Joell Ortiz greets me in Brooklyn on a hot summer day donning a much slimmer physique, a smile and of course, his house slippers. It symbolizes not only the title of his third solo album but his state of mind, as he is undoubtedly at home in his music and himself. It’s been awhile since the Brooklyn native put out a solo project. He instead, has been busy focusing on being one quarter of Slaughterhouse. But as their recent tour wrapped, Joell found he had some time on his hands and a lot on his mind. He took to his pen to express what has changed over the last five years. ‘LLERO caught up with Joell Ortiz on the heels of the House Slippers release to find out why being Puerto Rican was his biggest obstacle as a rapper, what he still feels he has to prove as an artist and some advice for artists new to the game.
‘LL: Tell me about the new album, House Slippers. What can listeners expect?
Well I’ve grown a lot; I made some changes in my life. I have stopped drinking for the past two years, stopped smoking cigarettes and got on this health kick, trying to live a healthier life. That lifestyle came through my pen when I was approaching this album. So, you know you get more mature records this time around. I still have that raunchy, hood effect to me because that’s what shaped me as a person – that won’t leave. But I think both my day one fans and new fans will learn some things about me. You’ll find out a little more about Joell. There are records on there where I’m an adult. You’ll find out I’m a father and deal with real life situations as opposed to me thinking about it as a conceptual record. It’s a really introspective album but at the same time it doesn’t lose its pure effect – pure, raw me.
‘LL: It’s been awhile since you put out a solo project, you’ve been busy doing a lot with Slaughterhouse. Why now?
I’ve been doing a lot with Slaughterhouse and not enough of me. I’ve got a lot I want to get off my chest. The reason Slaughterhouse blew up is because of who we all are individually and when I say who I mean Joe Budden, Crooked I, Royce and myself. I miss approaching a record the way I would approach a record. I miss being all of a record instead of a piece, or a quarter or just an element – not to sound selfish. I just miss doing me. We had just come off the road from Total Slaughter and our next album is done already. I was just sitting around with beats and a pen and I was like I gotta talk about some things. It just went hand in hand. We sat with Neil Levine and he’s a fan and it was a good marriage. It happened organically. Everything that is going to happen from it will be organic.
‘LL: Speaking of Slaughterhouse, you seem to be very different from everyone else – you have a street element to you, they don’t. The brand of Slaughterhouse is very dark and whereas you can be funny and joke around a lot in your music. Do you ever think the Slaughterhouse brand and your personal brand conflict with each other?
No, I don’t think so. The beauty of Slaughterhouse is that it works because of everything we all bring to it. I think when Slaughterhouse fans expect to hear these things that you just mentioned when it’s Joell’s turn. Like maybe a funny reference, a street reference because I come directly from the street, a Puerto Rican line that might have them wondering – that’s what I bring to it when it’s my turn. I don’t think it conflicts I just add my element. You know I listen to these guys when we are all recording and they all amaze me on their approach. They are some of the best rappers hands down that Hip Hop has ever seen in my opinion. So, I learn a lot from them flow wise, cadence wise. I’m sure my humor has influenced a couple of their rhymes. Maybe my raw, street approach has also come off in one or two of their things so it’s like we feed off each other.
‘LL: So, you don’t think being a part of Slaughterhouse alienates any of your core fans?
No, no, no. Cause my core fans are like hard core. They are happy to hear me. They’ll skip the whole song and just listen to me, not to be like that but it is what it is. I love them, they’ve been here since day one and they are very honest. I don’t have any yes-man fans. They’ll be like, “Yo, that was weak.” You know I read comments and they’re like, “Please man just give us another solo album, I been rocking with you with Slaughter and all that but we really just want to hear you have a solo project” and I am happy to give them that. It’s been a long time.
‘LL: Wow you really listen and pay attention to what the fans say then…
Oh yeah, the fans own me. Fans if you’re listening, you did a good job. Thanks! [laughs]
‘LL: Being a Latino Hip Hop artist do you face more challenges getting a Latino fan base with Reggaeton out now? Do you feel like you have to compete with that genre?
No, not at all. You have to stay in your lane and do what you do and do it to the best of your ability. That’s the advice.
My career was an uphill battle because I was Puerto Rican. From early on I was getting calls from only Latin rap venues. Or I was reading comments like, “Oh he’s nice for a Puerto Rican. Like really? When did Hip Hop take on a color? I thought it was all about sound.”
