''Welcome to: Our House'' (stylized as ''welcome to: OUR HOUSE'') is the second and final studio album by hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse, consisting of Crooked I,

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 and Royce da 5'9". The album was released on August 28, 2012 via

Shady Records Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg, after the highly successful release of Eminem's ''The Slim Shady LP'' (1999). Shady has seen negative times when being part of the unsuccessful ...

and Interscope Records. This would also be their only major label album before disbanding on April 26, 2018.

Background

On February 9, 2012, Crooked I, in an interview with '' XXL'', said that Eminem has been confirmed to feature on the album and provide most of the production, and Royce later stated that Eminem would mix the album.

Alex da Kid Alexander Junior Grant (born 27 August 1983), professionally known as Alex da Kid or by.ALEXANDER, is a British musician, record producer, songwriter, record executive and fashion designer from Wood Green, London. He has gained recognition for p ...

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 ...

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League J.U.S.T.I.C.E. (Just Undeniably Some of The Illest Composers Ever) League is an American record production team composed of producers and instrumentalists from Tampa, Florida. The group is made up of members Erik "Rook" Ortiz, Kevin "Colion ...

and

No I.D. Ernest Dion Wilson (born June 23, 1971), professionally known as No I.D. (formerly Immenslope), is an American hip hop and R&B producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a disc jockey (DJ), music arranger and former rapper, having relea ...

later were confirmed to produce on the album. The title of the album was announced in January 2012, before a tour that began on March 8 in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and concluded May 10 in Nashville was also confirmed. Joe Budden has publicly said the group was abusing substances while recording the album.

Delay and mixtape

On June 4, on ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rate ...

'', Royce Da 5'9 stated that the album has been pushed back till July 2012, instead of June 12. Further delays led to a release date of August 28, 2012. On July 7, 2012, Royce announced in an interview with Jenny Boom Boom that the group will release a pre-album mixtape around the first week of August. Joe Budden revealed via Twitter that the mixtape is called '' On the House'' and will be hosted by DJ Drama. Royce Da 5'9" released the cover art for the mixtape through Twitter on August 7, 2012. A promotional video for the mixtape was released on August 6, 2012, and previewed a song called "See Dead People" with confirmed guest appearances by Eminem. Rapper Sauce Tha Boss, signed to Crooked I's COB label, claimed via Twitter that the mixtape will drop on Friday, August 10, 2012. This was not the case, however, the mixtape was released via DatPiff and DJ Drama on August 19, 2012.

Singles

On February 27, 2012

Funkmaster Flex Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1968), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot 9 ...

premiered "Hammer Dance", the lead single from the album, on New York's

Hot 97 WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared ser ...

radio station. The song was produced by

AraabMuzik Abraham Orellana (born June 16, 1989), better known as his stage name AraabMuzik ( ; stylized as araabMUZIK), is an American record producer and DJ. He made a name for himself by performing beats and instrumentals live and in real time on a Ak ...

. On March 13, the song was released through iTunes. On April 25, the group premiered "

My Life My Life may refer to: Autobiographies * ''Mein Leben'' (Wagner) (''My Life''), by Richard Wagner, 1870 * ''My Life'' (Clinton autobiography), by Bill Clinton, 2004 * ''My Life'' (Meir autobiography), by Golda Meir, 1973 * ''My Life'' (Mosley a ...

", the second single from the album, which features Cee Lo Green and is produced by Streetrunner and Sarom. The song was released on iTunes on May 15, 2012. On June 29, the third single, "Throw It Away", was released, also on Hot 97, with Funkmaster Flex. The song features vocals from the American rapper

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

and production from Mr. Porter. The single was later available to purchase on iTunes, on July 2, 2012. A video for the single was released on August 31, 2012. The group confirmed in an interview on

BET Awards 2012 The 12th BET Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on July 1, 2012. The awards recognize Americans in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. Actor Samuel L. Jackson hosted the ev ...

with Hip Hop Wired that the fourth single will be "Goodbye", produced by

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da ( , a play on "boy wonder"), is a Jamaican-Canadian Record production, record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto raised producer has work ...

