Joell Ortiz is among the best emcees and lyricists in all of Hip-Hop right now and has been for nearly a decade or at the very least, the last half decade.
Having a stellar career spanning well over a decade now, the Brooklyn native has been scorching mics with his stellar emceeing and lyrically Grade A prowess long before Slaughterhouse thrust him into the mainstream spotlight. The emcee being signed by such legendary emcees and producers over the years ranging from Dr. Dre to Eminem. Whether it first being signed to Dre’s historic Aftermath Entertainment as a solo artist around 2007, or to Em’s own historic label, Shady Records, as a quarter of the now defunct Slaughterhouse.
The Brooklyn-bred emcee has put out several solo, as well as collaborative albums in his over decade plus since first being signed to Aftermath. Though his work with Slaughterhouse is what he’s known most for, Ortiz, has always been a lyrical monster on the mic. Whether it’s solo or with such greats as Em, Big Daddy Kane, Royce Da 5’9″, KXNG CROOKED, or over production from the likes of DJ Premier, Just Blaze, The Heatmakerz, Apollo Brown and Nottz, just to name a few. Ortiz never takes a bar off.
He may not get the awards recognition he truly should have and some of his peers have gotten over the years. But critics and a majority of his peers, as well as most importantly his fans, have almost always given Ortiz his just due for his work stellar work of scorching mics over the years. The talented wordsmith recently putting out his latest solo album, Monday, just a few weeks ago and has not only wowed fans and critics alike, but Vevo as well.
So it should be no surprise that Ortiz is the latest to be apart of Vevo’s latest new original live series, Ctrl. Both Vevo and the talented and always very consciously dope wordsmith debuting/premiering earlier today, the very lyrically stellar and amazing, Ctrl Live Session, performance of one of the most lyrically standout tracks from the album, Captain. Which truly shows Ortiz in his essence of griping/controlling the mic in the booth and emceeing, like a true emcee on the mic.