Slaughterhouse - Welcome To Our House

Since Wu-Tang established the idea that a single artist could get various group and solo deals, artists have formed any number of ad hoc ensembles (Random Axe, LikNuts, Wu-Block) to keep the lights on in their respective overpriced domiciles. Eminem's personal version thereof is Slaughterhouse, a Voltron-esque four man collective comprised of the great Joell Ortiz from Brooklyn, with Joe Budden from Jersey, West Coast almost-ran Crooked I and longtime Em crony Royce the 5'9".

While Ortiz is definitely the sharpest MC here and  no one on the team is a straight loser, it is fairly staggering how watered-down and unremarkable Welcome To Our House is. Eminem executive produced this for his Shady imprint and seems to be the guy we should blame for the thick cross-overcentric overproduction that bogs down most, if not all of the twenty tracks here. New school jockers might be intrigued by the presence of Cee-lo and/or B.O.B., but even after a couple run-throughs it's really tough to even remember a standout Ortiz verse at present. One would think that there would be at least one street banger thrown into the mix to placate the masses, but if there is one here, I've yet to uncover it.

Unless the Slaughterhouse have signed one hell of a deal, I can't see this unit having too much in the way of legs. I wish all the individual members the best in what is hopefully a more distinctive solo career.

R