INTERNAL AFFARS
Underground mainstays Slum Village's future comes under question.
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The follies of Drake's Thank Me Later " Isn ' t it ironic that the girl I wanna man'y is 'I wedding pl.anner/Thllt tells mt' my life is too much and then moves to Atlanta'?" - I}rake, "Karaoke" (Thallk Me L{/(er, 2010) Sad? Yes. Ironic') Nol so much. Irony, as dellncd hy Merriam- Webster. is the "i ncongruily hetween the actual result of a seq uence o f ewnts and the normal or expected result. " Expecting a girl to malTY you hecause slw plan s weddings for a liv ing isn't ironic- --it 'sjust overly romantic.
Slum Villi'IIge, whom many folks consider to be the foundation of Oetroit's thriving underground scene, have released six albums since their for mation in 1996. However, the fellow ship between current members T3 and Elzhi could be coming undone via, of all things, Twitter. In late June, founding member T3 responded to reports that he had relieved Elzhi of his SV duties with the following tweet: "[First) of all I never kick anyone out of the group." He then went on to tYPE!, "one more thing ... This is the last Slum Village Album," referring to Villa Manifesto, which was released in late July on Ne'Astra Music Group/E1 So is this the end? It's hard to tell. Ne'Astra (formerly known as Barak Records) , the group's longtime label , is proceeding with business as usual. "There has been no official announce ment of the breakup of Slum Village by T3," says Barak founder R.J. Rice. Indeed , both T3 and Elzhi remain tight lipped in the wake of the Twitter ordeal. "1 will always have love for Slum Village, and I'm open to do more in the future," says Elzhi. "II really all depends on the level of cooperation from our current label." T3 assures that everything between the two of them , on a personal level, is copacetic . "I been talkin ' to [Elzhi] all week, man ," says T3. "I can't speak for [Elzhi] ... I can 't really speak on the sit uation ; this situation has to be worked
out internally ... It ain 't like people mak "I'm 23 with a money trec/Growin' more, ing it to be- like we beefed out or too, I just planted a hundred seeds/It's ironic, something like that. " 'cause my mother WllS a florist/And that's If this is in fact Slum Village 's cur how she met my pops, and now my g'lrden tain call , hip-hop is witnessing the an is enormous." -I}rake, "TIll' Hesistance" ticlimactic dissolution of one of the un (Tlulllk Me Liller, 2010) derground 's most influential acts. In Closer, but still not ironic . The connection between 2000, the original SV lineup (T3, rapper his mother and his imaginary garden is quite the Baatin and late producer extraordinaire coincidence (we guess). but , as dictionary,com J Dilla) unveiled their second album , tells us, "a sequence of events that although acci Fantastic Vol. 2. Regarded today as an dental seems to Iw ve been plmllled or ammgcd" is underground classic, Fantastic Vol. 2 only that , a coincidence not an example of irony. etched the framework for the sonic tap estry of like-minded artists such as The ",Jealous dudes get to talkin' in they music/ Roots and Common . In the following And I just say, 'I wrote it for yo girlfriends, years, Dilla went solo , before succumb Kelsey Gral11mer.'" -Drake, "Light Up" ing to lupus and the blood disease TTP (Tlrallk Me Lalel', 2010) in February 2006 , and Elzhi joined up, Fra.l'il'l' star Kelsey G rammer never wrote for only to have Baatin leave and return the CW show Gir/fi'iellds. He's credited as an again, prior to his death in July 2009. execulivc produce r, not a writ er. His Grammnct No matter the outcome of the Productions company oversaw the hit sitco lll . group's present situation, T3 remains optimistic regarding their legacy. "Slum "OWW\\'. hoes turn tht'y heads like owlsll'm Village is my baby. We 'll move," he says. the man of the ow (hollr)lTriple entendre, "I been with Slum since day one. I got don ' t even ask mt' how." - Jay-Z, "Light Up" ta make sure that the brand that 's Slum (Thallk Me Lale,; 2010) Village stands for good music ... We just A double entendre is defined by MelTialll-Webster gon' get through this Villa Manifesto as " a word or ex pression capable of two album, and just see how things go." int c'l1retations," HoI' should have Illl ~ And the beat goes on ... for now. IOIVed this linc with a "no hOlllo." because - LAURENCE BASS FOR XXL'S THO UG HTS ON WHAT
hi s wordplay is full ofholllophoncs: "words pronounced alike but differcnt in llIeaning or deri va tion or spelling."
COULD BE SLU M VILLAGE'S
- VAUGHN ROLAND AND
FINAL LP, VILLA MANIFESTO .
CALVIN STOVALL
SEE PAGE 148 .
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