Slum Village Interview: From The Deli To The Slums

by Alex Shtaerman

At the heart of Detroit’s Hip-Hop scene since the late 90’s, Slum Village returns with a new self titled album, embarking on a new journey, dispelling old rumors and bringing the music back from the deli to the slums. “With Detroit Deli we was like walking the tightrope”, explains Elzhi. “We was trying to please the commercial fans and at the same time trying to please the underground fans. And really the commercial fans only knew us from songs like Selfish and songs like Tainted; they never really got what Slum Village was really about. But this new album, this is dedicated to all the heads, all the heads that was there from day one, we dedicate this one to ya’ll”.

Recently inking a deal with General Motors, T3 and Elzhi will also be appearing in nationally televised spots for Chevrolet’s new 2006 Impala. The homegrown union will include an integrated campaign with a music video feel that will incorporate Slum’s new single Ez Up. Severing ties with Capitol Records, T3 and Elzhi’s new LP debuted through the group’s home label, Barak Records. S.oulful L.egendary U.nderground M.usic ya’ll.

RIOTSOUND.COM: You got the new album that just dropped; even though the Slum Village name has been known to Hip-Hop fans for some time, we’ve seen the group evolve and go through many changes; does this in a way seem like a new beginning for you?

ELZHI: Yes it do baby. This album right here, personally I feel like it’s our best work since Fantastic Volume 2. And I’m not just saying that man. I’m not saying it just for the sake of saying it, I really feel strongly about this one. I feel like this album right here is going to connect to the fans that we lost along the way with the different member changes and basically people who never really knew about Slum man. I feel like when they hear this album, if you are a fan of good music and creative music, you’re going to love this one right here.

RIOTSOUND.COM: You just filmed a commercial for Chevy’s new Impala. Given how symbolic the automotive industry is of Detroit and also given the amount of nostalgia people have for the Impala, was this a perfect fit for you?

ELZHI: Yea, it felt like a movement to me man. First of all we are grateful that GM would ever want to sponsor and get behind the team like that. But it definitely felt like a movement. We shot the video in the D, the company is in the D, Slum is in the D, so it just felt like a new beginning man, it felt like a resurrection. It seems like it’s going to be something real powerful.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Slum has had several member changes; how has that affected your sound and what can we expect to be different about this new record?

ELZHI: When Jay Dee left we did the album Trinity and it affected our sound ’cause he was really like the backbone of Slum Village’s sound on Fantastic Volume 2. So when we jumped into Trinity we basically had to start all over. I mean, we got a couple of tracks from [Jay Dee] but that was it. We had to actually go find people to recruit to get on the album. Detroit Deli, when we did that album, we ended up taking Young RJ and Black Milk and forming them into BR Gunna and they did the majority of that album with exception of a Jay Dee cut and maybe another cut from someone else.

This new album right here is all [produced by] BR Gunna with the exception of Moss. And with this album it’s way different from Detroit Deli man. With Detroit Deli we was like walking the tightrope. We was trying to please the commercial fans and at the same time trying to please the underground fans. And really the commercial fans only knew us from songs like Selfish and songs like Tainted; they never really got what Slum Village was really about. But this new album, this is dedicated to all the heads, all the heads that was there from day one, we dedicate this one to ya’ll.

The sound of this album is just basically Slum, S-L-U-M, Soulful Legendary Underground Music, that’s all we do; that’s all we coming out with. So if you can get with that, if you looking for some underground music that’s creative and classic and at the same time it hits you in the heart man ’cause it’s so soulful then this is the album for you. But if you can’t feel that and you looking to go to the club, which I can’t criticize you for that, but don’t even bother picking this one up.

RIOTSOUND.COM: We often hear the talk about Slum Village being cut from the same cloth as A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and The Pharcyde; in what ways do you feel that type of characterization is true and in what ways is it untrue?

ELZHI: It’s true because of the type of vibes that we like. Everyone that you just named was eclectic. Everybody that you just named can enjoy Jimi Hendrix and at the same time enjoy Sergio Mendes. We are creative in that aspect but how we differ is where we come from. We from Detroit and we giving you that sound but we giving it to you in a Detroit way; the way that it’s written, the way the hooks is written, the way the songs is arranged. The way the music sounds is all coming from Detroit. But you got Tribe, you got De La, they represent they areas and they do it they way.

But we differ in terms of concepts, ’cause we may be going through things that we see in the D as they may write about concepts that they see where they at. But what pulls it all together is the vibe, the creativity and the mutual respect for one another’s open ear for the music because we all are eclectic artists. We all can vibe not just off Hip-Hop music but from classic artists from back in the day.

