The concept of this set was doomed from the beginning. It doesn’t really make sense to promote an album with an album, even when that promo album is only a so-called mixtape, especially when it’s composed of new songs that aren’t included on the album its promoting, because it only distracts from what it’s supposed to focus your attention on. The idea is that, while you have to pay for the official album, this one is On The House, but the official release date of Our House comes just days after this one. If this one is better, it will overshadow it. If it’s worse, it will put a damper on any anticipation the album had going for it. It’s not good promotion either way.

That said, every member of Slaughterhouse is a skillful rapper. Even their weakest link; Joell Ortiz; can be surprisingly impressive at times. He outshines Royce Da 5-9; my pick for the best rapper of the four, though this set, which has him favoring a gay sing-songy flow over a straight one, doesn’t really reflect that; on Truth Or Truth, which comes across as a 14-minute therapy session. Joe Budden also shines there, though he’s missing in action on a few of these songs. The best ones are generally the ones with the best hooks; namely Sucka MCs, Gone and Coming Home; but even the worse ones have at least a few impressive bars scattered here and there.

my rating : 3 of 5

2012