The album features guest appearances from Lee Carr, B.o.B, Mally Stakz, Royce da 5'9", Joe Budden, Crooked I, Sahlance, Maino and Kaydence.

In a March 2012, interview with Montreality, he spoke about the album originally titled Yaowa, saying: "Working alongside these dudes: Crooked I, Joe Budden, Royce, it opened up my eyes to a whole bunch of other things I want to talk about as a solo artist.

I feel like if I told my story a year and a half ago it still would have been ill because I’m one of the dopest, but I just think that it’s so much more wide-spread now that this YAOWA album is going to be received in a way where people are going to learn a lot about the old me and the new me.

[2] On April 7, 2014, Joell Ortiz announced that he had signed a deal with Penalty Entertainment to release his third studio album House Slippers in 2014.

Steven Goldstein of HipHopDX said, "House Slippers is a strong listen, and Joell Ortiz’s redemption story is easy enough to follow without falling victim to platitude.

The radio efforts and the excessive Biggie Smalls interpolations create two hindering extremes, but the majority of the tracks that fall somewhere in the between are worth at least a few rotations.

"[12] David Jeffries of AllMusic said, "Long, purposeful cuts and fine flow for the overall album make this one one of the rapper's best solo efforts.

"[11] Rachel Chesbrough of XXL stated, "The musicality is strong as the instrumentals drip with crossover appeal, and Joell is right in his comfort zone describing a childhood shaped by industry legends.