Detroit rap group Slum Village deserves a lot of credit for still going strong all these later. We say this because after 9 long years without a new album, they have made quite a triumphant return. This past weekend, they came through with an exhilarating fusion of jazz, disco, and rap called F.U.N. Of course, the late great J Dilla is not around for this incredible release, but just know that he would be thrilled to be a part of this. T3 and rapper/producer Young RJ did an incredible job with this offering, and it is going to remain in rotation throughout the year for us.
In the press release, T3 explained where the inspiration for this project stemmed from. “[It] began with collecting old Disco records.” Additionally, RJ felt like some sort of reset was in order. “[We] wanted to just try something new, so we focused on making Disco-inspired music.” One of the songs that we feel capitalized on that very well is “So Superb.”
For this cut, Slum Village worked with two of their many collaborators for this tape, Cordae and Earlly Mac. Everyone involved here is flowing with purpose and the instrumental is extremely potent to the ears. The jingly elements paired with drums puts you in the happiest of moods. Be sure to check out the track with the link above.
What are your thoughts on this brand-new song “So Superb” by Slum Village, Earlly Mac, and Cordae? Where do you rank this record amongst the rest of them and why? Will this fly under the radar as an album of the year contender? Who had the stronger performance on the track? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Slum Village, Cordae, and Earlly Mac. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on in the music world.
It has been a minute since we have checked back in with one of the most underrated hip-hop collectives, Slum Village. The Detroit-based group is still together all these decades later, but it has been quite some time since their last record. In fact, four years have gone by since Dirty District, Vol. 1 (Instrumentals). However, it has been even longer since we had heard an album with vocals on it. You would have to go back to 2019’s Fantastic 2020, Vol. 2. But nonetheless, we have new Slum Village material to sink our teeth into with F.U.N.
The former trio of J Dilla, Baatin, and founder T3, now shrunken down to the latter and producer YOUNG RJ, are continuing to carry on the group’s legacy. It is safe to say that they have it all under control. F.U.N. is a groovy, jazzy, and funky listen from front to back. Also making this an enjoyable time are the wide variety of features.
According to HipHopDX, the mission for Slum Village was to be bold and just have fun (pun intended) with this record. “Slum is still here. We’re still relevant and we’re still trying to push the envelope. Sometimes people put too many rules on music, and without sounding cliche, we wanted to just have fun with [this album]. So, in three words: Fuck U N****s,” T3 said.
What are your thoughts on this brand-new album F.U.N. by Slum Village? Which track is the best out the bunch? Who had the best feature appearance and why? Where do you rank this project amongst the rest of their discography? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Slum Village. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on in the music world.
F.U.N. Tracklist:
Welcome with Brittney Carter
All Live with Abstract Orchestra
All Live Pt. 2 with Sango, Phat Kat, and Daru Jones
As Slum Village pushes through the second half of their second month-long Europe tour in the past year, T3 and Young RJ unveiled the tracklist, cover art, and official May 3rd release date for their forthcoming album F.U.N in an Instagram post today (April 16). With guest features from Robert Glasper, Cordae, Eric Roberson, Larry June, Sango, and many others, F.U.N will serve as the first new Slum Village album since 2015’s critically acclaimed Yes!.
F.U.N will be available on all major digital streaming platforms via Ne’Astra Music / Virgin Music Group on Friday, May 3rd. Pre-order/save the album here.
Following their 28 date FUN Since 92 Tour, Slum Village will join SZA and Jack Harlow in Louisville, Kentucky for the Gazebo Festival next month. The duo will also join Rakim and Talib Kweli for Panic In La on May 15.
