The Arsonists

Slum Village is produced by Jay Dee, who also drops his lyrics on each track. Jay Dee is a member of an interesting production crew called the Ummah (Community Of Brotherhood).
Jay Dee: "The Ummah is being in effect since 1995. Recently D'Angelo and Rafael Saadiq have joined."
Other members are Q-Tip and Ali Muhammad. On the album are some well known names: D'Angelo, Kurupt, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes.
Jay Dee on projects in the pipeline: "We are now working on a movie. Danny Glover is involved in it. We don't have a title yet. It's a musical, though. It's a jailhouse musical. Q-Tip just asked me if I wanted to be a part, with him and Ali as well. It was his idea to form this thing."

Slum Village originated from Detroit, Motown City. "In the business for six years, but as a group going around for twelve years." The first album was released independently, Fantastic Vol.1. The new album, Fantastic vol. 2, is now released on A&M Records. "Just that you're not officially out, doesn't mean you're not done a lot of material. We gonna reissue those albums on the Internet". (The address is still under construction) says T3.

Fantastic vol. 1 blew up big in Japan.
T3: It was an underground buzz. It was a big buzz. All the material that already was out over here are bootlegs. There are some people really bootlegging our stuff. So now we are here to promote the official 'Fantastic vol. 2'. I hope that the people over here who still got the bootleg version still are going to support us.
AQ: How do you end up in Japan?
Baatin: A guy named Sushi overheard a guy that we know, a DJ, had a connection with a guy in Japan. He said he heard some of our tracks. Saying: "Man get this over here! Send me that and this." He made an album of it. And we got paid. He sent 25 copies back to us, and that is how it got started. From there to Canada to all over the United States. To make it even here. London, Europe. Now we are touring Europe but we still didn't tour Japan.

AQ: It's said that you are in the same line as the Native Tongue movement?
T3: It's not the same style as The Native Tongues, but we kinda carrying on a tradition, whatever. The whole movement of The Native Tongue kinda passed us. But we keep on carrying and running so far as we can go with it. You see, what the Native Tongues were doing back in the day and what Slum Village is doing are totally different things. We are dirty and we are gritty. A lot of stuff that the normal Native Tongues wouldn't do. A lot of cursing, vulgar. An album should be like a person. Nobody is always happy, sometimes you are mad. I don't like when people are portraying an image. Because I'm a person. That means I might do anything tomorrow. And that is Slum Village, we do our stuff.

SLUM: n. A squalid, dirty, overcrowded street or section of a city, marked by the poverty and poor living conditions of its inhabitants.
VILLAGE: n. A collection of houses in a rural district, smaller than a town but larger than a hamlet, and usually arranged according to a regular plan. Villages may or may not be incorporated.

AQ: How did you come up with the name Slum Village?
T3: We were looking in the dictionary, looking at different things that would describe the sound of that time when we were really dirty, deep and stuff. It sort of canceled each other out. Slum and Village, you wouldn't put them together. If you thing about a slum, you think a city. If you think a village you think of a nice suburb. It's a contradiction.

AQ: What do you find in the spoken worth?
T3: A lot of stuff is real spontaneous. It usually happens when Jay Dee makes a beat or something. And we write right then. Not going home and concentrate for a week, or so. We do those type of things too. Most of the stuff is spontaneous. At least the most of the stuff on our last album was. Like I said. There is no telling what we are gonna do next time. So...

Baatin: What makes us different is that each song you hear is a totally different experience. Where ever it was inspired or spontaneously. It was a totally different song. Each song on the album is different. If the audience don't do too much of expecting things. Maybe they can understand the different taste of our music.
T3: Don't expect to what you hear on track seven, to hear it again on track ten. We try to take the best essentials of all music. That is what Detroit is. We don't have a set sound. It's a mixture of everything. That is kinda what Slum Village is. The best, we try to take the essentials of each music. What ever it's G-music, house, whatever. We're musicians. That is how we do our stuff. Never expect nothing, because we are musicians, we play, write and we sing. It's that we chosen to rap on this album.

Jay Dee worked with a lot of artists: Busta Rhymes, Janet Jackson, Keith Murray, Pharcyde. "Got Till It's Gone Remix", I did that.
AQ: How was it working with her?
Janet: Really fast, she already picked the track before we even came down. Just a couple of hours in the studio. But it was cool.

