Slum Village Live @ Jazz Cafe on Tuesday

SLUM VILLAGE
Live @ Jazz Cafe Tuesday 28th February, doors 7pm, £17.50 advance

Jazz Cafe
5 Parkway
Camden Town
London NW1 7PG

IN SUPPORT OF THEIR PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED,

FIRST EVER ALBUM 'FANTASTIC VOLUME 1' RELEASED THROUGH SCENARIO RECORDS 02.05.06

SLUM VILLAGE
‘FANTASTIC VOLUME 1’
RELEASE DATE: 2ND MAY 2006

’Volume One’ is the album which first highlighted the immense talent of producer and founding Slum Village member Jay-Dee aka J-Dilla. Ironically, for a project which garnered such huge critical praise within the industry it was never officially released, and became instead one of hip hop's most bootlegged releases ever - 'platinum on the street' as Jay-Dee himself called it in an interview, at the same time thanking those responsible for putting him on the map as a producer.

’Volume One’ features the original Slum Village line up of Jay Dee, T-3 and Baatin, and also features production by Waajeed - currently making noise with his project, Platinum Pied Pipers.

On the basis of this release ?uestlove (of The Roots) dubbed S.V "the next level in soulful, vintage hip-hop", and speaking of Jay-Dee in the past few days, following his untimely passing, "I am devastated at the world's loss of a musical genius of Charlie Parker proportions. Too often we bestow the 'greatest' title upon those who have the attention of the press and the charts and radio. But if you were to secretly ask the most praised hip-hop producers, if given a top three, who they fear the most, Dilla's name would chart on everyone's list, hands down. Dilla was and will always be my hero."

On the basis of ‘Volume One’, Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest also recognized the brilliance of Jay's production, and together they went on to form The Ummah production team constructing much of the two final ATCQ albums, Busta Rhymes first solo album, and work for D'Angelo, Common, The Phycyde and many many more.

More recently, Jay Dee has been cited as an influence by Kanye West and Pharrell Williams, who named him as one of his favourite producers.

In short, ‘Volume One’ is unquestionably a hip hop masterpiece, which deserves to be ranked alongside the likes of ‘Midnight Marauders’, ‘Illmatic’, ‘The Chronic’ and ‘36 Chambers’.

 
LIVE DATES:

    * TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28TH, JAZZ CAFÉ
    * THURSDAY, APRIL 27, LEEDS
    * FRIDAY, APRIL 28, JAZZ CAFÉ, LONDON 

BIOGRAPHY

Hailing from Detroit, Slum Village carries on the old-school, funk, and soul-filled hip-hop torch of genre pioneers A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and the Pharcyde.

MCs Baatin, Jay Dee, and T3 formed during high school days and quickly garnered praise and recognition in the local underground scene.

In the mid-'90s, Jay Dee became part of the hip-hop elite as a member of The Ummah, the production team responsible for multiple hits by Q-Tip, A Tribe Called Quest, D'Angelo, the Pharcyde, De La Soul and Common - as well as remixes for Janet Jackson and Brand New Heavies.

In 2000 the collective released Fantastic Vol. 2, an album featuring appearances from D'Angelo, Q-Tip and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

The single Tainted broke their silence in the summer of 2002 and became a growing hit on MTV2, followed by the album Trinity (Past, Present and Future), which introduced new member, Elzhi.

Later that year, Slum Village released Dirty District, a compilation of Detroit MCs produced by T3 and compatriot RJ Rice.

By the time recording began for their fourth proper album, Baatin was gone from the lineup, a victim of schizophrenia that briefly incapacitated him (he later mounted a solo career).

T3 and Elzhi picked up the slack by inviting high-profile guests including Dirt McGirt and Kanye West and Capitol released the results, Detroit Deli (A Taste of Detroit), in June 2004.

T3 -  MC
Elzhi – Mc
Dez - DJ