{"id":620565,"date":"2024-05-15T21:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T18:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-easy-evolution-of-slum-village\/"},"modified":"2024-05-15T21:00:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T18:00:25","slug":"the-easy-evolution-of-slum-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-easy-evolution-of-slum-village\/","title":{"rendered":"#The easy evolution of Slum Village"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content_blocks\">\n<style>\n #content_block-261687 {\n   background: #fc7639;\n   padding-bottom: 40px;\n }<\/p>\n<\/style>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-261687 {\n   background: #fc7639;\n   margin-bottom: 60px;\n }<\/p>\n<p> article.custom .custom-title, article.custom .custom-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> .caption {\n   color: #352e4f;\n }<\/p>\n<p> article.custom .custom-attribution, article.custom .custom-attribution a {\n   color: #352e4f;\n }<\/p>\n<p> article.custom .content_block blockquote.pull_quote {\n   color: #352e4f;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261687\" class=\"content_block flush title center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"custom-title\">\n      The easy evolution of Slum Village\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-description\">\n      T3 and Young RJ talk <i>F.U.N.<\/i>, their first new album in nearly a decade.\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-attribution\">\n<div class=\"author\">\n    <span><br \/>\n      By <span class=\"credit_name\">Raphael Helfand<\/span><br \/>\n  <\/span><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-media\">\n<div class=\"triple_gutter_left triple_gutter_right image center_align\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2024-05-14T164846.795_wc4cru\/slum-village-t3-left-and-young-rj-photo-by-a-target-_new-href-https-www-instagram-com-frankiefultz-frankie-fultz-a.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"The easy evolution of Slum Village\"><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Slum Village: T3 (left) and Young RJ. Photo by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/frankiefultz\/\">Frankie Fultz<\/a>.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"custom_share_buttons_top \" style=\"\">\n<div id=\"new_socials_bottom\" class=\"new_socials_footer  \">\n<p>      <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/assets\/FDR_SocialSharing_Facebook-747312c39722d47504a80f02500b8d4ad2e36acf922bad1c83799db1bc77f605.png\"><!-- <span>Share<\/span> --><\/p>\n<p>  <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefader.com%2F2024%2F05%2F15%2Fslum-village-fun-interview%3Futm_source%3Df%26utm_medium%3Dtw%26utm_campaign%3Dshare&amp;text=The%20easy%20evolution%20of%20Slum%20Village&amp;via=thefader\" class=\"new_social_footer_button twitter new_social_share_button\" data-ga-event-category=\"Social Share\" data-ga-event-label=\"Twitter\" data-ga-on=\"click\" data-ga-event-action=\"cilck\"><\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/assets\/FDR_SocialSharing_Twitter-8d78f695280aa3f8a4461702c68e9fcbfd6042af1600c62d49fdec4b735fb57a.png\"><!-- <span>Tweet<\/span> --><\/a><\/p>\n<p>        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/assets\/logo-snapchat-5f1563935ac089d0cf1773f642ddbfb6cdb16e8c4ac14fec95a3c11b6f963389.svg\"><!-- <span>Snap<\/span> --><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261688\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            Detroit hip-hop is a global phenomenon now. But when T3, Baatin, and J Dilla were growing up in the historically Black Conant Gardens neighborhood in the \u201980s and \u201990s, the scene was provincial. The two MCs (T3 and Baatin) and r<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>er\/producer (Dilla) formed Slum Village in 1996, the same year Proof, Bizarre, Mr. Porter, Kuniva, and Bugz founded D12.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            \u201cMe and Proof were very close,\u201d T3 tells me. \u201cWe used to kick it and do all types of shit together. It was a very small circle in Detroit at that time. We weren\u2019t in each other\u2019s studio sessions like that, but everybody knew everybody.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>            Despite their proximity, the two groups went in totally different directions, with SV putting a slick Detroit twist on the jazz-infused sounds of \u201cgolden-age\u201d New York crews like A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, and De La Soul, while D12 took an edgier, more ironic route, especially after Eminem joined in 1999.