SLAUGHTERHOUSE (March 2009) | Interview By: Jose Ho-Guanipa

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Interview was conducted in March 2009
 

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Slaughterhouse // Exclusive Video Interview // Dubcnn

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Royce Da 5’ 9: It’s your man Royce 5 9 one quarter of the Slaughterhouse machine. Right now you checkin’ out Dubcnn. Hip-hop my n-gga, hip-hop. Westside; one.


Dubcnn: What’s up y’all it’s Jose with Dubcnn, I’m here with one half of the group Slaughterhouse.

Crooked I: Two quarters, call us motherf-ckin’ Curtis Jackson, 50 Cent. There’s two quarters of the Slaugher.


Dubcnn: We at the Paid Dues Festival in San Bernandino, California and you know the show was off the hook, everybody loved it and the crowd was feelin’ ya. So it’s your first time on the West Coast, how have the vibes at the shows been so far?

Crooked: Vibes been good, and as we doin’ this sh-t I need to say one thing, “Street Hop” is in stores soon.

Royce: July 7th.

Crooked I: Is that 7/7? Oh my God, that’s lucky, that’s lucky sh-t.” Street Hop” go get it. I’mma tell you this, all my fans, if you are a fan of what I do, please go and get this man’s album, because it’s the illest album I’ve heard since probably “Ready to Die”.


Dubcnn: That’s sayin’ a lot.

Royce: That’s sayin’ a lot comin’ from him.


Dubcnn: That’s right.

Crooked I: I don’t be lyin’ just because I’m on camera. I don’t gotta lie about that sh-t. I motherf-ckin’ pulled up playing his sh-t. Y’all can’t hear it yet because ya gotta go buy it. Haha.


Dubcnn: So when’s that droppin’?

Royce: July 7th.


Dubcnn: When do you guys think the Slaughterhouse stuff’s gonna be comin’ out, some official sh-t?

Royce: It’d be before June, it’s definitely gonna be done in April. We gonna start out with an EP. Something that we can have physical for the fans to actually touch during the Rock the Bells experience. We plan on touring all summer, spending a lot of time around each other, just bonding. Making the shows get better and better with each show. Just being the machine that we are.

Crooked I: Yeah ‘cause like he said, machine; we not a rap group. What are we?

Royce: We a finely tuned, well-oiled, highly efficient machine, formed by four components of verse manufacturing. It’s an assembly line in the studio, it’s a revolving door.


Dubcnn: So are you guys still working on stuff in the studio, are you doing recording still?

Royce: Our job never stops.

Crooked I: We will always work on music because this is our life, this is what we love doing. We will always work on music. The music will be infinite, we just need the fans to do the easiest job ever, listen.


Dubcnn: So speakin’ on that, when you four are in the studio, what does it feel like?

Crooked I: I don’t like rappin’ in the studio with this dude.

Royce: Whatever.

Crooked I: You know why? ‘Cause he say sh-t that’s hard for me to top, so then I just say f-ck it, I’m not gonna top the n-gga, I’mma just say what I say, you know what I mean? Hahaha.

Royce; And I’m off in the corner feelin’ the same way about him. It’s the same exact, Dom said it perfectly, my sentiments exactly. That’s how I feel when I’m in the studio with him, and Joey, and Ortiz. All of us feel the same way. We be in there, the competitive spirit is there, you never know who gon’ come out on top, you never know.

Crooked I: When they go in the booth I be like, damn, don’t say nothin’ that I can’t think of. And then they say something I can’t think of.

Royce: I get nervous when they get in the both.

Crooked I: I be like, “Damn, why that n-gga say that? I should’ve thought of that shit.” Anyways it is what it is, next question, next question.


Dubcnn: You guys are four big MCs on your own, together are there ever any ego clashes or disagreements?

Royce: Respect. We all have our respective egos but respect always supersedes that ego.

Crooked I: Exactly.

Royce: If you an assassin, and you in the presence of a well-known assassin, how are you gonna treat that man? You gonna treat him like an assassin, you not gonna treat him like no regular person.

