About Slum Village
Slum Village is an American hip hop group from Detroit, Michigan. The group was formerly composed of the rappers Baatin , T3, and rapper / producer J Dilla . J Dilla left in 2001 to pursue a solo career with MCA Records. Elzhi joined in his absence, after which Baatin also left due to health complications.
Following J Dilla's death in 2006 and Baatin's death in 2009, T3 remains the sole surviving member of the original lineup. Over its history the group has been through several line-up changes, which once included J Dilla's younger brother Illa J, but now the group exists as a duo of T3 and producer Young RJ.
Rappers Baatin, T3 and producer J Dilla grew up together in the Conant Gardens neighborhood of Detroit and attended the same high school, Pershing High School. Slum Village was founded by Baatin, T3 and J Dilla.
From 1996 to 1997 the group recorded their first album Fantastic , however it was not officially released until 2006, 9 years after original recording.
Slum Village signed their first record deal in 1998 with the now defunct Barak/A&M records. Due to internal politics with the label, the group was forced to release their 2000 album Best Kept Secret under the alias "J-88". Best Kept Secret featured remixes and leftover material from the heavily boot-legged Fantastic, Vol. 1. That same year Fantastic, Vol. 2 was released on GoodVibe Recordings, which featured appearances from Busta Rhymes, Common, D'Angelo, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Pete Rock, Kurupt, and Q-Tip.
Fresh out of high school, the group steadily became popular in Detroit's underground hip hop scene. However, by the mid-1990s J Dilla was already a well known hip-hop prospect, with a string of singles and remixes to his name, working on projects with Janet Jackson, Pharcyde, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, and Q-Tip among others. In 1995 he was invited to become a member of a production team known as The Ummah, which produced the fourth and fifth A Tribe Called Quest studio albums, as well as hits for a number of R&B and hip hop musicians. In 1998, Slum Village opened for A Tribe Called Quest, on their farewell tour. In 2001, J Dilla left Slum Village to pursue a solo career.
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