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Underground mainstays Slum IN TERNAL Village's future comes AFFARS Slum Villi'IIge, whom many folks consider to be the foundation of Oetroit's thriving underground scene, have released six albums since their for- mation in 1996. However, the fellow- ship between current members T3 and Elzhi could be coming undone via , of all things, Twitter. In late June, founding member T3 responded to reports that he had relieved Elzhi of his SV duties with the following tweet: "[First) of all I never kick anyone out of the group." He then went on to tYPE!, "one more thing ... This is the last Slum Village Album," referring to Villa Manifesto, which was released in late July on Ne'Astra Music Group/E1 So is this the end? It's hard to tell. Ne'Astra (formerly known as Barak Records), the group's longtime label, is proceeding with business as usual. "There has been no official announce- ment of the breakup of Slum Village by T3 ," says Barak founder R.J. Rice. Indeed, both T3 and Elzhi remain tight- lipped in the wake of the Twitter ordeal. "1 will always have love for Slum Village, and I'm open to do more in the future," says Elzhi. "II really all depends on the level of cooperation from our current label." T3 assures that everything between the two of them, on a personal level, is copacetic. "I been talkin ' to [Elzhi] all week, man ," says T3. "I can't speak for [Elzhi] ... I can 't really speak on the sit- uation; this situation has to be worked under question. out internally ... It ain't like people mak- ing it to be- like we beefed out or something like that. " If this is in fact Slum Village's cur- tain call, hip-hop is witnessing the an- ticlimactic dissolution of one of the un- derground's most influential acts. In 2000, the original SV lineup (T3 , rapper Baatin and late producer extraordinaire J Dilla) unveiled their second album , Fantastic Vol. 2. Regarded today as an underground classic, Fantastic Vol. 2 etched the framework for the sonic tap- estry of like-minded artists such as The Roots and Common . In the following years, Dilla went solo, before succumb- ing to lupus and the blood disease TTP in February 2006, and Elzhi joined up, only to have Baatin leave and return again, prior to his death in July 2009. No matter the outcome of the group's present situation, T3 remains optimistic regarding their legacy. "Slum Village is my baby. We 'll move," he says. "I been with Slum since day one. I got- ta make sure that the brand that's Slum Village stands for good music ... We just gon' get through this Villa Manifesto album, and just see how things go." And the beat goes on ... for now. - LAURENCE BASS FOR XXL'S THO UG HTS ON WHAT COULD BE SLU M VILLAGE'S FINAL LP, VILLA MANIFESTO . SEE PAGE 148 . I let Danfused The follies of Drake's Thank Me Later " Isn ' t it ironic that the girl I wanna man'y is 'I wedding pl. anner/ Thllt tells mt' my life is too much and then moves to Atlanta '? " - I}rake, "Karaoke" (Thallk Me L{/(er, 2010) Sad? Yes. Ironi c') Nol so much. Irony, as dellncd hy Merriam-Webster. is the "incongruily hetween the actual re sult of a seq uen ce o f ewnts and the normal or expected result." Ex pecting a girl to malTY you hecause slw plans weddings for a liv- ing isn't ironic- -- it 'sjust overly romantic. "I'm 23 with a money trec/ Growin' more, too, I just planted a hundred seeds/ It's ironic, 'cause my mother WllS a florist/And that's how she met my pops, and now my g'lrden is enormous." -I}rake, "TIll' Hesistance" (Tlulllk Me Liller, 2010) Closer, but s till not ironic. The connection between hi s mother and hi s imaginary garden is quite the coincidence (we guess). but, as dictionary, com tells us, "a seque nce of event s th at although acci- dental seems to Iw ve been plmllled or ammgcd" is only that, a coincidence not an example of irony. ",Jealous dudes get to talkin' in they music/ And I just say, 'I wrote it for yo girlfriends, Kelsey Gral11mer.'" -Drake, "Light Up" (Tlrallk Me Lalel', 2010) Fra.l'il'l' star Kelsey Gra mmer neve r wrote for the CW show Gir/fi 'iellds. He's credited as an execulivc producer, not a write r. His Grammnct Productions co mpany oversaw th e hit sitco lll . "OWW\\'. hoes turn tht 'y heads like owlsll'm the man of the ow (hollr)lTriple entendre, don ' t even ask mt ' how." - Jay-Z, "Light Up" (Thallk Me Lale,; 2010) A double entendre is defined by MelTialll-Webster as "a word or expression capable of two int c'l1retations," HoI' should have Illl- I OIVed this linc with a "no hOlllo." because hi s wordplay is full ofholllophoncs: "words pronounced alike but differcnt in llIeaning or deri va tion or spelling." - VAUGHN ROLAND AND CALVIN STOVALL u Q I : < I I 056 SEPT 2010 XXLMAG.COM