Crooked I: I play my position. I know that Royce is a shooter on the roof. I know that Joey, he gon’ ride by you like rrrrach! Joel, he gon’ motherf-ckin’ drop anthrax in your drink. I know this! I play my position like, “Yo, these n-ggas are killers on the microphone.” So what I gotta do, I gotta figure out how I’m gonna snipe somebody. Because these dudes are, look dawg, I’mma be real with you, before we formed Slaughterhouse, I was thinking to myself, this n-gga Royce, Joey, Joel, these n-ggas are a problem for me, you know what I mean? Like, “Yo these dudes are a problem.” I’m like damn, I gotta step my sh-t up, make sure. Next day we formed that sh-t.

Royce; Same here, I feel Iike I befriended the only three n-ggas that could have potentially posed a threat to me lyrically.

Crooked I: That’s exactly what I was trying to say.

Royce: I’m a firm believer if you not with me, you against me. I’m a very territorial confrontational MC. If you pose a threat to me I just might come and get you, especially if you ain’t down to work. When I befriended these n-ggas it was a big monkey off my back because I felt like I cornered the market by becoming allies with these men. I never would have before looked to have a problem with any of these MCs that’s with me because I know they pose a direct threat to me. And I’m like George Bush when it come to that, I’m comin’ to get the oil, I’m comin’ to get the oil baby.

Crooked: George Bush the Budden. And we gonna be executives at Halliburton, hahaha.


Dubcnn: You guys first linked up when you did Joe’s song. Do you guys kick it outside of work and the studio? Is that how you guys kind of got together?

Royce: Hell yea, I came here a couple days early just to f-ck with Crooked, he came to Detroit and f-ck with me. That’s what we do. It’s like, shit.

Crooked: Look Royce been here since Wednesday, our first show was Friday and Saturday. We been going crazy in Hollywood, some of y’all saw us. Some dudes wanna act crazy with the handshake shit and get out the club, y’all know who y’all are. Don’t do that, don’t do that, don’t f-ckin’ do that. But, anyway, that’s another story. Came out here, we kicked it, we had fun, and we gonna have more fun before he go. Because this dude right here, he holds me down in Detroit, and New York, that’s the cold part about it.

Royce: You already know. We ain’t been out here this long for no reason. We got strength everywhere, you know what I’m sayin’? It’s a direct descendent of just being a real n-gga and f-ckin’ with real n-ggas. I’m out here with Crook. Let me just go on the record and say I’m a paranoid n-gga, ‘cause I’m from the D and I feel so safe. And I jumped off the plane with just me and Kino, just me and my partner. I didn’t bring nobody with me that’s gonna do nothin’ crazy. So I stepped off the plane and I called this man. He came and got me from the airport, and I’ve been feelin’ safe ever since.

Crooked: We got goons, hahaha!

Royce: He gonna put the right n-ggas with us. Let me just say, I feel so powerful right now. I feel like all I gotta do is make a phone call and anything happen in any market. Not saying that we promotin’ violence or nothin’ like that, but this game is a full contact sport, you never know what you gonna run into, you never know what’s gonna be said about you. A lot of these n-ggas is real loose with the mouth when it come to sayin’ other things about other artists. I’m talking about “internet rappers”, which I guess we fall in that category for now. I just want to let n-ggas know I’m not buyin; it. Say my name I’m gon’ f-ck you up.

Crooked: Church.

Royce; I don't know about Joey or nobody else. Say my name I’m gonna f-ck you. I don’t give a f-ck who you is. I got a lot of power, please don’t play with my power. Like my big homie Busta said, “Respect our conglomerate,” ‘cause we got one.

