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I’m glad that the Slaughterhouse collective of Royce da’ 5-9, Crooked I, Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz was not just a marketing gimmick. The works that these four artists might create collaboratively could be the best shit we have heard in a long time and I have heard some great shit all year long. I loved 808’s and the Renaissance. Rising Down was my shit as well as the Mixtape About Nothing. D.I.R.T. was, in a word, grimey. There is so much good music all around me when it comes to listening to rap, yet still and all, I want to hear that Slaughterhouse shit.

This is why I made my way to the studio in a blizzarded out NYC. I was offered food and drink by the host, but the real draw was to sit in a session with Joell Ortiz and Joe Budden. When artists are serious with their shit and dedicated to their craft it is a privilege to watch them work. It helps you focus as well. I know Joe Budden is dead serious because he got to the studio early. In the blizzard. A host of other folks came through as well. Statik Selektah dropped off some beats on his way to see the Rakim set at Knitting Factory. There was also a reporter there from some German smut mag posing as a Hip-Hop periodical. Some shit called HHNOISE.

You can’t tell me that German mag isn’t pr0n. Germans are the dudes who created the whole world of 2girls-1cup. Like everything else they do Germans get all serious about their shit.

Do you know how many wack beats that rappers have to listen to? Millions. Possibly billions. Maybe even trillions. Damn, I don’t know how these dudes maintain the motivations to rap after reviewing the soulless bullshit from a thousand wanna-be producers. The best still find a way to deliver that good shit. Joell Ortiz and Joe Budden are two of the best around. They are only half of Slaughterhouse collective but they are twice as good as any other two rappers holding the microphone right now. The track they laced that night has the title ‘Move On’.

It was an interesting night as I watched these dudes take a blank canvas and paint their very own portraits of their lives. I have a newfound respect for rappers now too. Anyone that can come to the studio and focus themselves to compose lyrics while everyone around them is staring at the pen and pad in their hand is not only a genius but hardbody as well. These are the types of dudes that want the ball in their hands for the forth quarter or the overtime session.

[ll] to any man wanting the ball in his hands.

Here are a few videos from the session…