Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Well, sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we” in question is me, Andre Grant, and our Sr. Features Writer Ural Garrett. Collectively we serve as HipHopDX’s Features Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.”
Bad Meets Evil
Ural: Eminem must think one is truly special to share the spotlight with someone for an entire project. Spanning a short but well put together nine tracks, Slim Shady sat alongside Royce da 5’9 for one helluva ride on Hell: The Sequel. As Bad Meets Evil, there was never a moment were both sounded like combatants waging lyrical battle against each other. Considering where both lie within the standards of Hip Hop and mainstream pop, Em and Royce collaborated on tracks that felt more like complete songs without sounding disjointed. Despite being on of the most successful EPs of the modern rap era, the Detroit spitters can’t seem to come together for a full-length album. Then again, maybe this will take a lot longer considering where Em and Royce are at this time. Shady Records’ head obviously holds ranking as one of the best selling rapper alive and doesn’t plan on giving up that title anytime soon. Meanwhile, Royce has been working double time as Slaughterhouse’s fourth member and is enjoying better critical success with DJ Premier through PRhyme. Getting both to team up might be difficult due to obvious circumstances. It’d be sad to see Shady 2.0’s greatest success story not get proper due considering the ups and downs these two friends have gone through together personally.
Andre: Hell: The Sequel was supposed to be the beginning of something but it ended up being the end. The good news is that, at the time, they squashed all that beef stuff and started working together again. In fact, it was Proof who facilitated all of that after Royce and he pulled guns on each other and got hauled off to jail. Obviously, there was hoopla surrounding the project. It wasn’t just the meeting of two amazing minds. It was the re-meeting of two amazing minds. What’s a better narrative than that? Em was sober and working, and Royce was maturing and working, and everything was supposed to be well in the world.
The EP went off without a hitch. Speaking with Complex’s chief and their old buddy Noah Callahan-Bever, they spoke about how fun the process was and how most of the EP was finished in one take. Frankly, it was beautiful. Sid Roan, Havoc, and Mr. Porter laced the production. Shoot, the thing even featured Bruno Mars. But, and still, here we are, waiting for the long play to come rumbling back into our lives. For now, the Wily E Coyote and Roadrunner combination of Em and Royce have yet to flourish into the full LP we’ve all been waiting for.
Aside: There was one quote in that Complex piece among many that stuck out. Here it is: “Joining the group had a lot to do with my development. That inspired me to want to step it up. When you get around Em, Joey, Crooked, Joell, you realize you’re not as good as you thought you were.” That’s what Royce said when asked why he’d become such a good emcee over the past few years. Which leads us to Slaughterhouse.
Slaughterhouse
Ural: The possibility of Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5’9″ getting together for Slaughterhouse sounded excellent on paper. Their debut self-titled debut on E1 was pretty good as well. Since joining Shady, things haven’t grown much for the collective as a whole. However, the profile for each individual member has grown significantly. This is more noticeable after their first album on Shady Welcome To: Our House which DX rated a 4.5 yet, hasn’t managed to go gold. Breaking down the members individually, they all gone in interesting directions. Crooked I changed his name to KXNG Crooked a while back, Joe Budden went from rapper turned reality star to podcast host, Joell Ortiz has consistently released some solid projects and Royce da 5’9 made his PRhyme album with DJ Premier. A major label signed supergroup really didn’t work out like many hoped. However, that was exactly what they needed. The added exposure united each of the four member’s core fan bases to each other. Each member had bad experiences with major labels before going independent together. Once Em got into the picture, their independent profiles grew more than their music as a unit.