. "Goodbye" premiered on

Shade 45 Shade 45 is American rapper Eminem's hip-hop station on Sirius XM Radio channel 45 and Dish Network channel 6045. History Eminem established his own channel, Shade 45, that plays uncut hip hop. Eminem also established a new morning show, ''Sway ...

on August 9, 2012, during an interview with the group and Eminem. On August 14, the single was released on iTunes for digital download. On August 21, 2012 the fifth single, Throw That which features their executive producer Eminem, was released for digital download on iTunes.

Guest appearances

On August 4, 2012, the track listing was confirmed with the guests appearances. Notably, Shady records label head Eminem appears on three tracks. Joining Mr. Mathers are Cee Lo Green, Busta Rhymes,

Skylar Grey Holly Brook Hafermann (born February 23, 1986), known professionally as Skylar Grey, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Mazomanie, Wisconsin. In 2004, at the age of 17, Grey signed a publishing deal with Universal Music ...

and

B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...

. The producers on the album are

, Streetrunner, Sarom, Mr. Porter,

Hit-Boy Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), better known by his stage name Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. In May 2011, he had signed a two-year deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music production branch. ...

T-Minus A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

, Black Key, Zukhan,

Kane Beatz Daniel Andrew Johnson (born December 20, 1986), professionally known as Kane Beatz, is an American record producer and songwriter from Orlando, Florida. Life and career Johnson first found monetary success from producing while still in high sc ...

, and Eminem as the executive producer.

Reception

Commercial performance

''Welcome to: Our House'' was Slaughterhouse's most successful release to date, peaking at number two in the ''Billboard'' 200 and at Number One in the Billboard Top Rap Albums, selling 52,000 copies in the first week. As of September 30, 2012, it has sold 80,000 copies in the US. As of January 2016, the album has sold 200,000 copies in the United States.

Critical response

''Welcome to: Our House'' received generally positive reviews from contemporary

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 70, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 10 reviews. HipHopDX's editor Slava Kuperstein reviewed the album, and gave it 4.5 out of 5. Kuperstein says: "With welcome to: OUR HOUSE, Slaughterhouse has somehow managed to improve upon its already-absurd skill set." RapReviews review was written by Steve Juon, who said: "The debut was unexpectedly good and remains a classic. The official sequel to it was EXPECTED to be good and it is." In a mixed review, written by Jody RosenThe from the magazine

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

, was said "the group's second LP is a showcase for gritty traditionalism". The review had the lowest score.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's editor David Jeffries has criticized the album saying: "Crotch-grabbing tracks might crash into a convincing emo-rap number and these proven wordsmiths might have left more room for guests and hooks than they probably should have, but just because their indie debut was a more cohesive showcase doesn't mean the joy and pain of Welcome to Our House isn't worth the required sorting." On September 5, 2012, Mark Bozzer from Canadian music magazine Exclaim! made a positive review of the album, saying "Joe, Joell, Crooked I and Royce trade quality rhymes over a varied catalogue of original productions that allow the four-piece ample room to spit their different brands of venom." The magazine XXL reviewed the album with their editor Adam Fleischer. Fleischer said: "There's rarely a weak bar on welcome to: OUR HOUSE, though the verbal dexterity isn't quite as stunning as it was on their debut." Music magazine Spin reviewed the album on September 5, 2012, and their editor Phillip Mlynar commented about album: "Despite this abundance of raps about the unadulterated greatness of rapping, the Slaughterhouse four pull it off with extraordinary sincerity, and Our House avoids devolving into some tired treatise about how these guys make "real hip-hop" and other rappers don't." Nathan S. from the website ''DJ Booth'' reviewed the album, saying: "At 16 tracks, 20 on the deluxe version, this album manages to work in more than a couple joints featuring some of the vicious rap hardcore fans were hoping for."

Track listing

;Notes * signifies an additional producer. * signifies a co-producer. ; Sample credits * "Hammer Dance" samples " Falling Away from Me" performed by Korn. * "Get Up" samples "Ali In the Jungle" performed by The Hours. * "My Life" samples "

The Rhythm of the Night ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" performed by

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

. * "Flip a Bird" samples "Little Bird" performed by

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music. Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at a ...

. * "Throw It Away" samples "UFO" performed by

ESG ESG may refer to : Groups * Election Support Group, an internationally sponsored organization analyzing and supporting the electoral process in Pakistan * ES Guelma, an Algerian football club based in Guelma * Escuela Superior de Guerra (Argenti ...