RIOTSOUND.COM: I want to ask you something about the city of Detroit. I recently read an article which basically talks about the city’s decline over the past 20 years and how people are moving out of the city and all the problems that go along with that; what’s your take on all that? How do you feel about the city of Detroit and some of the problems that have been described recently by various organizations?

ELZHI: I see Detroit getting itself together slowly but surely. I got faith in the city man. Just walking around downtown, just walking up and down the streets and looking at the blocks man, they working on the city, they doing a lot of construction, they trying to build up downtown. I feel like the city is doing it big man, we about to have the Superbowl here. I feel like the city is coming from a regression, it’s coming from being so jacked up and now we just starting to fix it. ‘Cause it’s been jacked up for years and now we starting to come up outta that. So I see a slow progression, I wish it was faster but any progress is good progress.

RIOTSOUND.COM: You got a bonus DVD that’s going to be included with the new Slum album, what can we expect to see on that?

ELZHI: You could just expect us breaking down the whole story of Slum Village. With this album we trying to close out this chapter of the member changes and all that other type of stuff; so after this album there won’t be no more talk about it. But on the DVD we break down everything. [We explain] why Jay Dee left, why Baatin left, the different illnesses involved, we almost giving you the short story to the movie we ’bout to write, so just check that out and you will know the whole history of the S-V.

RIOTSOUND.COM: What’s the movie going to be about; can you reveal that at this time?

ELZHI: We been in the process of writing this movie for like three years. We just trying to get it together and find someone to direct it or whatever and trying to get it tight man. But it’s basically gonna be on our life man, it’s gonna be about what we went through, the untold story. Four young brothers coming out the slums and us being victorious and making it out of it but going through the hardships that we had to go through; becoming the people that we are and what molded us and folded us into the shape of the people that we are. The story is crazy, you got illnesses, you got different changes in the group, it’s going be a mix between Juice, the Temptations and 8 Mile or something.

RIOTSOUND.COM: This is something I want to ask you out of left field; Detroit is heralded by many as the birthplace of techno music, every year they got the big Detroit Electronic Music Festival that draws hundreds of thousands of people to the city. Does Hip-Hop in Detroit play any kind of a role in that movement as well? Is there any kind of comradery between the Hop-Hop artists in Detroit and the underground techno pioneers, or would you say its two separate movements that don’t cross paths?

ELZHI: It is two separate movements that don’t really cross. That’s like, you got Hip-Hop in Detroit but then you also got rock in Detroit, you got the White Stripes and you got Kid Rock, you got borderline Eminem is rock. But then you got like you say Carl Craig and all them cats that do the techno, but then you got the underground Hip-Hop, but then you also got the soul music of Motown.

Detroit is a small area but it’s kinda crazy because even though it’s small, the musical genres are real big. I don’t know man, I feel the soul, I feel the music in the air when I take a walk downtown; it’s just an electricity like that. But everything is like separate man. We are known for those four things, rock city, techno, Motown and just that underground slum sound.

RIOTSOUND.COM: What do you have planned in the months ahead?

ELZHI: We plan on touring, we don’t really got any solidified dates yet but we plan on [going on tour]. Like we said, we got the movie, T3 is going to put out his mixtape, I’ma put a new mixtape, I’m also writing a book, T3 is working on a clothing line, I’m also trying to get a magazine published, I mean we just trying to do it real big this time.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Last question I have for you is: what are five places that anyone who goes to Detroit should visit?

ELZHI: I recommend that everyone visit the Motown Museum, people come from all over the world to check out the Motown Museum man, people in Japan do that just because it’s so huge. I recommend people coming down to Northern Lights, especially if you love that real Hip-Hop music; Northern Lights is definitely that spot to go to. You gotta hit any one of them Coney Islands* man, probably the one down town, that’s like the most popular one. You gotta hit Coney Island’s up and get a Coney Dog.

And you gotta go downtown period to feel that electricity man, just to feel the electricity in the air because it’s just such a soulful groove out there. You gotta go to Hart Plaza where we throw the DEMF Electronic Music Festival and all that. And you just gotta go into the hood man to see how we living man, to see how real Detroit is. Just to see how hard it is to come up out of a place so raw, ’cause Detroit is like a small town trapped in a city man and basically if you ain’t going to the plant or you ain’t hustling – that’s what they think, either you gotta go to the plant or you gotta hustle. A lot of people don’t really shoot for the stars it’s only a chosen few just because of the hand that they was dealt and the area.

* Editor’s note: A Coney Island is a type of restaurant popular in the Midwestern United States, particularly in the area surrounding Detroit, Michigan. The first restaurant to open was the American Coney Island in downtown Detroit, with the then-owner contending that he had bought a similarly configured chili dog at the similarly named New York park. The main dish at a Coney Island restaurant is a Coney Island hot dog, more specifically, a hot dog made from pork with casing, high fat chili, diced yellow onion and yellow mustard.

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