Andre: These four emcees coming together was supposed to mark a changing of the guard. It did, in a way, but only kind of, as this Frankenstein combo of very talented individual emcees (brought together on Joe Budden’s gem “Slaughterhouse”) didn’t quite mesh in the way that it could have. Perhaps their styles were too disparate to ever really gel, but welcome to: OUR HOUSE (their third release) had us all hoping for the Hip Hop supergroup the talents of these four artists demanded. Of course, that record on Shady was remarkably built. Shady marshaled all its resources in giving Slaughterhouse the platform they needed to succeed. Production by Eminem himself, HIT-BOY, T-Minus, Boi-1da and. Features from a still blasting heat Busta Rhymes and a newly minted Cee Lo whose single two years prior “Fuck You” took the world by storm. With all that, and with all these grown-ass-men bringing their A games, you thought they might be the Led Zeppelin of Hip Hop. But, instead of all those unique resources being used in the service of Slaughterhouse as they were, the thing ended up feeling aspirational and sort of corporate.
So not quite Led Zeppelin, no. And if they stick with their current formula, then we may never even get the Slaughterhouse album we deserve.
Yelawolf
Andre: Maybe Yelawolf isn’t as nuts as he sounds. Trunk Muzik was a slick-talkin’, juiced up revelation, and whenever he hands the reigns back to his hard-hitting stuff, you can see that Catfish Billy is still there, caged, yearning to fly free.. Who remembers the 2012 interview on Shade 45 where he states, frankly, “Shady’s great, I love Shady Records man, I just think there’s some shit going on upstairs, but I don’t know what the f*ck’s going on, back to Trunk Muzik.” Yeah. Neither Radioactive or Love Story truly lived up to the hype created after the mixtape that launched him into the stratosphere. And, quite frankly, it’s strange that they haven’t. All the pieces were there, but instead of sounding fresh, his albums tend to come off as garbled mashups. It is as though there are too many chefs around the pot there at Shady.
Still, his fan base rides for him. And with that sound and that ability to build a rabid following, let’s see what the Alabama hitter has up his sleeve next.
Ural: Catfish Billy had quite the potential before Em picked up the Alabama native. Before then, he released his breakout mixtape Trunk Muzik and raised those dixie colored flags as someone ready to rise above the then new crop of emcees including Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T., Meek Mill and Mac Miller. Since then, it’s been a disappointment after disappointment despite a few killer one-off collaborative works with Travis Barker to DJ Paul. His Shady debut Radioactive could be seen as the decade’s most disappointing debut this side of Drake’s Thank Me Later (though he made that up in spades the next go around). Yela’s sophomore follow-up Love Story felt like a watered down version of Bubba Sparxxx’s Deliverance (one of the most underrated Southern rap albums ever). Collectively, the total sales for both his albums have yet to even go gold. Regardless, leave it up to his rabid fanbase and a huge majority of DX’s fanbase, Love Story is the best album this year despite low sales and an average Metacritic score of 64 percent. Then again, Donald Trump is leading the GOP polls currently, making him a serious contender for leader of the free world. Who needs facts and logic, right? Erratic behavior such as that startling admittance of alcoholism on ESPN give his delusional fans better context.
Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
Ural Garrett is a Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
Shady wasted Obie & Stat, I never believed in Creek or Ca$his.
Bad Meets Evil (I was a fan of) would have worked around SS. MM & ES eras, as for Slaughter (huge fan) there not catered for the charts there for the hip hop ears!
How is it that a man who sold so many records can’t lend his wave to help his own artists. Drake was able to give ilovemakkonen a Plat plaque. The wkend is killing it but other than d12 which em was a major part of nothing sold. Well It’s very simple.
Eminem fans aren’t hip hop fans. They’re the ones with a cd case of zeppelin chilli peppers the limb biz kit and then eminem but no other rappers or maybe a maxi single of 99 problems by jay
so all the talent that he puts out won’t amount to much sales because his fan base arent supporters of hip hop.
Em is my favorite rapper, and still know more underground and golden age hip hop than anyone I know, probably more than you.
love story is a classic
how can you call that album a disappointment?
Only problem could be it was too long, nothing else
Here’s my opinion.
1. New Era, this era of fans dont want real hip hop like these cats.. they want the Drakes and the Futures.
2. You take away the internet, people will have no choice but to buy albums/CD’s again. Napster and Limewire started that off
3. Em recognize real HipHOp. Don’t need the money.
at the end of the day, Em fanbase buys albums.. they will continue supporting Shady 2 0.. Artist make there money from tours and shows..
