The history between Lupe Fiasco and Joe Budden is riddled with scathing words and heated exchanges, but when Lupe joked that he would take over the podcast host’s vacant Slaughterhouse spot, hip hop fans were divided. Many who are hoping for another Slaughterhouse project seemed eager to entertain such a possibility, while others couldn’t see anyone taking Budden’s place. Royce Da 5’9″ was recently questioned about Lupe’s suggestion, and we’ll let you guess what side he’s on.

Without hesitation, Royce said, “It will never happen.” He added, “Nobody can replace Joe. Nobody can replace anybody from Slaughterhouse. If Lupe was to take Joe’s spot and it’d be me, Lupe, Joell, and Krook, then it’d just be a different group. It wouldn’t be Slaughterhouse. It would have to be called something else and that’s certainly not taking anything away from Lupe. If anything, that’s elevating Lupe to where he should be. He’s no group replacement guy. He’s great. He’s not just an emcee, he’s a master.“

The differing personality traits, rap styles, and characteristics make it impossible for one artist to fill the spot of another. Royce was asked if Lupe could “spar lyrically with Joe” and he answered, “Absolutely.” However, he did say, “It’s more to it than that. It’s not just lyrically what makes Slaughterhouse click. It’s something about the dynamic of us four people. There’s even still things about that dynamic that people are drawn to that I still haven’t figured out and I’m one of the people who was instrumental in pushing for us to be a group... It’s something about us four that people just like.”

Check out Royce Da 5’9″‘s clip with HipHopDX below and see what else he had to say about Slaughterhouse’s magnetism.