I can’t reiterate enough just how epic and infamous the crew Slum Village was to hip-hop. Here is a strong analogy that I would have to agree with; slum village is to hip-hop as water is to plant-life. Yeah… I said it. At the time of the group’s rise to prominence in what some would call post-golden era rap, the SV was necessary. Dilla, with his repetitive and obscurely sampled beats helped to define what critics now genrerize as “stoner-rap”. Baatin’s quirky, yet smooth flow, combined with the solidarity that T3 provided (his lyrics would get out there quiite often too) was just ingenious and a refreshing break from the blinging and balling which was becoming popular.

Recently, a video for the track “Actin Normal” from Villa Manifesto dropped. The video was shot sometime shortly before the untimely death of Baatin. The video is hilarious, and the song is great too. It somewhat takes me back to the days of Fan-Tas-Tic Vol.1 where you can hear the fun the guys were having in the music. I wonder who produced the track? If you know, please comment. Check out the video below and be on the lookout for Villa Manifesto. Peace and love to families of Jay Dee and Baatin.

Slum Village- Actin Normal

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Titus “Baatin” Glover moved on to be with his brother J Dilla on July 31, 2009. He was 35 years old. One of Detroit’s finest and most respected MC’s, words really cant describe how seminal and underrated this man was to hip-hop. A true eccentric, Baatin would often open on a track saying something funny or with an impersonation and immediately fall into rhyme. He had the unique ability to spit conscious rhymes but also act a fool all in the same song, sometimes going over listeners heads. In 1997, Baatin, Jay Dee and original Slum Village member, T3 blessed us with Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1, easily one of the most important hip-hop albums of the late 90’s.

Over the last decade many great contributors to music have passed away, but it is important to remember and celebrate the achievements of these people in life and not just in death. With that said, there are some tracks from the man himself while running with the SV after the jump. We also provided you with some interviews with Baatin to give you a better look into the messages in some of his music.

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This is your Daily 2% – Chilled and Ready to Serve. We will try to bring you one “chill” track every day. This is for when you get home and you are trying to unwind. You reach for that glass of wine or that unlit Black & Mild or maybe you reach for something more herbal. This track is for those times. We will try to bring you at least one a day. We are just your milkmen and I’m here to make a delivery. Chill…..

Today’s delivery is brought to you by Slum Village. You can’t have a chill songs posting and not mention Slum Village every now and then. This group’s producer, J Dilla, is one of the main reasons people continue to make chill hip-hop to this day. A lot of newcomers would say that J Dilla is a big influence on them when it comes to house-party/chill/bob your head style hip-hop. Slum Village and still enjoyed success after J Dilla left the group but I would say their best work was with him. J Dilla will be missed. Today’s track is called “Forth & Back” which is “rock music” from the album entitled FAN-TAS-TIC Vol 1.. I also threw in two extra quick songs from the same album. Please sit back and chill…

Just rock to the rhythm… forth and back..forth and back…forth and back…

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Slum Village – Forth & Back (Rock Music)

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Slum Village – Fantastic 2

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Slum Village – Fantastic 3

• myspace.com/slumvillage
• R.I.P J Dilla(February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006). We Miss You.

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