As of late, Slaughterhouse
has been leading the charge for super-group domination. Chalk it up to
the criminally insane Joe Budden [click to read] or the dark horse Joell Ortiz [click to read], but
the Hip Hop world genuinely cares about what Slaughterhouse has to offer.
Throw in vets like Crooked I [click watch] and Royce Da 5’9 and the mission’s
complete. However for the latter two, this experience is more like a
second wind – a ninth inning if you will. With the Slaughterhouse full-length release due next month, Royce whets the appetite with his Revival
EP to see what sticks. Thankfully they all do.
The four-track digital EP is reminiscent
of the real underground label days, with CDs handed out featuring
one amazing posse cut and three teasers promoting the next artist up
to bat. “Warriors” [click to listen] is that track and the rest are Royce teasers.
The hook-free joint reels in all four super-group members spitting their
ugliest in domino fashion – lining the bars up and knocking them down.
The horn-heavy production takes a mid-’90s feel, but lacks any semblance
of appearing outdated. The remaining tracks feature Royce at his hardest.
We saw some of this new fire
earlier last year with the release of The Album, but there’s
an unspoken confidence beaming from Royce in his rhymes that we haven’t
heard in years (probably since his pre-beef aligning with Dr. Dre and
Eminem). “Count For Nothing” interpolates the “Ten Crack Commandments”
as Royce straight spits with a Slaughterhouse roll call wedged somewhere
in the middle. “Gun Harmonizing” [click to listen] has a slight lag in the beginning
– almost a minute passes with Royce scatting gunshot noises before
actually rapping, but the track is hot enough. “Street Hop 2010”
brings the return of the Indian music sample, but it isn’t properly
utilized throughout the song. Still, the beat is nasty and the lyrics
even nastier.
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While some may find The
Revival EP to be too short to call great, it’s just enough to
want more Royce Da 5’9 in our lives. That alone stands for something,
since quite a few Rap listeners haven’t made that statement in years.