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261691\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left video\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\">\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fall In Love\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iFo_0bTXL2g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n \/\/trackYouTubeVideo('261691');\n<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261690\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            Slum Village is best known, at this point, as the world\u2019s introduction to Dilla, a sampling visionary widely considered one of the greatest producers of all time. But Dilla left the group in 2001 after only two albums (<i>Fan-Tas-Tic<\/i> volumes one and two) as their full-time producer, though he collaborated regularly with its fluctuating lineup until his untimely passing in 2006. The next 20 years and change saw the arrival and departure of Elzhi in 2002 and 2010, respectively; Baatin\u2019s exit in 2003 and brief return in 2008 before he too passed away the following year; and a short stint in the mid 2010s from Dilla\u2019s younger brother Illa J. From then through now, the group\u2019s only constant presences have been founding member T3 and a later addition, Young RJ.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            A decade younger than SV\u2019s original members, RJ got his first production credits with the group as Dilla packed his bags, joining them during their most tumultuous period. He soon became their main producer and, with 2013\u2019s <i>Evolution<\/i>, became T3\u2019s full-time rapping partner as well.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261739\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left image\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/Slum_3_1_1_bczxmu\/photo-by-ralph-rice.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"The easy evolution of Slum Village\"><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Photo by Ralph Rice.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261693\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            In 2015, Slum Village released <i>Yes!<\/i>, featuring new verses from T3, RJ, Illa J, and a star-studded group of guests over unreleased Dilla instrumentals (posthumous vocals from Baatin also appear). The years since have seen T3 and RJ touring aggressively and releasing archival and remixed compilations of SV\u2019s earlier work. But <i>F.U.N.<\/i>, released earlier this month, is their first album of original music in nine years.<\/p>\n<p>            The new record, first discussed in 2018 but recorded mostly over the past year, brings funk and disco influences to the forefront of the group\u2019s aesthetic, though the jazz and soul tinges Dilla favored are not entirely absent either. The project hosts several returning collaborators \u2014 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/fatray1\/\">Fat Ray<\/a>, Karriem Riggins, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/abstractorchestra\/?hl=en\">Abstract Orchestra<\/a> \u2014 as well as newer friends such as Larry June, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/_brittneycarter\/?hl=en\">Brittney Carter<\/a>, Sango, and Robert Glasper, who produced <i>F.U.N.<\/i>\u2019s closing track with help from his son Riley. These aesthetic and personnel updates don\u2019t amount to a reinvention of Slum Village\u2019s proverbial wheel, but the wheel is certainly spinning again, moving confidently forward and easily shaking off a decade of dust.<\/p>\n<p>            When I caught up with T3 and RJ over video call the week after <i>F.U.N.<\/i>\u2019s release, they were home in Detroit, basking in the afterglow of a smooth release week and a successful European tour. We talked about the state of Detroit rap, innovation in the shadow of Dilla\u2019s legacy, crate digging, and perfecting the creative process through 20 years of collaboration.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261734\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            <b>Detroit hip-hop is having a moment right now. We\u2019ll get to that later, but first I was wondering if you could take me back to what the scene looked like in the mid \u201990s, when I was in diapers and you were starting a legendary rap crew.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            <b>T3:<\/b> It was a small scene. The hub that we had to go to was two spots, mainly: St. Andrew\u2019s, which had a party on Friday nights, and the Hip Hop Shop, which we did on Saturdays. Those were the spots where all the MCs and people who wanted to make beats went. St. Andrew\u2019s was downtown and Hip Hop Shop was in the middle of the hood on 7 Mile, and that was a clothing store by Maurice Malone, so it was small. <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            All we did \u2014 all a lot of people did \u2014 was press our own cassette up. That\u2019s how we first got our buzz going. We were premiering stuff at St. Andrew\u2019s and at the Hip Hop Shop, [but now we could] actually play it and give it to the DJ, who was House Shoes at the time, and people started getting to know the songs from him playing them every week. From that, we started doing shows. Then we did [<i>Fan-Tas-Tic<\/i>] volume one, and we got our deal shortly after that. That was the \u201990s \u2014 all of us trying to make it out to D. I mean, not make it out to D, but make it <i>in<\/i> the D and get known nationally, internationally.