Alongside D12, Slum Village is inarguably the most influential hip-hop collective to have emerged from the Motor City. Now a duo composed of original member T3 plus Young RJ, the legendary J Dilla (RIP) was once in the ranks, as were Baatin (RIP), Elzhi, and Illa J (Dilla's younger brother). Rappers have come and gone, but Slum Village is very much alive in 2026. They released the F.U.N. album two years ago, and they still regularly play out.
In the middle of a July week, Slum performed at the Blue Note jazz club in Hollywood. In fact, they performed two sets on the same evening, as is the norm for that venue. Honestly, it was all a bit weird. The new L.A. Blue Note location is stunning, but the dining-and-entertainment vibe is far more suited to jazz and lounge music than the sort of vibrant rap that Slum Village has become known for. Both T3 and RJ attempted, on numerous occasions, to bring the crowd to its feet during the first of those two sets, with mixed results. But then, to be fair, it's difficult to stand and dance when you're trying to get through an arugula and butternut squash salad.
Still, the show was a ton of fun, and Young RJ (appropriately sporting a Detroit Red Wings hockey shirt) once again proved that he's worthy of his spot.
"The original Slum Village seemed like they had split personalities,” he told this writer in 2003 for a Detroit Metro Times interview. "Dilla was cool, a nice guy, He helped you with whatever you needed, but he also had a temper. A lot of people didn’t get the chance to see that temper. But it was like, if he didn’t show you that temper, it was because he didn’t really care. Baatin was a funny guy, hilarious, and that was a person you definitely didn’t want to crack jokes on. He’d hurt your feelings. T3 is a good guy but a lot of people don’t know that T3 produces. He wrote all of them hooks. All the Slum Village records you heard were written or produced by T3."
As for the set, it was as good as we could have hoped. Plenty of tunes from the classic Fan-Tas-Tic, volumes 1 and 2 ("Conant Gardens," "Raise it Up," etc). A blast through J Dilla's "Fuck the Police" is a highlight, and we get guest appearances from old friends Ras Kass and Kurupt.
Good food and great music, surrounded by fun people. Even without space to really dance, a good time was had by all.
