was developed by Chinese Estates Holdings and opened in 2010. Owner Joseph Lau Luen-hung g ...

". The video, shot and directed by

Rik Cordero Rik Cordero (born 1979 as Fredric Joseph Cordero) is an American film director and musician. Cordero was born and raised in Queens, New York and is known for applying unusual, non-traditional shooting methods in his work. He was nominated for Vi ...

, premiered on July 12 online and on MTV2 Sucka Free & MTV Jams hourly. Royce confirmed that

Pharoahe Monch Troy Donald Jamerson (born October 31, 1972), better known by his stage name Pharoahe Monch, is an American rapper from South Jamaica, Queens, New York. He is known for his complex lyrics, intricate delivery, and internal and multisyllabic rhy ...

and

Novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

are set to appear on the album. The album cover features each member wearing a sports team's logo from another member's hometown. Joell Ortiz's hat is supposed to be a Detroit Tigers hat but is blacked out.

Reception

After three weeks the album had managed to sell 28,000 copies. Reviews of the album were favorable. It has a score of 69 out of an overall score of 100 (calculated by only 9 reviews) on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, stating that the album has "generally favorable reviews." Allmusic.com gave it a four out of five stars stating that: RapReviews gave it a 9 out of 10 stars. they stated: XXL gave it XL out of XXL stating: HipHopDX gave it a four out of five stars stated : About.com has said that:

Track listing

Sample credits

*"Sound Off" - Contains a samples of "It's Too Late" by

The Stylistics The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All of ...

*"Microphone" - Contains a samples of "L'alpagueur" by

Michel Colombier Michel Colombier (23 May 1939 – 14 November 2004) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor. Career Colombier wrote the scores of several motion pictures and TV productions. He also wrote chamber music and ballets. With composer Pierre H ...

*"Not Tonight" - Contains a samples of "I Don't Know Why I Love You" by

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1946) Retrieved . is an American singer. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit record in 1977 with her recording of "Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy ...

*"The One" - Contains a samples of "I'm Still #1" by

Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions (BDP) was an American hip hop group originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, five months after the release of BDP's debut album, ''Criminal Minded ...

, "

Janie's Got a Gun "Janie's Got a Gun" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith and written by Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton. The song was released as the second single from '' Pump'' in 1989, peaking at number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number ...

" by

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

and " Fly Away" by

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Roc ...

*"Pray (It's a Shame)" - Contains a samples of " It's a Shame" by The Spinners *"Cut You Loose" - Contains a samples of "You're No Good" by The Harvey Averne Dozen

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughterhouse (Album) 2009 debut albums Albums produced by the Alchemist (musician) Albums produced by DJ Khalil Albums produced by Mr. Porter Albums produced by Emile Haynie Albums produced by Focus... E1 Music albums Slaughterhouse (group) albums