Joell Ortiz’s House Slippers, which is available now, gave Ortiz an opportunity to record while sober, something he says was refreshing.
“There’s a high that comes along with being sober,” Ortiz says in an interview with XXL‘s Eric Diep, specifically discussing the project’s title track. “People don’t realize that. Someone who has been sober all their life, can’t enjoy the high as someone who has been drinking and been messing up. That’s like a whole enlightenment like, ‘Oh, remember this?’ That’s how I was in the studio. There was just so much going in my mind.”
Joell Ortiz Says Free Agent Rollout Was “Horrendous”
House Slippers also signifies a different type of positive evolution for Ortiz, who says that it helped him make up for what he felt was a terrible roll out for Free Agent, the emcee’s previous project.
“I feel like with the last rollout [for Free Agent], it was horrendous,” he says. “It was not a good time. A lot of disappointment, an album leaking way before. You know, miscommunication between the label and retailers and websites. It was just horrible. Slaughterhouse came right on time for me. It was just like, ‘Alright, cool. A new way to continue doing what I love in a brand new fresh, breath of air. Alright, cool. I’m still active. Joell Ortiz is still here and still doing what he does.’ This album, House Slippers, is a chance for me to be like, ‘Remember my last outing? Ha!’ [Laughs] ‘Here’s a new offering, guys.’ I didn’t like the way it happened, and I loved the way this is happening. It’s good. It’s like a second chance at a second chance because that was the second album.”
In a September 8 HipHopDX interview with Jay Balfour, Ortiz referred to Free Agent as a “disaster.”
RELATED: Joell Ortiz “House Slippers” Release Date, Cover Art, Tracklist & Stream
Hold up …..He was sober when he okayed that album cover ?
hold up…. Can we find someone who comments on hip hop sites without acting like the two old haters from the balcony of the Muppet Show?
what does droped mean? you mean dropped?
got look on his face on his cover like his girl just dumped him or he just got told she was suckin budden dick in the back the bus
That’s hilarious talking about himself in the third person. Yeah, the album is nice, especially “Get Down” and “Say Yes” show Ortiz is a lyrical warrior. The album cover though has to be one of the worst of all time.
Artist: LAC
Location: Orlando / Palm Beach, FL
IG: LIFEAFTERCRIME
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2S4Isg0bK3WIYbv_7DLrTQ
I thought Free Agent was a solid album, much better than House Slippers. The quality of production on House Slippers is average at best – too much subpar R&B. Fortunately, there’s about five or six good songs.
Gonna pass. I need my rappers drunk and as high as possible.
LMAO
If being sober inspired that cover, he needs to drink again.
the cover is great, very grown and sexy and if you have a foot fetish all the better…. too bad his voice still sucks,the production dogshit and the wannabe r&b numbers worse than my last chlamydia test. maybe if joell spent a fraction of the time reading books that he does lifting weight and jerking off in strip clubs….