Rap can have been born in NYC, however it was raised within the 313.
As we proceed to have a good time hip-hop’s fiftieth anniversary, it will be an outright sin to exclude Detroit’s legendary group Slum Village from the conversation. That OG trio absolutely owned the late Nineties with their debut album “Fan-Tas-Tic” and the present group continues to make a mark on music today.
The lively duo, T3 and Young RJ, recently released powerhouse single “Just Like You” and have what’s sure to be a spectacular album coming soon, too.
I had the pleasure of speaking with them each on this week’s “Renaissance Man” in an episode that’s not only a stroll down memory lane — but in addition a foreshadowing of what’s to return for hip-hop.
Like many bands have, Slum Village underwent personnel changes throughout the years and, sadly, has lost two of its three founding members, J Dilla and Baatin.
The third of that original crew, the long-lasting rapper T3, reminisced on how the group rose to meteoric success prefer it was only yesterday.
“I remember when J got here to do one in all the primary shows — because J began off within the back DJing after which we moved him further to the front,” T3 recalled of his late friend and musician who took the mic finally.
“Once I saw how we gelled with the show and the chemistry we had, then that’s after I knew, ‘OK, , perhaps we are able to make this pop.’”
T3’s theory was proven greater than successful as Slum Village hit the studio. With the mighty influence of J Dilla, it didn’t take long for them to draw major names like Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Questlove and Erykah Badu to line up for coveted recording sessions.
“That was so inspiring for us to have the ability to bring that back to the town,” T3 said of their many hit collaborations. “It really got us on the market. It took an extended time for someone to get there [during that time period] because every part was word of mouth. We had no outlets.”
Doin’ it for Detroit was an incredible motivator for Slum Village as well.
The group didn’t just take a look at what their leap to stardom meant for his or her personal gain, but as a substitute approached fame as advancing the Motor City’s incredibly illustrious musical history.
“It’s a melting pot. It began all the way in which back from Motown and just seeing the legacy that they left in the town,” Young RJ said.
“Eventually everybody was trying to seek out a strategy to do techno with all these different influences. Radio was way different too … we had no alternative but to be original with the style because we had so many influences that you simply would hear in the town.”
After reflecting on their very own true heyday, the dynamic duo behind modern Slum Village expressed great expectations for the following wave of emerging hip-hop artists to return.
Young RJ stressed that the genre needs “fresh, latest creative ideas” and T3 doubled down on the sentiment.
“My hope for a latest generation is just to maintain it fresh — keep it original, keep them guessing,” he said. “Musically, I feel hip-hop is just going to grow. I heard some [new] things which might be still bubbling … so, yes, keep it creative. That’s what I’m saying.”
Detroit native Jalen Rose is a member of the University of Michigan’s iconoclastic Fab Five, who shook up the school hoops world within the early ’90s. He played 13 seasons within the NBA before transitioning right into a media personality. Rose executive-produced “The Fab Five” for ESPN’s “30 for 30” series, is the writer of the best-selling book “Got To Give the People What They Want,” a fashion tastemaker and co-founded the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, a public charter school in his hometown.
