Slaughterhouse Take Over Highline Ballroom in NYC

Earlier this year, the hip-hop supergroup Slaughterhouse declared themselves "The Illest," dropping a so-titled track previewing their upcoming sophomore album. Tuesday night (Dec. 20) at New York City's Highline Ballroom, the four MCs backed up their studio swagger, performing the song live for the first time at a Rap Radar-sponsored show.

The crew -- Crooked I, Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5'9" -- also reprised their much-loved BET Shady 2.0 Cypher, and both joints had fans waving their arms and shouting back key lines. Royce's famous shout-out to a pair of curvy pop stars -- "Hi, Rihanna ... is Nicki living with you?" -- earned a particularly loud response.

In a killer freestyle, captured in the video below, Crooked I drew copious oohs and ahhs, particularly when he made medical metaphors.

"I feeling like an organ donor -- so many people wanting to get a piece of me," he rapped at one point.

Slaughterhouse's forthcoming album -- their first since signing with Eminem's Shady imprint -- is due out in 2012.