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-261736,  #content_block-261736 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-261736 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #fc7639;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261736\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left pull_quote\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"pull_quote\"><p>\u201cWe were always individuals within a unit, so keeping the legacy going was easy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261735\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            <b>The cast of Slum Village has changed quite a bit over the years, with Dilla leaving in 2001 and Elzhi joining around then, and then Baatim leaving pretty soon after. RJ, what was it like to start working with a group that had so much change going on?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            <b>Young RJ:<\/b> The change never bothered anything because the sound once Dilla left was consistently me and T3, so we never really had to worry about that part. It was just a matter of who was gonna be rapping at the time. It was nothing major.<\/p>\n<p>            <b>Yeah, at this point you and T3 have been the only constants for the vast majority of Slum Village\u2019s almost 30-year-run. But Dilla obviously casts a big shadow over the group\u2019s legacy, rightfully. How do you navigate working within that legacy and honoring the original SV sound while making it your own?<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            <b>RJ:<\/b> It\u2019s always been the same thing: Don\u2019t get stuck in the past trying to do something that has already been done within Slum Village. [We\u2019ve] consistently pushed the boundaries, so we never really look back at the past, what we\u2019ve done, which is why the new album sounds the way it sounds. We always try to keep it going forward.<\/p>\n<p>            <b>T3:<\/b> One thing Dilla would always say, too, is \u201cjust do you.\u201d Dilla mentored [R]J, you know, showed him some things. He mentored me on production, too. But, at the same time, he never wanted nobody to copy. He wanted you to do you. <\/p>\n<p>            We all contributed a lot to the original Slum Village sound. Dilla was definitely a big part of it, but so was Baatim. We were always individuals within a unit, so keeping the legacy going was easy. <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            We were still signed [when Dilla left], and we had to tell the label he was leaving, and they were like, \u201cOkay, so what part did he do?\u201d I was like, \u201cWell, you know, some of the beats.\u201d And they were like, \u201cOK, so who was writing the hooks and the verses?\u201d I was like, \u201cI wrote half of the hooks and then I wrote my verses and then, you know, Baatim wrote his and Dilla wrote his.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            They said, \u201cWell, I think y\u2019all can still keep it going,\u201d and that gave me a lot of motivation. That\u2019s what made me bring in a whole cast of new producers, even though Dilla still produced four joints on the <i>Trinity<\/i> album. That was a time when we were really scrambling. That\u2019s when me and [R]J came up with our think tank on how we were gonna keep this thing going for Slim Village.<\/p>\n<p>            <b>It sort of sounds like the label had no idea what went into making a rap record.<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            I mean, they knew the sound \u2014 they loved the sound \u2014 but sometimes the intricacy\u2026 We didn\u2019t have a label looking over our shoulder like some artists do. We were able to just do us, which is rare when somebody hands you a check for $500,000. <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261692\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left video\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\">\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Slum Village - Braveheart\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4ObeAMlh51U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n \/\/trackYouTubeVideo('261692');\n<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261737\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            <b>2013\u2019s <i>Evolution<\/i> was the start of a new era, the first release where it was mainly the two of you rapping. Then you dropped <i>Yes!<\/i> in 2015, and now, nine years later, <i>F.U.N.<\/i> How have you changed and grown as a duo over the last decade?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            <b>RJ:<\/b> We\u2019ve just cut out a lot of the extra process. We always set the song up a certain way: I do the tracks, T figures out the hook, he puts his verse down, and then everybody else comes in. So it was just cutting out everybody else coming in, and me and T just focusing and getting it done, which to me is easy breezy. It\u2019s familiar because we\u2019ve been doing it for so long.