Slum Village, Jazz Cafe London
‘90s hip-hop mainstays Slum Village graced the stage of London’s Jazz Café to promote their sixth and most recent mixtape, The Dirty Slums.
The Dirty Slums is a 20-track mixtape featuring appearances from artists such as De la Soul and Phonte.
The mixtape sees Slum Village acknowledge the changes and tragedy within the group over the years, with many of its tracks running with their focus on legacy within the group and through their music.
Slum Village is now a duo comprising T3 and Illa J (brother of the late J Dilla), the remaining ambassadors for the original group. They performed a number of classics such as ‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Look of Love’. The duo’s conscious lyrics were set atop rich neo-soul instrumentals, and the energy was high from an obedient crowd, responding to a ‘fill in the gap’ style theme throughout the night.
All efforts were further praised for T3 and Illa J’s symmetrical choreography, as they attempted to rap and dance at the same time, with the electric slide being a popular choice for the evening’s performance.
Between the fiery delivery of tracks, and the casual banter and audience interactions, Slum Village were able to successfully fulfil what they had planned all along; to continue along on the journey they invented.
By Karen-Grace Siriboe
