Author Topic: T3 Of Slum Village Interview (Read 385 times)

D-Nice · « **on:** July 07, 2010, 07:31:08 AM »

http://www.illuminati2g.com/t3interview.htm

I2G kicked it with T3 of Slum Village fora exclusive interview. We discuss the group's upcoming album, Villa Manifesto, coming out on July 27th, the lasting legacy of the group and good memories T shares with us. Dope read, check it out.

Illuminati 2G is here with T3 of Slum Village, how's it going?

What's the deal!

Slum Village has a new album entitled Villa Manifesto dropping on July 27th. Tell me a little bit about the album.

First of all let me tell you about the vision for the album. It all stemmed from a conversation me and Dilla had before he passed. It was about all of us coming together and doing a Slum Village album with me, Dilla, Baatin, and Elzhi. Then Dilla passed and I really did not do a lot of music for about 2 or 3 years because I was going through my grieving period.

I told myself after that, if Slum Village is going to do another album, I have to bring Baatin back to the group. So we started to put the group back together and Elzhi was on the road doing shows, and Baatin was as well so we got them back in the fold and then we went back and recorded the Villa Manifesto.

But as many people know, Baatin passed away. That broke my heart and to this day I still feel that pain, but luckily he did a lot of lyrics before he passed. We mapped it out from there and created this process, this Villa Manifesto album. We have some Dilla verses and beats and we also had a lot of support from a lot of people who contributed on this album.

That leads right into my next question. Did you find it a difficult process of completing the album difficult even though you had a lot of verses already done from Baatin with his passing before this project was done?

It was a roller coaster ride. Things were coming together magically but truly it was difficult. Luckily I had the support of people because no one hit us up on a money tip. They just wanted to be a part of the situation because they support Slum. People were just there for us, and it made it a lot easier for me to put it together, and to have the blessings of Ms. Yancey and to bring Illa Jay in the fold it all worked out.

What are some good memories that you keep with you in working with Slum Village?

Good memories with us were that we were always joking around with each other. A lot of the records that were made from early Slum were straight comedy. One of the memories I have is that we used to all work at a factory. There was this guy that worked there, and I don't know if he was retarded or was just trying to be funny but we made a song out of it and it came out fresh.

Just small stuff like that back when music was about a vibe you would have and just having fun. It was not always about proving a point or how lyrical you could be and I always remember those times because that was a important time and process on how the whole Slum Village group was formulated.

What do you feel once it is all said and done what do you feel is Slum Village lasting legacy in hip hop?

I think our legacy is that Slum Village has been around a long time and we were always able to reinvent themselves. We were always able to come back and with all the drama we went through, they were still able to come back and make great records. Every time we dropped an album, we got bigger and got more love.

Even with all the drama that we dealt with. I just want people to realize that and for some it is even like wow I did not even know how they even got to this point. They were just one of those groups that could always find a way. I want to thank all of our supporters and the people that have been uplifting us throughout the years.

I just wanted to get real quick your personal favorite tracks from your albums that Slum Village has dropped. What is your favorite track off of Fantastic Volume 1?

I am going to have to say, it’s Like A Dilla joint. That joint off of Volume 1 is my favorite joint because what’s funny about that is we cracked jokes on each other and we used to talk about each other in songs.

That song is him talking about us believe it or not so I would have to say that is my favorite off of Volume 1.

Ok, how about Fantastic Volume 2?

Now 2 would be…, I don’t know. No now that I think about it, it would be Get This Money. Nah I take that back, it would be Raise It Up. Because of the memories I have from working on Raise It Up. I remember Dilla playing the beat for me and I told him I don’t know about this beat Dilla.

Now mind you, I don’t ever say that about any Dilla beats except this one. He was like man I am telling you, and I was like ehh ok let me see what you do on it first. Once I heard Dilla’s verse, I was amazed.

I was like oh ok maybe I was wrong. Then I came up with my concept and the rest of us as well. Then it all came together into the song you hear today.

What about on the album Trinity?

Trinity was our breakout album because all the pressure was on me. I became the official leader of Slum Village. Favorite record off of Trinity would be Tainted because that is our breakout record. That is one of those records that Kareem brought to me.

He said man I think this could be the group’s next single. I said for real and he said yeah. I was like ok let me see what I can come up with. It just all fell together and that was when we showcased Dwele as well so I would say that song, Tainted.

What about on the new album Villa Manifesto? What is your favorite track off of that album?

I would have to say my favorite track off this album is the Reunion 2 joint. Because that song is the answer from Baatin to the first Reunion joint. It is like a continuous story of his life, how he went to the mental hospital and he was just going through his thing and how he was happy that Slum was able to bring him back.

He also talked about how he prayed about it to happen as well. So that is the reason why that joint is my favorite on the album.

Do you have any upcoming shows or promo and tour dates?

Yeah, we are working on a few things right now. I know we are in Chicago on the 10th of July and we are probably going to start working on the tour sometime in August. We are at this point just squaring away which tour we are going to jump off.

What is your website information?

www.twitter.com/slumvillage313. My personal twitter is www.twitter.com/t3sv. www.slumvillage.com. www.myspace.com/slumvillage.

Alright well that is all the questions I have for you. Appreciate you getting down for the interview. Is there any last words or shoutouts you want to get out there to the people?

I want to say check out the new Slum Village album, coming July 27th, Villa Manifesto. Look for solo projects from us at the end of the year. Thanks to all the fans and our supporters, people who have been with us through our roller coaster ups and downs, I appreciate that.

Appreciate the interview.

Thank you.