Trunk muzik ‘ radio active and love story are grest albums. My only complaint is how long between them. That’s the good thing about tech. You know if you don’t like this one it’s only like 12 months until the next.
yelawolf released 5 projects in between them though..
If you don’t like Love Story, you’re an idiot. It’s a great album that sounds like no other. I’m sick of everyone making the same shit these days. props to Yelawolf for keeping it real.
They gotta sign new artist
I respect Em to keep real emcees close to him instead of these stupid ass drug dealing/gangsta rappers who wants to sing using auto tunes. If Em wants more marketing spitters he needs a younger Emcees who is buzzing right now.
I agree with Slauterhouse being a disappointment but Yelawolf has been great yes Radioactive wasent a masterpiece but was a solid album but he made up for it on Love Story that album is a classic in a lot of people’s eyes and is selling pretty well I think it was number 2 in the first week how is that a disappointment ?? Oh and if you don’t have Love Story go get it trust me it’s dope
nah bruh, DX needs to go some where else with this shit. Is this the same site that wrote the ‘Best 15 Albums of 2015 so far’ article and had YOUNG FUCKING THUG on AND NOT Yelawolf. How do you expect readers to respect your opinion on ANYTHING Shady 2.0 after that joke of a list. And Ural you officially are banned from saying shit about anything Eminem. You are a Eminem hater after that last editorial where you bitched and cried about violence and sexual content in Dr. Dre and Eminem’s music…not you’re tryna be back on Em’s nuts and claim you’re a fan of the labels work??????? fuck outta here. How do you expect readers to respect your opinion on ANYTHING Shady 2.0 after that joke of a editorial. You two should leave HipHop alone and go write for Cosmo
Man,you’re spot on.Dx is no different than bitchy news outlets like buzzfeed or gawker.They don’t respect true music,passionate artists….they only go praising those young thug fuckers who try to act smart with false swag but in reality they are either licking women boots,or are trannies or gays.Love story was a perfect blend of country and hip hop but ural’s ass likes the slimy gay ass music of young thug.These critics should reach the position of the people they are criticizing and then bitch about them.Dre and Em’s music doesn’t matter…only thing that matters is the use of some violent tracks…go fuck off,you critics….
Youre so stupid, Young Thug has had numerous hits this year, and i havent heard anything from yellawolf.
Hip Hop DX is the lamest, “Hip Hop Purist” site there is, so you know Slaughterhouse has been terrible if even they’re saying they haven’t lived up to expectations
Beanz they also just wrote a piece saying Kanye can’t make good music anymore. I bet you believe that too: “I read it on HipHopDX so I must believe it” motherfucker
totally agree with the kid, i can’t say nothing more
Beanz are you a fucking potato or something? Yelawolf hasn’t had ‘hits’ in your eyes coz you listen to slimy fakeass commercialized money-grabbing dickwads like Young Thug. Young Thug doesn’t know how to spell art but Yelawolf is the frickin definition of art, dumbass. Sort your fucked up mainstream views before coming here and dissing Yela, bell-end.
Bellend? Lol nice to know that suburban English white kids listen to that Yelawolf trash.
What’s with DX doubting the big dogs? Kanye, Jay Elec, and Eminem’s camp. Have faith, man. Damn. I want to say that to all of Hip Hop fans: HAVE FAITH. FUCK
That Thumbnail says it all
what a shitty article, shut the fuck up haters and have faith. SHADY RECORDS TILL I COLLAPSE
Love Story was fucking ill. Not sure what the he’ll these people are talking about. Best album this year.
