Nearly 20 years later, Slum Village lives on

Muktaru Jalloh
Online Editor

Hip-hop group Slum Village kicked off their “YES! Tour” last night at The Broadberry. Along with opening acts Black Liquid, Tennison and CoolNutz, Slum Village performed before a large and enthusiastic crowd. The tour is an effort to promote their latest and 8th studio album, “YES!”

Formed in 1996, Slum Village began in Detroit, Michigan with founding members T3 and Baatin, both rappers, and legendary music producer J-Dilla. Following the death of J-Dilla in 2006 and Baatin in 2009, rapper and frequent collaborator Young RJ joined T3 to continue the group.

Throughout their set, Slum Village performed a medley of songs that included their most successful singles, “Tainted” and “Selfish.” In addition to this, they routinely stopped to pay tribute to their fallen members.

With that said, the memories of J-Dilla and Baatin still live on. At the back of the venue, T-shirts that read “RIP J-Dilla” were being sold.

“I feel like we have to because we were the first of our kind. I feel like a lot of people are catching on to Dilla now after his passing but he had already did so many big records,” founding member T3 said.

J-Dilla is regarded as one of the most influential producers in hip-hop music history. Prior to his passing, he had produced a numerous amount of hits for artists such as Common, A Tribe Called Quest and Erykah Badu and The Roots.  Furthermore, Baatin was one of the most respected rappers in the industry.

“We rep that everywhere we go. And we always got to put Baatin in the mix because he was one of the pioneers and originators,” T3 said.

Their new album, “YES!” brings all of the original members and rapper Young RJ all together. Featuring newly found beats from the late J-Dilla and vocals from Baatin, “YES!” has been well received by their fans.

“The new album is 70 percent produced by Dilla,” T3 said. “Stuff we had from the crates. Ms. Yancey (J-Dilla’s mother) found some stuff in his storage bins. It was like Slum records we already had and just polished. We still had Baatin rhymes. Dilla Rhymes. So we just mixed it up.”

Having been around for nearly 20 years, Slum Village was one of the first hip-hop groups to make it big from Detroit, Michigan.

“We did lay the foundation for the rappers doing it big now like the Big Seans of the world. We were the first ones to push through that gap and get through the mainstream,” T3 said.

Moreover, the duo is grateful to still be doing what they love.

“I’m just happy we can still do it. Just some guys from a high school that wanted to rap,” T3 said.

The “YES! Tour” stops in Philadelphia tonight.