Slum Village - "Fantastic Vol. 2" (throwback)
What would happen if Q-Tip from "A Tribe Called Quest", R & B lust-throb D'Angelo, the insanely dramatic
Busta Rhymes, Death Row's "Dogg Pound" MC
Kurupt, the infamous Pete Rock and one time Will Smith producer/dj extraordinaire DJ Jazzy Jeff all collabed with one group...on one record...for one track each? Can someone say "Fantastic"?
From the Conant Gardens area of Detroit comes a few things. There's legendary producer
Jay Dee (aka J-Dilla) who met his untimely death to terminal illness in 2006 at the young age of 32, and his self formed super group "
Slum Village" which collabed and gained respect from the best as Dillas crewmates. There's so much history amongst Jay Dee whether as a producer for some of the greatest ever, his 3 man group SV or his later solo projects and collaboration with Stones Throw genius "
Madlib" entitled "Jaylib" that I can't even touch on the half of it. The catalog speaks for itself, and I highly suggest getting familiar with it. Actually, chances are you've probably already heard his work and not known it. Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest, Poe,
De La Soul, Proof,
Janet Jackson, Daft punk and many, many more.
Slum Village at the time of the "Fantastic Vol. 2" release was composed of 3 members: Jay Dee, T3, and Baatin. (Jay Dee later left the group and they welcomed another Detroit area MC, Elzhi for the release of "Trinity: Past, Present and Future. Then again, Baatin left the group and the still marketable name of "Slum Village" released "Detroit Deli" known for it's stand out radio hit featuring Chicago rapper/producer
Kayne West "Selfish"). The group was solid, and, after releasing local area cassettes and vinyl, the anticipation for "Fantastic vol. 2" grew on a national scale.
This record is an all time favorite. To hear the sweet production of Jay Dee collaborating with the savvy
Jazzy Jeff tearing up James Brown breaks and drops to the MC's lyrics on "I Don't Know" is amazing. The overall feel is like a melting pot of all the artists Dilla worked with. You have your smooth and seductive tracks ( "Climax (girl shit)" and "Fall in love") followed by straight up bangers ( "Hold Tight" and "Get Dis Money" ). The collaborations are flawless in an era where other Hip-Hop acts were using it as a crutch to jolt falling sales, SV did collabs out of pure respect with friends and peers.
I can not recommend this album enough. It's so solid that you'd think it'd weigh a ton.
Q-tip actually says in his flow "I'm a leave it in the hands of the Slum now" as if to suggest they were the new school "A Tribe Called Quest". And, if not for differences amongst one another for what ever reason, they quite possibly may have been. My only complain is more personal then related to the album itself. There's not a single thing wrong with this record except the fact that there is no official follow-up. If you cop this record now for the first time, you'll be digging on their material in reverse more than forward. This was the groups peak, and although it's bothersome to know there will be no further origianl Slum Village material, at least we have a classic!
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zioalexx89 said:
On February 29 2008 2:05 pm