It’s been nearly a decade since the release of Slum Village’s last proper full-length album. 2015’s critically acclaimed Yes! further cemented T3 and Young RJ‘s ability to effectively carry on the legacy of the seminal rap group, retaining its essence while evolving its sound with fresh new energy. Since then, the two have gone on to pursue solo endeavors. However, with last year’s sold out tour in Europe, and the release of the Larry June and The Dramatics-assisted “Just Like You“, it was revealed that the duo was back in the lab together working on a new Slum Village album. With the release of the smoothed-out, Earlly Mac-assisted “Request” at the top of 2024, the new album’s title, FUN, was revealed. Now, Slum Village taps legendary soul singer/songwriter Eric Roberson, and keyboardist Elijah Fox for a soulful new jam, “Factor”, and reveals that FUN will release via Ne’Astra Music/Virgin Music Group on April 19.
Slum Village is set to return to Europe for the FUN Since 92 Tour, kicking off on April 4 in Bologna, Italy.Following their 28 tour dates in Europe, T3 and Young RJ will join SZA and Jack Harlow in Louisville, Kentucky for the Gazebo Festival in May.
On this date in 2001, Slum Village producer Jay Dee changed his name to J Dilla and released his debut solo album entitled Welcome 2 Detroit. The 16 track BBE distributed LP featured otherwise unknown artists from Dilla’s hometown such as Elzhi and Phat Kat among others.
Although it is a solo album, on several cuts, such as the first single “Pause”, Dilla takes a backseat and lets others command the mic. Dilla also sings the lead vocals on his cover of Donald Byrd’s “Think Twice”, which also has Motown crooner Dwele playing the keyboard and singing background vocals.
Salute to the late beat making icon J Dilla and the rest of his BBE family for bringing Hip Hop such an unforgettable classic!
The boom of AI-generated music has caused a divide across the industry. While superstars like Drake and Bad Bunny have rejected its rise in popularity. The Recording Academy has embraced the new recording technology. Now, Earthgang is set to show their support for the latest creative wave.
Come Friday, February 23, fans will learn just how far AI can push the boundaries of music thanks to Earthgang’s forthcoming project, Robophobia. In a post on the group’s official Instagram page, Earthgang unveiled the futuristic artwork. This isn’t by any means Earthgang’s first blending technology and music. Earthgang’s 2023 EP EarthGang vs. The Algorithm: RIP Human Art leaned into these concepts.
To give supporters a peek into their minds, the duo shared a note detailing the inspiration behind the upcoming release. “‘Robophobia’ is a sonic dive into a new terrain for [us],” they wrote. “We [will] explore new soundscapes and topics on imperfections, connections, and projections within humanity’s relationship with each other and AI.”
Today (February 19), Earthgang shared the official video for their single, “Blacklight” with Spillage Village, to tease what’s to come. Watch the visual above.
Robophobia is out on 2/23 via Dreamville Records. Find more information here.
Earthgang is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
J Dilla will forever go down in history as one of the greatest producers of all time.
On Saturday, February 10th, Hip-Hop fans from all over the city of Los Angeles conjoined to celebrate the life of J Dilla. In downtown Los Angeles, the event was officially deemed Dilla Day L.A., with attendees given the rare opportunity to meet J. Dilla’s mom, Ma Dukes. February 10th also serves as the exact date J Dilla passed 50 years back, suffering from cardiac arrest.
The headliners for the evening include Slum Village, the Detroit Hip-Hop group that emerged in the underground Hip-Hop scene in the 1990s, with J Dilla being a founding member. To date, the album Fantastic, Vol. 2 is revered as one of the top Hip-Hop albums, with guest appearances from Busta Rhymes, Common, D’Angelo, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Pete Rock, Kurupt, and Q-Tip.
The Source spoke with T3 and Young RJ of Slum Village to discuss the legacy of J Dilla, and Kanye West charging $90K for the “Selfish” beat with an unknown John Legend at the time.
What does it mean to be celebrating Dilla Day 2024?
T3: It’s fantastic for us, we’re always happy to rep Dilla. That’s my mans.
Young RJ: If you really want to rep him, you need to go to the strip club bro. Get you some chicken wings, make some music.