AQ: What is your vision in what you try to do with this music?
Jay Dee: It's kinda weird. Because we like all kinds of music. Some day I feel like some Salsa shit. And the next thing maybe some James Brown shit. Just the best elements of types of music. That is what I think.
AQ: How can you put your style in words?
Jay Dee: Euhm...Just feel good music

AQ



		Slum Village Slum Village is a good alternative for A Tribe Called Quest, states Felicia A. Williams in The Source, May 1999, #116 (www.thesource.com). We have no material to review. Following Felicia's review the new album of Slum Village sounds promising, "Now Q-Tip seems to have found worthy heirs". Accidentally I run into Slum Village at a Bassline party, in Paradiso Amsterdam, which should have showcased Pete Rock. Emerald Beryl and Atheem-doing-dishes-while-A&Ring hooked me up for an interview. The quoted lyric in The Source gives a good indication what kind of group Jay Dee, T3 and Baatin forms. "I sit and wonder when I think about these written rhymes/How'd I get to the point where it be takin' all my time/Time I could'a been spendin' getting cash getting mines.../Gettin' the fuck out the ghetto because I'm tired of crime/But it's a crime that I feel this fuckin' way sometime." Slum Village is produced by Jay Dee, who also drops his lyrics on each track. Jay Dee is a member of an interesting production crew called the Ummah (Community Of Brotherhood). Jay Dee: "The Ummah is being in effect since 1995. Recently D'Angelo and Rafael Saadiq have joined." Other members are Q-Tip and Ali Muhammad. On the album are some well known names: D'Angelo, Kurupt, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes. Jay Dee on projects in the pipeline: "We are now working on a movie. Danny Glover is involved in it. We don't have a title yet. It's a musical, though. It's a jailhouse musical. Q-Tip just asked me if I wanted to be a part, with him and Ali as well. It was his idea to form this thing." Slum Village originated from Detroit, Motown City. "In the business for six years, but as a group going around for twelve years." The first album was released independently, Fantastic Vol.1. The new album, Fantastic vol. 2, is now released on A&M Records. "Just that you're not officially out, doesn't mean you're not done a lot of material. We gonna reissue those albums on the Internet". (The address is still under construction) says T3. Fantastic vol. 1 blew up big in Japan. T3: It was an underground buzz. It was a big buzz. All the material that already was out over here are bootlegs. There are some people really bootlegging our stuff. So now we are here to promote the official 'Fantastic vol. 2'. I hope that the people over here who still got the bootleg version still are going to support us. AQ: How do you end up in Japan? Baatin: A guy named Sushi overheard a guy that we know, a DJ, had a connection with a guy in Japan. He said he heard some of our tracks. Saying: "Man get this over here! Send me that and this." He made an album of it. And we got paid. He sent 25 copies back to us, and that is how it got started. From there to Canada to all over the United States. To make it even here. London, Europe. Now we are touring Europe but we still didn't tour Japan. AQ: It's said that you are in the same line as the Native Tongue movement? T3: It's not the same style as The Native Tongues, but we kinda carrying on a tradition, whatever. The whole movement of The Native Tongue kinda passed us. But we keep on carrying and running so far as we can go with it. You see, what the Native Tongues were doing back in the day and what Slum Village is doing are totally different things. We are dirty and we are gritty. A lot of stuff that the normal Native Tongues wouldn't do. A lot of cursing, vulgar. An album should be like a person. Nobody is always happy, sometimes you are mad. I don't like when people are portraying an image. Because I'm a person. That means I might do anything tomorrow. And that is Slum Village, we do our stuff. SLUM: n. A squalid, dirty, overcrowded street or section of a city, marked by the poverty and poor living conditions of its inhabitants. VILLAGE: n. A collection of houses in a rural district, smaller than a town but larger than a hamlet, and usually arranged according to a regular plan. Villages may or may not be incorporated. AQ: How did you come up with the name Slum Village? T3: We were looking in the dictionary, looking at different things that would describe the sound of that time when we were really dirty, deep and stuff. It sort of canceled each other out. Slum and Village, you wouldn't put them together. If you thing about a slum, you think a city. If you think a village you think of a nice suburb. It's a contradiction. AQ: What do you find in the spoken worth? T3: A lot of stuff is real spontaneous. It usually happens when Jay Dee makes a beat or something. And we write right then. Not going home and concentrate for a week, or so. We do those type of things too. Most of the stuff is spontaneous. At least the most of the stuff on our last album was. Like I said. There is no telling what we are gonna do next time. So... Baatin: What makes us different is that each song you hear is a totally different experience. Where ever it was inspired or spontaneously. It was a totally different song. Each song on the album is different. If the audience don't do too much of expecting things. Maybe they can understand the different taste of our music. T3: Don't expect to what you hear on track seven, to hear it again on track ten. We try to take the best essentials of all music. That is what Detroit is. We don't have a set sound. It's a mixture of everything. That is kinda what Slum Village is. The best, we try to take the essentials of each music. What ever it's G-music, house, whatever. We're musicians. That is how we do our stuff. Never expect nothing, because we are musicians, we play, write and we sing. It's that we chosen to rap on this album. Jay Dee worked with a lot of artists: Busta Rhymes, Janet Jackson, Keith Murray, Pharcyde. "Got Till It's Gone Remix", I did that. AQ: How was it working with her? Janet: Really fast, she already picked the track before we even came down. Just a couple of hours in the studio. But it was cool. AQ: What is your vision in what you try to do with this music? Jay Dee: It's kinda weird. Because we like all kinds of music. Some day I feel like some Salsa shit. And the next thing maybe some James Brown shit. Just the best elements of types of music. That is what I think. AQ: How can you put your style in words? Jay Dee: Euhm...Just feel good music AQ © 1999 ART12/VanderHoek Publishing. All rights reserved.