'Very early on, the four of us agreed that Shady would be the best place for the group to be,' Budden says.
By Paul Cantor
Joe Budden
Photo: Johnny Nunez/ WireImage
On the heels of the announcement on Wednesday that Eminem has signed Slaughterhouse to his Shady Records imprint, members of the group are beginning to speak out about the deal. Crooked I has already alluded to Shady giving the group a "bigger stage," and Royce Da 5'9 summed up their collective feelings in two words: "We're excited." And now, in a video interview with rap website Real Talk NY on Thursday, group member Joe Budden weighed in.
"This group was put together for a reason, and we had a lot of things in common," said the Jersey City-bred MC, poised in front of a mixing console in an undisclosed recording studio. "And we were passionate about a lot of things that it just so happened that Eminem [was] just as passionate about."
According to Budden, the deal with Shady Records took "a little over a year." Typically, recording contracts don't take nearly that long to hammer out. He attributed the length of the process to members of Slaughterhouse already being industry veterans with separate careers, and the fact that their 2009 self-titled LP sold well, perhaps giving the group leverage in negotiating their contract.
"We didn't send a demo in," he said. "We was four pretty much established artists that have been around for a little bit so ... we put out an album that did well, that sold 85 percent of what we shipped."
Despite how long the deal took, Budden said Shady was the label Slaughterhouse wanted to align itself with ever since the group was consummated in 2008.
"Very early on, the four of us agreed that Shady would be the best place for the group to be," he said, "before our first album was finished."
In very unspecific terms, Budden mentioned Royce Da 5'9's past relationship with Eminem being a factor in the deal getting done. The Detroit natives collaborated often in their early careers, but had a falling out in the early aughts. Royce famously warred with Eminem's D12 crew on countless tracks over the years, until finally reconciling with Slim Shady in 2008.
"It was way too much sh-- that went into it," Joe said of the Shady signing. "It was very deep."
On camera, visibly weary of talking about what may have slowed the deal down, Budden instead tried to focus on the positive.
"Just the fact that Em is so passionate about the project," he said. "It's one thing to get a record deal, and it's one thing to get a record deal with someone who gets it. And he gets it. So it's something we're all excited about and we can't wait to get in."
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