Royce Da 5′9″ Invites Hungry Hip Hop Fans to the Slaughterhouse | Amalgam Digital Blog

Royce Da 5′9″ Invites Hungry Hip Hop Fans to the Slaughterhouse Artist: Royce Da 5′9″ Interviewer: MATT SACK

Royce Da 5′9″ Invites Hungry Hip Hop Fans to the Slaughterhouse

Royce Da 5′9″ Interview with Matt Sack 07-01-2009

AmalgamDigital.com: We’ve all been hearing a lot about Slaughterhouse lately—what are you guys currently working on?

Royce Da 5’9”: Well we just finished the album, and that’s due to be released August 11. So right now we’re on the Rock the Bells Tour and got a little down time. We’ve been to Chicago and Detroit so far.

AmalgamDigital.com: How did the concept for Slaughterhouse come about? Was it hard getting everyone on the same page with the project?

Royce Da 5’9”: It started with a song called “Slaughterhouse” that had everybody in the group on it. It was on Joe Budden’s “Halfway House” project. With the group, you know, once we start doing records, everyone jumps on the same page quick, but it was a new situation for all of us. Once we all saw how each other were, we did a lot of hanging out and got to know each other and it just turned into the perfect mesh.

AmalgamDigital.com: How would you describe your role in the group?

Royce Da 5’9”: I don’t know, man. You know, I bring leadership because I’m one of the older dudes in the group. I’ll find myself having to step up and do certain things like squash some of Joey’s beefs. I’ll do a lot of other stuff that, once other dudes get a little bit older, they’ll mature into. Because I’ve been through so much in my solo career, I’d have to say if I bring anything in particular it’d be leadership.

AmalgamDigital.com: Joe Budden recently commented on how your level of experience brings a valuable dimension to Slaughterhouse. How have your experience in the game helped you individually?

Royce Da 5’9”: Oh it’s helped me tremendously. I just grew into a better decision maker. I made a lot of bad decisions when I was younger—I got into the game real, real young. It’s helped me all across the board.

AmalgamDigital.com: How would you describe the other members’ roles?

Royce Da 5’9”: Crooked I kind of brings the same thing that I bring. He brings it with more of his personality.  He’s more laidback and reserved than I am. Creatively, Crooked brings the most lyricism in terms of just going line for line. Joell, for one he brings the Spanish audience. He brings a character—a funny character. The way him and Joe vibe is kind of similar to the way me and Crooked vibe. Me and Crooked on a sort of older dude vibe. Joell and Joey are like two characters. Those niggas are funny. Aside from being lyrical, those niggas are funny, they crack jokes with each other, they talk about each other. It’s kind of like a reality show when you’re looking at them. If you bring a camera in, me and Crooked will be like, “Yo, put the camera on them because that’s what y’all are gonna enjoy.” They bring a whole interesting character to the group. I mean you’ve seen how big “Joe Budden TV” is. Everybody is interested in these niggas everyday because they’re funny. They bring entertainment to the table, aside from just being super lyrical.

AmalgamDigital.com: How does your approach to making music change when you’re in a group setting as opposed to when you’re working solo?

Royce Da 5’9”: When I’m doing my solo thing, I don’t too much need another opinion. Most of the time it’s just me in the studio. My engineer that I’ve been working with for years, he doesn’t really throw opinions out anymore because most of the records have come out sounding so perfect at the end of the day that it’s not really a need. But with the group situation, you gotta be more open to the next man’s opinion because there’s four people in the group. It’s more of a situation where you’re throwing ideas around instead of just getting an idea and executing it. You know, you kind of gotta go through beef together and just overall stick together.

AmalgamDigital.com: Seeing as the release is coming up, can you tell us about “The Revival?”

Royce Da 5’9”: “The Revival” is a four-song digital EP that’s coming out on July 7. That’s really just to get people familiar with the direction that I’m going in on the “Street Hop” album. It’s gonna get people excited. We have this plan as the Slaughterhouse group to start with our digital EPs in July, so it will kind of be like a machine that starts in July and won’t stop until early next year. In terms of underground hip hop or whatever you wanna call it, we plan on controlling the market from July until the early part of next year. With our digital EPs, the Slaughterhouse album, and our solo projects, everybody else might as well just get the fuck outta the way. There’s really gonna be nothing else that you can compare it to. The Slaughterhouse album is coming August 11, my “Street Hop” album is coming September 22, and by the time Crooked’s solo album comes out the beginning of next year, we’ll already be into the next Slaughterhouse project.

AmalgamDigital.com: What should fans expect from “Street Hop” that they might not be used to from your older work?

