With his latest EP dropping this past Tuesday (July 7), Detroit veteran Royce da 59 is the lead emcee to kick off an EP series buildup to the anticipated debut of the super group Slaughterhouse.
Each member (Joe Budden, Crooked I, Joell Ortiz, Royce Da 59) will release an EP in the month of July in preparation for the groups self-titled LP on August 11.
As the member with the most released albums (4), Royce revealed this project represents the first time hes had hands-on involvement on an albums marketing strategy.
Its the one Ive been most involved in. Normally in the past I would do a project and hand it over to the label and say ok, yall do your thing, Royce told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive interview. Im very involved with the media campaign of it, and also getting together with the guys and trying to make this work for our solo careers as well as the group. The beauty of it is we all have our respective careers. We dont want to get in a group and just be looked at as group members. Were all sitting on monster sh*t as solo artists. We want to strategically put em up out to where were controlling a part of the music business for a certain amount of time Its a powerful movement.
While fans of their solo work remain excited, there are some who question whether Slaughterhouses debut will just be a collection of battle-heavy, mixtape styled rhymes as opposed to a cohesive album.
To those critics, Royce promises the project is the best artistic achievement the foursome has done in their careers.
We got real records. The album sounds like one of our solo albums with us all over it, Royce explained to AllHipHop.com. Because were a group doesnt mean were gonna go in and sway from the formula any of us would use for our own albums. We were more concerned about making records than doing 13 onslaught Slaughterhouse records, because people already know we can do that. Im telling you, everyone is going to be surprised when they hear it. Its classic and all 4 of us think so. Its the best project that any of us have been a part of. Were real proud of what weve come with.
Yesterday, Wu Tang founding member Inspectah Deck released a venomous diss (House N*gga) aimed at Joe Budden in response to the Jersey emcees brief feud with Method Man.
When asked if the group has reservations about Buddens outspoken nature getting them into unnecessary beefs, Royce affirmed that Joe has the groups full support.
Im going to hold him down [even] if Im uncomfortable with something hes saying. Ill go to him, I wont go to the media and disagree with Joe, Royce clarified. His personality is just stronger than the average persons, thats what makes him special, thats what makes him that character in the group. We let him be who he is, and we just keep a close eye on him, like you probably shouldnt have said that, but dont worry about it were gonna straighten it out. Because hes never said nothing too crazy where someone will want to kill him The real n*ggas, were always gonna squash it [with them].
The full interview will be featured soon on AllHipHop.com