Baatin, T3, and Jay Dee grew up together in the Conant Gardens neighborhood of Detroit and attended Pershing High School. The group steadily became popular in Detroit’s underground Hip Hop scene. Slum Village’s first album, 1996’s Fantastic, Vol. 1, was not officially released until 2005, but highly sought after in underground circles. Originally signed to the now defunct A&M record label, the group was forced to postpone the release of their official debut album due to label politics, but in June 2000 they released Fantastic, Vol. 2 on Barak/ GoodVibe Recordings.
While working on Fantastic, Vol. 2, they were joined in the studio by such luminaries as D’Angelo, Busta Rhymes, Kurupt, Pete Rock and A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, among others. The resulting album became an underground classic and Slum Village was seen as the second coming of the Native Tongues (A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, De La Soul) by member Q-Tip, as well as fans and journalists alike.
For the 2002 release of Trinity (Past, Present and Future) on Barak/Capitol Records, T3 brought in Elzhi to join the group as Jay Dee left to focus on his solo career. The album was a moderate success and contained the hit single “Tainted”, produced by Karriem Riggins, featuring Dwele. Also in 2002, Dirty District, a compilation of songs by Detroit rappers largely produced by “Young RJ” Rice, was released.
2004 was yet another year of change for Slum… when Baatin became ill while touring in France shortly before the release of their 2004 album Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit). Baatin departed the group to seek treatment. The album included the hit single, “Selfish”, produced by Kanye West, featuring John Legend.
Now, with the release of Slum Village’s album, the stunningly impressive Detroit Deli (Barak/Capitol), the group now consists of just T3 and Elzhi, who gave listeners an intimate look at life in The D. Even though Slum Village excels at making lighthearted music, they show us the more serious subject matters.
The group also takes a different route on “The Reunion.” Jay Dee joined T3 and Elzhi on the insightful cut, which offers three different takes on the group’s status. “It’s like you’re going through three state of minds at one time kind of in reverse,” T3 says. “What we’re trying to say is that we wish we were together, we might be together and then we’re not together at all. We’re trying to give you all the aspects of how people are coming at us, the type of stuff we’re dealing with and kind of give you a glimpse of the stuff we’re dealing with in the group.”
Detroit Deli stood as Slum Village’s most musically rich album to date. Young RJ handled the majority of the beats, while Kanye West produced “Selfish,” Jay Dee handled “Do You” and T3 along with Young RJ produced “Closer” and “Count The Ways.” The beats are as divergent as the album’s subject matter, ranging from soulful to futuristic, but they always remain powerful and innovative.
After parting ways with Capitol Records in 2005, Barak Records released Prequel to a Classic, a mixtape of mostly previously unreleased material, followed by the marginally successful Self-Titled C.D. released in October of the same year.
Jay Dee had a very successful solo career. Sadly he died on February 10, 2006 after being diagnosed with TTP and Lupus.
In a 2008 interview, T3 announced the return of Baatin to Slum Village. Now reunited with Baatin, their collaboration was brilliant, absolutely their best work, “the color that was missing is now back” said RJ Rice CEO of Barak Records…. “Villa Manifesto” Slum’s latest C.D., is scheduled for release September 22, 2009, unfortunately Baatin will never see the fruit of his labor, he died on July 31, 2009 at the young age of 35.
Jay Dee and Baatin are gone. The creative energy of them both will be missed.
The loss of them both has left Barak Records speechless.
“We’ve always stuck to our guns,” T3 says. “We’ve never tried to change to get commercial success. We always just did what we did and when you do what you do, eventually somebody’s going to have to give you your respect for having the courage to keep going, to keep creating “just doing what we do.”
Throughout the many changes of Slum Village’s musical career their mission still remains the same, ever constant: delivering music that stirs the soul, this is what represents Slum Village to the fullest.
Baatin, T3, and Jay Dee grew up together in the Conant Gardens neighborhood of Detroit and attended Pershing High School. The group steadily became popular in Detroit’s underground Hip Hop scene. Slum Village’s first album, 1996’s Fantastic, Vol. 1, was not officially released until 2005, but highly sought after in underground circles. Originally signed to the now defunct A&M record label, the group was forced to postpone the release of their official debut album due to label politics, but in June 2000 they released Fantastic, Vol. 2 on Barak/ GoodVibe Recordings.
While working on Fantastic, Vol. 2, they were joined in the studio by such luminaries as D’Angelo, Busta Rhymes, Kurupt, Pete Rock and A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, among others. The resulting album became an underground classic and Slum Village was seen as the second coming of the Native Tongues (A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, De La Soul) by member Q-Tip, as well as fans and journalists alike.
For the 2002 release of Trinity (Past, Present and Future) on Barak/Capitol Records, T3 brought in Elzhi to join the group as Jay Dee left to focus on his solo career. The album was a moderate success and contained the hit single “Tainted”, produced by Karriem Riggins, featuring Dwele. Also in 2002, Dirty District, a compilation of songs by Detroit rappers largely produced by “Young RJ” Rice, was released.
2004 was yet another year of change for Slum… when Baatin became ill while touring in France shortly before the release of their 2004 album Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit). Baatin departed the group to seek treatment. The album included the hit single, “Selfish”, produced by Kanye West, featuring John Legend.
Now, with the release of Slum Village’s album, the stunningly impressive Detroit Deli (Barak/Capitol), the group now consists of just T3 and Elzhi, who gave listeners an intimate look at life in The D. Even though Slum Village excels at making lighthearted music, they show us the more serious subject matters.
The group also takes a different route on “The Reunion.” Jay Dee joined T3 and Elzhi on the insightful cut, which offers three different takes on the group’s status. “It’s like you’re going through three state of minds at one time kind of in reverse,” T3 says. “What we’re trying to say is that we wish we were together, we might be together and then we’re not together at all. We’re trying to give you all the aspects of how people are coming at us, the type of stuff we’re dealing with and kind of give you a glimpse of the stuff we’re dealing with in the group.”
Detroit Deli stood as Slum Village’s most musically rich album to date. Young RJ handled the majority of the beats, while Kanye West produced “Selfish,” Jay Dee handled “Do You” and T3 along with Young RJ produced “Closer” and “Count The Ways.” The beats are as divergent as the album’s subject matter, ranging from soulful to futuristic, but they always remain powerful and innovative.
After parting ways with Capitol Records in 2005, Barak Records released Prequel to a Classic, a mixtape of mostly previously unreleased material, followed by the marginally successful Self-Titled C.D. released in October of the same year.
Jay Dee had a very successful solo career. Sadly he died on February 10, 2006 after being diagnosed with TTP and Lupus.
In a 2008 interview, T3 announced the return of Baatin to Slum Village. Now reunited with Baatin, their collaboration was brilliant, absolutely their best work, “the color that was missing is now back” said RJ Rice CEO of Barak Records…. “Villa Manifesto” Slum’s latest C.D., is scheduled for release September 22, 2009, unfortunately Baatin will never see the fruit of his labor, he died on July 31, 2009 at the young age of 35.
Jay Dee and Baatin are gone. The creative energy of them both will be missed.
The loss of them both has left Barak Records speechless.
“We’ve always stuck to our guns,” T3 says. “We’ve never tried to change to get commercial success. We always just did what we did and when you do what you do, eventually somebody’s going to have to give you your respect for having the courage to keep going, to keep creating “just doing what we do.”
Throughout the many changes of Slum Village’s musical career their mission still remains the same, ever constant: delivering music that stirs the soul, this is what represents Slum Village to the fullest.