So, it was a little discouraging in the beginning but it was that same invisible wall that they had up that made me sharpen myself. I’ve noticed that all you gotta do is make records that are honest and people that can relate to the truth will support it. I’ve been fortunate enough to have true supporters really get behind this record. For instance, B.o.B. hopped on it like nothing. As soon as I sent it over to him he was like, “Yo this is crazy, I’m on it.” It all happened naturally. It’s been a long time coming since I had one of those records that had the potential to go, but it felt good.
‘LL: I get a sense that you still feel like you have something to prove – not necessarily in the mainstream success way – but in some way.
Well you know, even though the biggest misconception is that underground artists aren’t successful, I have been extremely successful. I’ve seen all parts of the world, I take care of my entire family doing what I love to do and that’s only music. But they – and when I say they I mean the masses – they think you can’t make that [hit] record. They say things like “Even if he is making money, he still wants to make a hit. Can he make a hit record?” There are so many other things that go into it besides the music like timing, radio of course, support from a lot of mainstream entities. There is a lot that goes into play.
‘LL: Do you think coming out the gate being such a strong lyricist and setting the bar so high is a gift or a curse?
No, I think it’s all a gift. It’s a curse if you give up. That gift will make what we just talked about two questions ago harder. Because they know you are up here [lyrically], so they are like yeah I know he could make it to radio but that’s not what we want you for. So, it just makes the process much longer. It’s all a gift. Because then there are people that make hits and still want to be known for lyricism – like no I’m not just a hit guy I can rap well, too! At the end of the day when you remove the music, the labels, the business and everything else, it’s just rhymes. Nobody wants to be told, “You don’t really rhyme that well though.”
‘LL: What would be people be surprised to learn about you on social media that they wouldn’t get from your music?
I’m pretty transparent in my music. If you look at my Instagram it’s not gonna be a drop-top Ferrari or anything like that, because I’m not like that. That’s not the person I am. You might see pics of me wrestling with my kids. You gotta just follow me to see, because I am so sporadic. One day might be in the studio then another might be on the top of Kingda Ka [Six Flags] — like what am I doing? I’m just human all day every day. I think sometimes that can be a gift and a curse.
‘LL: Yes, I’ve heard that come up in lots of conversations about you, like he’s so regular, I don’t get what his “thing” is. What’s his brand? What do you say to that?
They gravitate more towards gimmick. I don’t get that and I’m not gonna be that. What do you do when your “gimmick” is that you rap well? That’s mine. What is Joell known for? I rap well. Some people are known for smoking weed and that’s what they do, some drink and so when they perform everyone takes a shot, some are just funny ass dudes. So, they are like well what is Joell known for? That’s ni**a’s nice. That’s all I got.
‘LL: What do you want people to really take away from House Slippers?
House Slippers is my third album; it’s my favorite album because of the person I became. It’s the clearest album because of the life changes I made. It’s the first time I ever locked in with executive producers like The Heatmakerz, and worked with Illmind – people that make great music to match what I’m talking about. And this is not to take away from anyone who has been there and worked with me in the past, thank you everyone. There are really good songs on this album. The album is well put together.
‘LL: Do you have any advice for up-and-coming artists?
Just do everything! What I mean by that is stay in the studio as much as possible. When you are tired push yourself. If you meet people smile, be happy that they are even interested in meeting you. If somebody hollers at you and says, “Hey, I got a mix tape,” don’t try to figure out if he has 100 followers or 100,000, just do it. Because you are no one in this game until you are someone. Then as fast as you became someone you can be no one again. So, always just remember you don’t know what anyone could be or what they will, but you can control you. You can always have people say, “Man I like that guy, he’s a workhorse.” You only make first impressions once. Just focus on being the best artist you can be.
‘LL: After a decade in the game what’s your legacy?
When it’s all said and done and they mention Joell Ortiz in a Hip Hop setting, I just don’t want anybody in the room to be able to be like “meh.” I want it to be unanimous, like that dude was serious. There are only a handful of people that get the unanimous vote, I want the unanimous vote.
House Slippers is set to release on September 16th via Penalty Entertainment. Follow Joell Ortiz on Instagram and Twitter: @JoellOrtiz.