Shady Records in the last few years alone — MMLP2 (Best Album Grammy) .. ShadyXV .. Southpaw .. Shade45 .. Love Story (#2, Top 10 Hip Hop for ~3 months, Still Growing with New Videos and Placements, Slumerican) .. PRhyme .. Slaughterhouse + their solo material .. BoB (Shady Publishing) .. Freestyle Cypher .. Next Level Social Media and Music / Merch Distribution via ShadyRecords.com, iPhone Apps .. Total Slaughter Battle Rap (Shady Films) .. So yeah .. this is not even close to the amount of HIGH QUALITY and TRUE ART with unparalleled COMMERCIAL SUCCESS has been released by Shady Records and their affiliates in just the last few years .. Oh yeah — did I forget to mention that they are associated with RapRadar? Hmm — wonder who might have an agenda to try to push, but in the process literally put the nail in the DX Coffin (unfollowed, unliked — check your counts)
Its really very simple:
Slaughterhouse is a group of rappers who aren’t capable of making good MUSIC and all they do for the most part, is rap about how good they are at rapping and how much they hate the dougie and the new school of hip hop, and how they’ll always stay true to their roots (in other words, being horrible musicians) with long and uninteresting verses where they write punchlines for the sake of saying them, not to accentuate any real point. They can technically rap, but they do so like 2007 rappers. Whenever they say something creative, it never has to do with something in real life, there’s no context surrounding it usually, so it doesn’t relate to people, so therefore, it isnt Tweetable, and in this day and age, if your lyrics (and your brand) isn’t tweetable, you’re not commercially viable.
They really have a song called “lyrical murderers” lmaoo get that early 90s bs out of here. That;s not deep at all, they dont talk about S**t.
You’re a fucking moron
“If you’re lyrics aren’t tweetable” Spoken like a true Drake fan.
lol not commercially viable what was pump it up and she dont put it down….and you say they aint deep if budden aint deep then WHO TF IS and must not of heard TRUTH OR TRUTH FOH CLOWN
I just can’t take you motherfuckers serious sometimes…been putting out weak articles and editorials…
Who was listening to Royce before he hooked back up with Shady? Not many. Nickel was hella slept on then Shady brought him back to the forefront and we got PRhyme. Radioactive was trash but Love Story is easily one of the best albums of the year. But then again.. I guess Kanye fell off too huh…. idiots.
Dre fell off too….wait….
MTV was a huge part of Em’s early success and breakthrough to the pop culture icon he is now, they used to do specials for 50 Cent, D12, and Em anytime they had albums coming out. But now MTV has very little programming devoted to musicians, so Shady Records new recruits don’t get the treatment that the labels old vets got. They just get a few plays on MTV Jams, which I only watch for shits and giggles to see what is hot these days. Hell, even Obie Trice had a video on TRL back in ’03.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE’S SHADY ALBUM WAS VERY DISAPPOINTING.
This article is extremely biased and completely horrible. Yelawolf has been pushing the envelope of hip hop with a mixture of country like no other, to say Love Story is a watered down version of a simple Bubba Sparaxxx album is insane. These are the guys that have an album slapped on their desks for review and skim through it.
To mention the Travis Barker and DJ Paul records but not Trunk Muzik Returns (which were all produced by one guy, not “too many chefs in the pot” and Love Story having far less producers than your average hip hop album) is also something that shows the credibility of this article is perpetually vague. Implying like the site’s users are stupid for voting Love Story aoty and acting pretentious is horrible journalism and isn’t going to get you anywhere.
HHDX fire these dudes, they’re making your site look like a laughing stock.
I co-sign for the most part. The whole “watered down Bubba Sparxx album” comment was ridiculously inaccurate and disrespectful in my opinion. That description totally disregards the depth of character and growth Yelawolf showed as an artist with Love Story. I will keep coming back to this site, because I still find a lot of the articles/reviews interesting, and I like to stay up to date on Hip Hop news, but I take all of the writers’ opinions with a big as boulder-sized grain of salt.
Yo, so nothing about D12? They’re still on the label. I was hoping something would come out of that song “Bane” from Shady XV. Not hating, just wondering wtf happened to them
Check out bizarres instagram. the whole crew is in the studio with Em. Something might be coming soon
“Regardless, leave it up to his rabid fanbase and a huge majority of DX’s fanbase, Love Story is the best album this year despite low sales and an average Metacritic score of 64 percent. Then again, Donald Trump is leading the GOP polls currently, making him a serious contender for leader of the free world. Who needs facts and logic, right?”
