Joell Ortiz: “If I Battle, I Wouldn’t Lose”

Slaughterhouse emcee Joell Ortiz again addressed the topic of jumping into the battle arena in a newly released interview with VladTV.

Following the Eminem and Slaughterhouse-backed “Total Slaughter” event in July, the Brooklyn rapper has been linked repeatedly to talk about an appearance in the battle ring.

“They’re trying to get me in the ring,” Joell Ortiz explains. “They’re trying. More than just ‘Total Slaughter.’ All [of] these [leagues]. I don’t know why they want me in there, there’s battlers that do that … I get it. I get why they want me in there. I’m still thinking about it. It wouldn’t be for anything else other than I’d wanna do it, though. One of the leagues recently called me and I was like, ‘Don’t throw money at me.’ I’m not gonna do it for that. If I do it, I’m probably still gonna want that money but that won’t be why. It’ll be for me to once again conquer something. It would be for me.”

When asked who he would like to battle, Joell Ortiz says that he’d like it to be against another industry artist.

“See, that’s another thing too. I kind of feel like, ‘Why can’t I go against somebody who they feel is a signed artist that’s dope too?’ Not Em [laughs]. Let me think about somebody else [laughs],” Joell Ortiz says. “I don’t know, man. I really, really don’t have anybody off the top of my mind that I’d love to battle. But I would love for another signed artist to get in there and strip all the glamor and glitz and just bar out.”

Reiterating previous statements, Joell Ortiz says: “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: if I battle, I wouldn’t lose. I’m not saying it for hype or anything [but] I wouldn’t lose.”

Lastly, the House Slippers artist explained the reasons why he believes fellow Slaughterhouse artist Joe Budden lost to Hollow Da Don earlier this year.

Check out the lyrics to that battle here, and let us know your thoughts.

“I thought Joe lost,” Joell Ortiz says. “He lost the battle. Joe lost the battle. What I mean by that is: Joe said better things, but he was performing the rhyme in my opinion. I knew where the downfall was. It was the fact that it was a microphone. See we live on the road, you understand? We tour all the time. We’re performers. We put on shows. The freedom of your hands in a battle I feel like is very important because [it’s] how you express and [how] you deliver. When you can only free one hand and then put a mic in the hand of someone who is on stage all the time, sub-consciously he started performing. He said better things, but he wasn’t battling. And that’s why I feel like they gave the battle to [Hollow Da Don], that along with the third round [and] the dropping of the mic.”

Check out Joell Ortiz’ full interview with VladTV below:

Would you want to see Joell Ortiz battle? If so, against who? Let us know in the comments section.