<\/p>\n<p>            <b>T3:<\/b> Right. We\u2019ve been together so long that he knows what I\u2019m thinking, I know what he\u2019s thinking. We can go in there, listen through records together, pick loops, and he\u2019ll chop it up. I might make one or two beats, and then we put it together. We start writing the songs, and it just comes together, man. It\u2019s really a no-brainer, so we just be having fun with it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            <b>I know you\u2019ve toured a lot together for the last 10 years, but <i>F.U.N.<\/i> is your first album of new music since 2015. What\u2019s been going on in your lives, and when did you start talking about making this new record?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            <b>RJ:<\/b> After <i>Yes!<\/i>, we toured for a bit and then decided to take a break because we\u2019d been going non-stop for so long. From <i>Villa Manifesto<\/i> [(2010)] all the way up to <i>Yes!<\/i>, we dropped multiple projects every year. <\/p>\n<p>            The conversation for the new album started in 2018. We talked about maybe doing something new, and then we put it on the back burner and kept touring. Then we got hit with COVID, so we sat down. Really it was over the last year when we figured out a direction and said, \u201cAlright, let\u2019s follow through with this,\u201d and the album started coming together.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            T threw out that maybe we should go disco influenced, speed up the tempo a bit. And the rest, it was just rolling from there once we had the direction.<\/p>\n<p>            <b>I read that the process of making this album started out with you going to record stores, crate digging for disco. Has that type of exploration always been central to the way you work?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            <b>RJ:<\/b> Yeah, every time we sit down and talk about where we want to take it, what we feel is not in the marketplace. That\u2019s what we make: what we want to hear, what we feel is missing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            <b>Were there any specific disco records that sparked the energy for this project, whether or not they actually made it onto the record?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            <b>RJ:<\/b> It was just funk and disco influence, just good music in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>. The album is really heavy on the funk. It\u2019s disco as far as how some of the hooks are real chanty. But yeah, we listened to \u201cFunkin\u2019 For Jamaica,\u201d the Bee Gees, random disco records we thought were dope.<\/p>\n<p>            <b>I hear a lot of classic funk like Ohio Players and The Gap Band on <i>F.U.N.<\/i>. Were there any funk or rare groove deep cuts you found in the dollar bins?<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            <b>T3:<\/b> I can\u2019t name them offhand, but yes, we did find some deep cuts. We were looking for funky disco \u2014 not just disco, funky disco \u2014 the kind you hear in them clubs in deep Chicago.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261746\" class=\"content_block paragraph embed triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\">\n    <iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 350px; height: 786px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=2217792554\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/transparent=true\/\" seamless><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/officialslumvillage.bandcamp.com\/album\/f-u-n\">F.U.N by Slum Village<\/a><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261747\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            <b>Speaking of Chicago, <i>F.U.N.<\/i> opens with a 90-second verse, not from either of you but from Chicago rapper Brittney Carter. How\u2019d you connect with her, and why did you choose to start the album off that way?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            <b>T3:<\/b> I heard of her on the internet first because she rapped over our record \u201cGet This Money,\u201d and I thought she was pretty dope. I was talking to one of my homies, Hex Murda, and I was like, \u201cYo, man, you know we\u2019re working on a new album,\u201d and he was like, \u201cThat\u2019s dope. Do y\u2019all got any ladies on there?\u201d I was like, \u201cYeah, you know what? We probably do need to do that.\u201d He gave me a list of female MCs, and I was like, \u201cYou know what? We should mess with Brittney Carter.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>            I hit up J and told him the plan. He reached out to her, and she was excited, and we thought it would be a dope idea for her to do the intro, her own thing. That way she could showcase herself and us at the same time, in a sense. We always like to bring new talent to the forefront.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            <b>There are a bunch of smart collaborations on the record. Larry June, for instance, fits really well on \u201cJust Like You.\u201d Even though he\u2019s from a younger generation, that track \u2014and his verse, in particular \u2014 feels like a throwback to the earlier SV stuff, maybe more so than anything else on the album.