Royce Da 5’9”: I went so long without actually doing an album—I was knocking out the “Bar Exams” and doing other stuff—and I’ve grown so much creatively since my last album. This “Street Hop” album is like nothing you’ve ever heard from me. I can’t even explain it. You just have to hear it. It’s different, it’s better. It’s got better beats, better songs, better hooks, better verses. This “Street Hop” album is the shit that you can compare to anything that’s ever came out—it’s that type of project. It’s not like you’re putting me in a box that you can compare to other underground artists. No, you can compare this album to anything that’s out or that has ever been out.

AmalgamDigital.com: You’ve got a lot of well-known producers on the new album. What’s it like working with someone as respected as DJ Premier? Do you feel like the quality of his beats forces you to push yourself as an artist?

Royce Da 5’9”: Well yeah, definitely. As an artist, that’s what we look for. We look to be pushed creatively. We look to be inspired. We’re not just walking around feeling inspired—we look to go find some inspiration. I find that it’s easy for me to do that as long as I have good music, and I don’t even have to be in the room with the producer. As long as they send me a beat via email, or if they send me a CD and I pop it in, if it’s some shit that I feel is incredible, my mind frame is automatically gonna be, “Okay, let me say something incredible.” You know, it’s easier to do when you’re listening to some great beats. It’s the same as being in the room as a great MC.

AmalgamDigital.com: What would you say is your main inspiration for rapping?

Royce Da 5’9”: I don’t have a main inspiration. I think wanting to make and starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and having a formula and actually being like, “Okay, this formula’s been working for me for the last couple years and it’s really looking up for me”—that in itself is a good inspiration. So I keep it moving with that. Like I said, the beats are great inspiration. Sometimes I come up with rhymes on the toilet. Riding in the car. There’s a lot of things that make me think on concepts. Watching TV sometimes. I get inspired to write off of a lot of things. I think that’s why I’m able to do so much.

AmalgamDigital.com: How would you describe your relationship with Eminem as of now?

Royce Da 5’9”: Our relationship is solid. The last conversation that we had was a great conversation. I base our relationship off of that conversation. I don’t too much base it off of how much we talk, but as long as I know that there aren’t any hard feelings and that he doesn’t have anything but love for me…He understands me now. He’s in a better place mentally now. He’s not thinking like he was thinking back then. He realizes that he made mistakes and I made mistakes. Sometimes that happens when you’re in a relationship and you’re that close with somebody—and that’s cool. Sometimes that shit happens, so you know, I think our relationship is solid.

AmalgamDigital.com: Any thoughts on a future collaboration together?

Royce Da 5’9”: I haven’t even thought about it. I would get headache thinking about the possibilities of what that song would end up sounding like.

AmalgamDigital.com: Who are your favorite active rappers?

Royce Da 5’9”: It would have to be somebody in Slaughterhouse. It’s hard to choose because I like them all for different reasons. I like the kind of lines that Crooked can come up with. Just any given da— he doesn’t have to write shit down on a pad—he’ll go into the studio and the next thing you know he’s coming out with these crazy ass lines. I’m a huge fan of Crooked. I’m a huge fan of the way Joey and Joell do their shit. I mean I could listen to any of their albums on any given day. There might be a day when I don’t listen to Crooked’s shit and I just listen to all Joell’s shit. Or one day I just listen to Joey’s shit. They’re definitely my three favorite MCs.

AmalgamDigital.com: Have you been doing any recording on tour?

Royce Da 5’9”: Yeah we plan on doing some. I was just hollering at Busta in Chicago and he’s got a studio on his bus. I mean at some point I’d love to get on Busta’s bus and just bang some shit out with niggas.

AmalgamDigital.com: How would you describe the current state of hip hop, and how do you feel you can improve it?

Royce Da 5’9”: I mean right now, I like what Drake is doing. I think he’s dope. I’m glad that somebody who can actually rhyme is getting that type of pub. I’m also glad that he’s up under somebody that can rhyme. That Young Money Movement, I fuck with it. I’m not too crazy about a lot of shit that’s going on in hip hop right now. I like Kiss’ album. I’m waiting on Fab to come back out with something—you know he’s an actual lyricist so I feel for him. A lot of the new guys are okay. I like Wale. But a lot of the new era—I don’t know if we’re gonna be bringing a bunch of superstars. There’s only a couple of them that I like. Maybe they can get better in the future, but as it is right now I just don’t think most of them are really bringing shit to the game. The Slaughterhouse thing, in my personal opinion, is probably the best thing for hip hop right now. It’s the probably the best thing that can happen for hip hop. The way that we’re executing—I think it’s the best thing. It’s new and it’s fresh. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Tags: Interviews, Slaughterhouse

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 5:05 PM and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.