. * "Park It Sideways" samples "Real Love" performed by Delorean. * "Walk of Shame" samples "Light of the Morning" performed by

Band of Skulls Band of Skulls are an English rock band from Southampton, consisting of Russell Marsden (guitar, vocals) and Emma Richardson (bass, vocals); Matt Hayward (drums; 2002–2016) was previously a member. The group formed after meeting in college, ...

Personnel

Credits for ''Welcome to: Our House'' adapted from

. * M. Aiello - Composer *

- Producer * Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu - Composer * Black Key Beats - Producer *

- Producer *

- Producer * F. Bontempi - Composer * Cullen Brooks - Assistant Engineer * Matthew Burnett - Additional Production, Composer * Busta Rhymes - Featured Artist * Tony Campana - Engineer * J. Coleman - Composer *

Jonathan Davis Jonathan Howsmon Davis (born January 18, 1971), also known as JD or JDevil, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of nu metal band Korn, who are considered a pioneering act of the nu ...

- Composer * James "Munky" Shaffer - Composer * Mickey Davis - Engineer * Denaun - Vocals, Producer * Dennis Dennehy - Marketing, Publicity * Raymond "Sarom" Diaz - Producer * DJ Mormile - A&R * Eminem - Additional Production, Executive Producer, Featured Artist, Mixing, Producer * Keith Ferguson - Guitar * John Fisher - Studio Manager * Ashanti "The Mad Violinist" Floyd - Producer * Brian "Big Bass" Gardner - Mastering * P. Glenister - Composer * Alicia Graham - A&R * A. Grant - Composer *

- Featured Artist *

Cee-Lo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway - Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. He is known for his work in hip hop and R&B, including the Gnarls ...

- Featured Artist *

- Featured Artist, Composer * Chad Griffith - Photography *

- Producer * Stephanie Hsu - Creative Art * Tony "56" Jackson - Keyboards * J-MIKE - Producer * Joe Strange - Assistant Engineer, Engineer * D. Johnson - Composer * Selena Jordan - Vocals * Sly Jordan - Composer, Vocals * Kane Beatz - Producer *

Alex Da Kid Alexander Junior Grant (born 27 August 1983), professionally known as Alex da Kid or by.ALEXANDER, is a British musician, record producer, songwriter, record executive and fashion designer from Wood Green, London. He has gained recognition for p ...

- Mixing, Producer * Marc Labelle - Project Coordinator * Edgar Luna - Engineer * M. Gaffey - Composer * Deborah Mannis-Gardner - Sample Clearance *

Graham Marsh Graham Vivian Marsh MBE (born 14 January 1944) is a retired professional golfer who was one of the leading Australian players of his generation. During his career he won more than 70 tournaments around the world, including 10 on the European T ...

- Engineer *

Marvwon Marvin O'Neal, professionally known by his stage name Marv Won, is an American rapper and record producer from east side Detroit, Michigan. He is a member of underground hip hop group the Fat Killahz (with Fatt Father, Bang Belushi and King G ...

- Rap * Justine Massa - Creative Coordinator * Maven Boys - Producer * Alex Merzin - Engineer * R. Montgomery - Composer * Riggs Morales - A&R *

- Producer * J. Ortiz - Composer * Dart Parker - A&R * Luis Resto - Keyboards * M. Samuels - Composer * Jason Sangerman - Marketing * Mike Saputo - Art Direction, Design * R. Scroggins - Composer * Les Scurry - Production Coordination * Feras "Ferrari" Sheika - Engineer * David Silveria - Composer * M. Slattery - Composer * Manny Smith - A&R * T. Smith - Composer * G. Spagna - Composer * Miguel Starcevich - Back Cover Photo * Mike Strange - Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing * N. "Streetrunner" Warwar - Composer, Producer *

- Featured Artist * Brian "Head" Welch - Composer * Ryan West - Mixing * D. Wickliffe - Composer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Albums produced by Alex da Kid Albums produced by AraabMuzik Albums produced by Boi-1da Albums produced by Mr. Porter Albums produced by Eminem Albums produced by Hit-Boy Albums produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League Albums produced by No I.D. Albums produced by T-Minus (record producer) Interscope Records albums Shady Records albums Slaughterhouse (group) albums