T3: You have to see a woman slide down a pole.
Young RJ:Fasho, greasy though. [laughs]
T3: Dilla was about that life, he really was. That was the inspiration of a lot of beats.
Young RJ: For sure. Don’t the beats feel sexy? It’s a vibe.
What was it like meeting Dilla in high school?
T3: When I met Dilla in high school, he was an introvert at that time. This is funny. He was really really skinny, like skinnier. I was skinny too, we was all skinny at the same time. But he used to wear layers of different clothes. He didn’t want to be skinny. He used to wear these layers and layers of clothes, and he was very introverted. I had to hear about him when a friend said “this guy got crazy beats!” We went to the house, we checked it out and the beats was insane. It was dope, and he was so quiet. He didn’t say no words.
Young RJ: What was the haircut though?
T3: The haircut was a fade. It was a little bald fade.
What was the moment y’all knew you had something?
T3: When we started recording records. After that one encounter, we really didn’t link after that. We linked later. We had this big thing in my grandma’s basement where we invited all the dopest rappers, DJs, MCs. We figured out me him, and Baatin, we was the best. After that, we went to Mo Master Studio. It was the cheapest studio you can go to. It was $30 an hour, which was cheap for a studio. We started recording joints, that’s when we knew we had something. At the time, we was Ssenepod. We weren’t even Slum Village at the time.
What do you most miss about J Dilla?
Young RJ: The phone call after you play him something or put something in the mailbox, because he’d say “just drop it in the mailbox J, and I’ma hit you.” You drop in the mailbox and he calls you, you get that voicemail like “awww, man you done came with some shit. That’s some shit right there. I’ma knock it out, I’ll have it to you in a week.” Damn! One of the GOATs all time is fucking with it? That’s it.
T3: That is the greatest feeling. I used to make beats, he used to leave me in the basement of his house and go to sleep while I’m in the basement. [laughs] I knew if he said something the next day, I have some shit. If he says “3, okay! Now you cooking. Alright.” ‘Cause obviously anything he made was incredible.”
Dilla’s 50th Birthday just passed. Where would he fit in today’s landscape of Hip-Hop?
T3: Dilla is always cutting edge.
Young RJ: He is the landscape, still.
T3: He is the landscape. He never wants to do what everybody is doing. That was never his goal. Even if he was here now, God rest his soul, he’d be trying to do the next.
Can you bring us back to the creation of “Selfish” with Kanye West and J Dilla?
T3: [laughs] J was actually there. J, tell us your perspective.
Young RJ: The real story? Because you got the PC version of the story. Alright, so we walk in the studio. Kanye’s sitting there, John Legend’s sitting there. Matter of fact, he had a burgundy polo sweater. Cashmere. We walk in there, he says “this the joint.” Ain’t no options. This the only beat we playing.
T3: He played one beat.
Young RJ: “This the beat, that’s it for y’all.” Everybody looking around like “okay, we can work with this.”
Kanye said one beat!
Young RJ: That’s it!
T3: That’s it, Kanye did not give us no options. On top of that, we paid $90K for this feature. For him to feature and the beat, $90K.
Young RJ: The only reason he chose that is because of a certain A&R that turned him down, when he was looking for a record deal. He was getting payback.
$90K?!
T3: But it wasn’t a lot for us because we had a million dollar budget.
Young RJ: Fasho. Plentiful.
T3: That’s when budgets were budgets. Budgets were real budgets back then.
Young RJ: This the hook. T said “you know what, I got something for you today.”
T3: We didn’t know who John Legend was at all. That was John Legend’s first feature.
Young RJ: So we do that, T said “I got something for it.” Kanye walks over like “yeah man, I got something I’ma add to his beat. Watch what I do.” He’s in the palace like a bongo slap, like boop! He’s going crazy, he’s selling it. I’m like Ye, I know you gon’ rap on it. He’s like “you think I should?” Yeah, come on man. You gotta rap up. He immediately goes in the booth, lays his verse. T3 lays half his verse in the part of “maybe I’m selfish, I want you to myself I can’t help it.” Next thing you know, T said “I’ma take it home, write it.” He came back the next day, laid it. Elzhi couldn’t come with nothing.
