Time and time again rap groups fade away, but those with a strong foundation like Detroit’s own Slum Village are often hard to dissolve. My Mood is Music had the pleasure of speaking with T-3 from Slum Village where he discusses the group’s upcoming album, their role on the Rock the Bells Tour, upcoming projects, and much more. This group is anything, but tainted yet actually refined as they continue to uplift the legacy of J. Dilla by delivering quality music.

MMIM: Your website refers to Slum Village as a “liquid association” with members coming and going during the group’s evolution. Can you tell our readers what the current state of Slum Village is?
T3: The current state of Slum Village ( Laughs). It’s me Elzhi and Baatin.

MMIM: What about Illa J? (J Dilla’s brother)
T: He has helped us with a couple of songs.

MMIM: What is Slum Village currently doing to keep the J Dilla legacy alive?
T3: We are on the Rock the Bells Tour and it started about three weeks ago. We are also getting ready to drop a new album.

MMIM: Speaking of the new album. Your current single with Marsha Ambrosius, Cloud Nine we really like it.
T3: Oh okay, thanks.

MMIM: The album is called Villa Manifesto correct?
T3: Yes

MMIM: What can we expect to see from you all on this album?
T3: Well you will see all three members on this album, which is good. Baatin brings a lot of flavor to the pot, since he has a lot of character. This album will let people know what we have been doing for the last four years since we’ve dropped an album. It’s a real nice album. We are about to shoot the video for our single, Cloud Nine. However, before we shoot the video for that we are doing a skit, which is hilarious. We are shooting that next week where Baatin will be singing and rapping, so definitely be on the lookout for that. The skit is still untitled, but it’s exciting because our fans will see us three together again.

MMIM: Nice! So how do you all plan to release that. Will it be through different online channels?
T3: Yea just online. We want to release it virally, but the skit will definitely be on the album. The skit was produced by Kareem Riggins, who also did our Tainted track.

MMIM: I love the Tainted track, and how you all collaborated with Dwele.
T3: Dwele is actually directing the video for us, so it should be pretty dope.

MMIM: We are looking forward to seeing that and sharing it with our readers.

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