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Underground mainstays SlumINTERNAL Villages future comes

AFFARS

Slum VilliIIge whom many folks consider to be the foundation of Oetroits thriving underground scene have released six albums since their forshymation in 1996 However the fellowshyship between current members T3 and Elzhi could be coming undone via of all things Twitter In late June founding member T3 responded to reports that he had relieved Elzhi of his SV duties with the following tweet [First) of all I never kick anyone out of the group He then went on to tYPE one more thing This is the last Slum Village Album referring to Villa Manifesto which was released in late July on NeAstra Music GroupE1

So is this the end Its hard to tell NeAstra (formerly known as Barak Records) the groups longtime label is proceeding with business as usual There has been no official announceshyment of the breakup of Slum Village by T3 says Barak founder RJ Rice Indeed both T3 and Elzhi remain tightshylipped in the wake of the Twitter ordeal 1 will always have love for Slum Village and Im open to do more in the future says Elzhi II really all depends on the level of cooperation from our current label

T3 assures that everything between the two of them on a personal level is copacetic I been talkin to [Elzhi] all week man says T3 I cant speak for [Elzhi] I can t really speak on the sitshyuation this situation has to be worked

under question

out internally It ain t like people makshying it to be- like we beefed out or something like that

If this is in fact Slum Village s curshytain call hip-hop is witnessing the anshyticlimactic dissolution of one of the unshyderground s most influential acts In 2000 the original SV lineup (T3 rapper Baatin and late producer extraordinaire J Dilla) unveiled their second album Fantastic Vol 2 Regarded today as an underground classic Fantastic Vol 2 etched the framework for the sonic tapshyestry of like-minded artists such as The Roots and Common In the following years Dilla went solo before succumbshying to lupus and the blood disease TTP in February 2006 and Elzhi joined up only to have Baatin leave and return again prior to his death in July 2009

No matter the outcome of the groups present situation T3 remains optimistic regarding their legacy Slum Village is my baby Well move he says I been with Slum since day one I gotshyta make sure that the brand that s Slum Village stands for good music We just gon get through this Villa Manifesto album and just see how things go

And the beat goes on for now - LAURENCE BASS

FOR XXLS THO UG HTS ON WHAT

COULD BE SLU M VILLAGES

FINAL LP VILLA MANIFESTO

SEE PAGE 148

I let Danfused The follies of Drakes Thank Me Later Isn t it ironic that the girl I wanna many is

I wedding plannerThllt tells mt my life is too much and then moves to Atlanta - Irake

Karaoke (Thallk Me L(er 2010) Sad Yes Ironic) Nol so much Irony as dellncd

hy Merriam-Webster is the incongruily hetween

the actual result of a sequence o f ewnts and the normal or expected result Expecting a girl to

malTY you hecause slw plans weddings for a livshying isnt ironic- --it sjust overly romantic

Im 23 with a money trecGrowin more

too I just planted a hundred seedsIts ironic cause my mother WllS a florist And thats

how she met my pops and now my glrden

is enormous -Irake TIll Hesistance

(Tlulllk Me Liller 2010) Closer but still not ironic The connection between

his mother and his imaginary garden is quite the coincidence (we guess) but as dictionarycom

tells us a sequence of events that although accishydental seems to Iw ve been plmllled or ammgcd is

only that a coincidence not an example of irony

Jealous dudes get to talkin in they music

And I just say I wrote it for yo girlfriends Kelsey Gral11mer -Drake Light Up

(Tlrallk Me Lalel 2010) Fralill star Kelsey Grammer never wrote for

the CW show Girfiiellds Hes credited as an

execulivc produce r not a writ er His Grammnct Productions company oversaw the hit sitcolll

OWW hoes turn thty heads like owlsllm the man of the ow (hollr)lTriple entendre

don t even ask mt how - Jay-Z Light Up

(Thallk Me Lale 2010) A double entendre is defined by MelTialll-Webster

as a word or ex pression capable of two

intcl1retations HoI should have Illlshy

IOIVed this linc with a no hOlllo because

hi s wordplay is full ofholllophoncs

words pronounced alike but differcnt in llIeaning or deri va tion or spelling

~

- VAUGHN ROLAND AND

CALVIN STOVALL

uJ Q

I

ltJ)

I ~ ul

~ a (I)

n Ii ltf)

ui

Ci a

056 SEPT 2010 XXLMAGCOM