T3: So we had to wait one more day.
Young RJ: One more day. Ye like “you go upstairs with him J, make sure the verse is tight. Call me when y’all got it.” We go upstairs, we knock it out. T’s like, “That’s it.” We come back, me and T3 in the studio. We mixed the record, Kanye shooting a Pepsi commercial. He’s not even there. He’s on the phone like, “Put the phone to the speaker.” He was so busy.
T3: Kanye was Kanye. He was so popular at the time.
Y’all were at the video shoot and you couldn’t find Dilla? There were 300 women there?
T3: It was so many women there, it was ridiculous. He’s there, but I never talked to him the whole time.
Young RJ: I talked to him the whole night.
T3: I never talked to him, because I was doing my thing.
With the women?
T3: Yes, the women. Kanye, John Legend, Elzhi. We was up there doing our things. We’re doing our routine, I never saw him.
Young RJ: I’m give you one more story before we close it out. I call him, he says,” You know what? I just got out the hospital. You’re in town? I’m coming to the video.” He shows up to the video, we siting back there.” A guy named Scrap Daddy says “this your group! You’re gonna let Kanye come in and do this? He’s killing us off!”
T3: Bullshit.
Young RJ: Dilla’s sitting in the stands like “oh word? That’s what you think?” You go back, that’s when you get all the stuff that you earn on Donuts. That’s why you hearing all solo stuff. He was making his point that “I’m unfuckwithable.”
T3: Which most of that he made in a hospital bed. He proved his point, but Dilla was always the GOAT. And still is.
How special is this day? February 10th is the day he passed, but you guys also started the album.
T3: It’s special man. I don’t like to think when a person passes and see the creator… But what I like to think about is all the times we shared together, and the blessings that Dilla bestowed on my life. If it wasn’t no Dilla, I wouldn’t definitely not be here. It’d be no Slum Village, so I think about that. He definitely was a ray of light that kept me going. Because my lifestyle back then, my parents were not here or there. When I saw his parents, I saw parents. Mom, dad, I didn’t have that going on. I was able to go to a safe space, so shout out to that.
Young RJ: What does this day mean? I hear Dilla saying, “Fuck all that sad shit! Where the chicken wings, let’s get studio cracking. Frank, fry the greens extra crispy. Cook the wings extra crispy.”
T3: Ma Dukes come with that sloppy joes. Dilla was a big fan of sloppy joes, which is weird. He really liked sloppy joes.
What do you like about Sada Baby?
Young RJ: Sada Baby, original.
T3: A GOAT, the G. A lot of people don’t know that he’s Middle Eastern and black. Sada Baby is dope man, and you might see him one of Slum’s album. You never know, I fuck with him. I really do fuck with Sada Baby.
In the late ‘90s, Slum Village emerged as a formidable force in Hip Hop. They burst into the scene with poignant lyrics and a commitment to authenticity. Despite the challenges the group and its members faced, Slum Village has endured and managed to stay together. Although their popularity has declined, the essence of the group has endured over the years. However, there have been different lineups in the group since it was first formed. Because of that, some fans may not know past members, depending on when they began listening to the group. Lovers of the group are in luck though, as Slum Village will be releasing a new album, FUN, soon enough. For old fans who lost track of the group, and newer fans, here’s an overview of the state of Slum Village and the whereabouts of its members.