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            <b>T3:<\/b> Larry June\u2019s the homie, man. He\u2019s a cool dude. He was a fan of the group, and we kind of did the swap thing; we got on the Alchemist album with him. When he heard the joint, he immediately loved it, so that was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n<p>            <b>You\u2019ve got some great instrumental collaborators on this record, too. You\u2019ve worked with Kareem Riggins in the past, and with Abstract Orchestra. Was \u201cSince 92\u201d your first time working with Robert Glasper?<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            <b>T3:<\/b> I did a few shows with him, but [we never got] in the studio. Robert\u2019s a homie. He loves Slum Village. He always says it, shouts us out, so it was an honor to work with him and his son, Riley; they produced the track together. <\/p>\n<p>            [Glasper] was like, \u201cI\u2019m working on these tracks with my son. I\u2019m gonna send you some joints.\u201d And then we heard it, and it was like, \u201cYeah, I think we\u2019re gonna mess with this one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            <b><i>F.U.N.<\/i>\u2019s title track is another of my favorites, and another throwback. Tell me about making that one with <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dreyskonie\/?hl=en\">Drey Skonie<\/a>, who really leans into the old-school Motown singer thing.<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            <b>RJ:<\/b> It started off the same way we were saying before, just listening through records till we found something dope. It went from that to bringing in musicians and completely changing the record around. And it came pretty quick. Just like before, I knocked the beat out, and T knocked out the verse and the hook. All that stuff just fell into place. We were performing it on tour with nobody even knowing the song, and the fans were loving it. So we were like, \u201cWe\u2019ve gotta put this on the album.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<p> #content_block-261749,  #content_block-261749 blockquote.pull_quote, #content_block-261749 .img_caption .caption {\n   color: #fc7639;\n }\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261749\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left pull_quote\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"pull_quote\"><p>We were looking for funky disco\u2026 the kind you hear in them clubs in deep Chicago.\n<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-261750\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>            <b>You had some other Detroit collaborators, too, like Fat Ray, who came up just a little after Slum Village on Barak Records and is now part of Bruiser Brigade. I wanted to ask about another side of the Detroit scene \u2014 rappers like Babyface Ray, Veeze, Peezy, and Icewear Vezzo who\u2019ve blown up in a very different lane from y\u2019all. Do you have any thoughts on where the scene is at? Do you think of any of those artists as successors?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>            <b>T3:<\/b> Let me start off by saying this: I do love what they\u2019re doing. As far as being successors, not so much. It\u2019s more street stuff, and I like it because it\u2019s its own sound. The thing I like about Detroit is that it\u2019s many different sounds. Even when we came up, D12 didn\u2019t sound like Slum Village. It\u2019s everybody coming in their own lane, and I like this new lane: Sada Baby, Babyface Ray, Peezy, all these guys. They\u2019re coming with a different sound. Long as we keep it creative, I\u2019m with it.<\/p>\n<p>            Slum Village had our wave, and now they\u2019ve got a wave. Detroit got enough. You never know \u2014 you might see us collaborating on some stuff. It could be in the bag already.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>            <b>RJ:<\/b> Yeah, stay on the lookout for new music. We\u2019re not taking another 10-year hiatus. We coming right back.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"author\">\n    <span><br \/>\n      By <span class=\"credit_name\">Raphael Helfand<\/span><br \/>\n  <\/span><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/2024\/05\/15\/slum-village-fun-interview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The easy evolution of Slum Village T3 and Young RJ talk F.U.N., their first new album in nearly a decade. By Raphael Helfand Slum Village: T3 (left) and Young RJ. Photo by Frankie Fultz. \u00a0 Detroit hip-hop is a global phenomenon now. But when T3, Baatin, and J Dilla were growing up in the historically&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":620566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/c_limit,w_1024\/c_crop,h_533,w_1024,x_0,y_28,f_auto,q_auto:eco\/unnamed_wjuc4w\/unnamed_wjuc4w.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[70532,146834],"class_list":["post-620565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-hip-hop","tag-slum-village"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}