Yal ain’t familiar with opinions huh? You seriously suggesting that if Meteoritic suggests an album as mediocre that people need to follow that opinion rather than forming their own. Definitely don’t know what’s going on with this site that you’re discouraging intelligent cats from forming their own opinion. This is a prime example of what’s plaguing hip-hop. Booooo
I don’t think they’re suggesting people don’t form their own opinion, but more so that the people’s opinions on Love Story are undeservedly positive. I completely disagree as Love Story literally made me a Yelawolf fan. Always kinda intrigued by him, but that album really impressed me. I don’t know why all the critics are hating on it?? The fans and true hip hop heads see the quality of that album, and that’s really all that matters (unless they don’t go out and buy it or buy concert tickets lol).
FOH with love story being best album of year
Only thing I agree with here is that Hell: the Sequel was one awesome EP, and that Em& Royce really, really need to do another album. ASAP.
Waiting for Royce’s Album
Eminem signing Yelawolf was a gag order. Now this guy is completely fucked up on the piss and couldn’t give a fuck. Eminem ruined him.
nothin on joe ALL coming SLL was fire n No Love Lost had some bright spots but he really did try to play to the mainstream
Shady is just not a good music manager. Great rapper and artist, but not a great manager of a record label. Em has not really helped to launch any music careers. And before you say 50, Dre had his hands all over that. The label helped to give Yela and SH a bigger stage, but the label failed to do much with its artist.
you obviously have no background round story on 50 and Em, go read up on it.
yea homie, em made 50
only white kids say eminem made 50. 50 was already a street king (get it?) before the out of towners ever heard of him
Forget album sales, yeah SH’s first Shady debute couldve been better compared to the tracks off of their fkrst self-titled album, but they r still the best rap group out. Yelawolf’s “love story” was pretty solid and better than “radio active”. Despite sales, Yelawolf is doing good on Shady. Bad Meets Evil sold records and had a big buzz when their album dropped. They need to droplike an 16-18 track lp though, was still the best album that year.
I think Slaughterhouse is dope.
Thanks for reminding us that DX rated “Our House” as a 4.5 LOL!!
Seriously, I hope Interscope gives Slaughterhouse a second chance, and I hope Slaughterhouse is allowed to do what makes them so great.
Yelawolf is right. There has to be some bull going on upstairs. Its been 3 years since Slaughterhouse has put out an album, and after Joe this October, all 4 members will have put out a solo album before the group puts another one out! Its ridiculous, what are they waiting for?
Shady Records in the last few years alone — MMLP2 (Best Album Grammy) .. ShadyXV .. Southpaw .. Shade45 .. Love Story (#2, Top 10 Hip Hop for ~3 months, Still Growing with New Videos and Placements, Slumerican) .. PRhyme .. Slaughterhouse + their solo material .. BoB (Shady Publishing) .. Freestyle Cypher .. Next Level Social Media and Music / Merch Distribution via ShadyRecords.com, iPhone Apps .. Total Slaughter Battle Rap (Shady Films) .. So yeah .. this is not even close to the amount of HIGH QUALITY and TRUE ART with unparalleled COMMERCIAL SUCCESS has been released by Shady Records and their affiliates in just the last few years .. Oh yeah — did I forget to mention that they are associated with RapRadar? Hmm — wonder who might have an agenda to try to push, but in the process literally put the nail in the DX Coffin (unfollowed, unliked — check your counts)
Wow I had no idea .. when you connect the dots even beyond to Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Kendrick, TDE, Slumerican, etc .. This network has solidified Hip Hop as we all love and remember it forever now .. It’s crazy to me that these writers from HHDX literally just take a ish on their own readers ?!?! In what world is it a good idea to make fun of your own customers and their opinions?
TRUMP is a breath of fresh air. We need someone like that…..not a pussy.
The amount of spelling errors is atrocious. It’s a damn editorial, spelling and grammar matter! Y’all need better writers. This shit is ridiculous.