Slum Village: Detroit Kings
In 1996, J Dilla, T3, and Baatin, the founding members of Slum Village, formed the group in Detroit, Michigan. Subsequently, the first album they recorded together, Fantastic, Vol. 1, unofficially dropped as a bootleg release in 1997. It wasn’t until nine years later that the group officially released the album. Nevertheless, Fantastic, Vol. 1 is still regarded as their debut album. As a trio, the original lineup signed their first record deal in 1998 with Barak/A&M Records. After Fantastic Vol. 1 made its way to listeners, the group’s popularity grew. As the group’s star ascended, they released Fantastic, Vol. 2 (2000), their acclaimed sophomore album.
Lineup Changes
While they achieved commercial success and critical acclaim, Slum Village soon faced the harsh realities of the industry, as well as inner turmoil. In 2001, J Dilla left the group to pursue a solo career. Soon after, T3 onboarded Elzhi as a new member, and along with Baatin, the trio released Trinity (Past, Present and Future) in 2002. However, shortly after the album dropped, Baatin had to drop out of Slum Village due to health complications. As a result, T3 and Elzhi were the only members of Slum Village on their fourth album, Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit). They remained a duo for their self-titled fifth album as well. Fortunately, in 2008, T3 announced that Baatin would finally rejoin Slum Village. In addition, he also announced that J Dilla’s younger brother Illa J, and producer Young RJ would join as members of Slum Village.
Sadly, Baatin passed away in 2009, but he had already recorded new material with Slum Village. As such, he is a credited performer on the group’s sixth album, Villa Manifesto (2010). Unfortunately, this was also the last album recorded or released with Elzhi in the lineup, as he left the group in July 2010. Subsequently, after their seventh album, Evolution (2013), was released, Illa J left the group as well. Since then, Slum Village has operated as a duo, with the current lineup consisting of T3 and Young RJ.
A founding member of Slum Village, T3 is the only one to have never left the lineup. Besides his work with the group, the rapper and producer never really embarked on any solo musical ventures. He has been the most devoted member of the group since its inception, and he remains committed to the group. Besides music, T3 also works as a radio host for Hot 107.5 Hip Hop Detroit.
While he doesn’t rap, Young RJ significantly contributed to the sound of Slum Village for years before he officially joined the group. He has production credits on Slum Village albums as far back as 2002’s Trinity (Past, Present and Future). In addition, the producer has been releasing solo and collaborative projects since the mid-2000s. On September 23, 2022, he released World Tour, his most recent album. He is one half of the current lineup of Slum Village and tours with T3 for performances.
Before Elzhi left Slum Village in 2010, he released his debut album, The Preface, in 2008. Since then, he has dropped two additional albums, as well as several mixtapes and collaborative albums. In 2020, the rapper released Seven Times Down Eight Times Up. His latest project, Heavy Vibrato (2023), is a collaborative album with rapper and producer Oh No.
As aforementioned, Illa J is the younger brother of former member J Dilla. The rapper’s solo debut album was released in 2008 before joining the group. After joining in the early 2010s, he left the group to re-focus on his solo career. Since then, he has released several music projects, including his most recent album, No Traffic (2023). Although he left Slum Village, he has appeared as a guest artist on a few of their tracks like, “Fantastic/Love Is” and “Expressive.”
J Dilla AKA Jay Dee
Another founding member of Slum Village, J Dilla only stayed for their first two albums. Subsequently, he left to focus on his solo career. Between 2001 and 2006, the producer and rapper released three acclaimed solo albums and three EPs. However, on February 10, 2006, he unfortunately passed away at the age of 32 due to thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and lupus. Since his untimely demise, many posthumous projects have been released under his name. These include the iconic Hip Hop classic, The Shining(2006), Dillarronic (2015), and The Diary (2016), among others.
Baatin
The third founding member of Slum Village, Baatin first left the group in 2002 due to health complications. Subsequently, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Yet, he returned in 2008 and contributed to Villa Manifesto. However, the rapper died before the album was officially released in 2010. Baatin sadly passed away on July 31, 2009, due to an accidental overdose of drugs. He was 35 and was succeeded by his two kids, Michael Majesty Ellis and Aura Grace Glover, as well as his sister, Tina.