Crooked: See the thing is you can’t abuse power, you know what I mean? I go easy on motherf-ckers because I don’t want to abuse my power. If a motherf-cker step on my shoe I swear to God they will die that night, but I don’t want to abuse my power. It’s like, “Yo he stepped on my shoe, he didn’t apologize, I’mma let him roll.” But I let him roll. My dudes will f-ckin’ go bananas. And that’s what he said, it’s like, “Respect us homie.”That’s it. It’s not about being tough, it ain’t about being extra’d out or shit, it’s about being grown men homie. And we are grown men. Don’t even try to go there. You n-ggas startin’ to talk about how y’all n-ggas is internet rappers, let me tell you something, on my life, if we catch you n-ggas on the West Coast saying anything about Slaughterhouse, Royce, Joey, Joell, n-gga if you say anything, any motherf-ckin’ thing. We’ll see, well see. Y’all n-ggas be on YouTube with the pumpkin face, I swear to God, I swear to God. And that’s lucky, that’s lucky. If you on YouTube with the pumpkin face and you still breathing with your heart and lungs, that’s lucky. If you get murk’d I don’t know nothin’ about it, ‘cause that’s not what we do. But we will come to the funeral and throw black roses on your shit. That’s just what it is.

Royce: that’s some MC shit right there, I’m stealin’ that line.


Dubcnn: So a little while ago there were some rumors about you being in a situation where you were hurt. Were you guys up on that, in the loop, were they concerned? Did Crooked call you up to say, “Nah it’s bullsh-t”?

Royce: Listen man, I’m in the loop with everything Crooked do. I hear rumors just like anybody else, you know what I’m sayin’? But I guarantee you that same day I knew what was good with my man because I wasn’t gon’ stop until I knew what was good with my man. If me and Joey was about to get on a plane, it just so happened that we heard what we needed to hear and that was it, and I don’t even have to go all off into that.

Crooked: It is what it is. And I wanna thank everyone who got any respect or love for me, you know what I mean, trying to contact me after that. I just want to thank ‘em. But other than that, I’m from Long Beach, that’s all I gotta say. That shit ain’t nothin’, that ain’t nothin’, that’s nothin’, that’s really nothin’, you know what I mean, that’s nothin’ homie. A lot of people pay attention to that shit because a certain whatever happened online. But that wasn’t the first time, but I hope it’s the last time, I pray to God, you know what I mean. That ain’t nothin’, don’t even worry about that.


Dubcnn: Slaughterhouse kind of came up spontaneously. Do you think this is an in the moment thing or is this gonna be long term?

Royce: It’s gonna be long term.

Crooked: You’re dealing with a four-headed monster.

Royce: We f-ck with each other on all levels so it’s long term.

Crooked: It’s long term. Like I said, finding real dudes like Royce in this industry, in this industry, it’s like a needle in a haystack. It’s full of... I ain’t gon’ say that, I’m not gon’ say some sh-t.


Dubcnn: Do you think you’ll have trouble juggling everyone’s careers and solo stuff?

Royce: Not at all. We out there together. Whoever’s album is coming out next is who we promoting as a group. We just keep doing it like that; it’s like a piggyback.


Dubcnn: What are y’all trying to accomplish with Slaughterhouse in terms of hip-hop?

Royce: Trying to change the world. That’s it, that’s the only way I can put it. We trying to change the world, we not accepting nothin’ regular, we not accepting nothin’ under greatness. We striving for greatness. We the best, we the best at what we do and we comin’ together, four components that form a highly efficient, like I always say, highly efficient well-trained machine.


Dubcnn: How do you think hip-hop can bring some lyricism back to the mainstream?

Royce; We gon’ bring it back. We gon’ get people paying attention. We’ve accomplished so much over a five-month span it’s only right. I think, speaking from a fan’s standpoint, we need four people whose swag is on Mars, who can’t think nothin’ but outside the box. We don’t think like everybody else think, we on some other sh-t, we just different. When you got four people like that together that’s thinking on that level, how can you not change hip-hop?

Crooked: Can I say something real quick? Look at this, peep that out. You already know I’m on that motherf-cker, “From the Blood Pumper”, the heart, you feel me? I’m on there, Tech N9ne’s on there, Siccmade’s on there. Y’all need to go fuck with this motherfuckin’ CD right here, you feel me? Die Nasty. I don’t want nobody to die nasty, but if they have to…


Dubcnn: I appreciate your time, thanks for your time.

Royce: Shout out to Die Nasty, you know what it is, real recognize real. Real hip-hop is right here. Shout out my man Tech N9ne, Guerilla Union, Murs, everybody that made this shit possible. It’s a blessing to be here. Slaughterhouse is a machine, one.