It's easy to Fall in Love with different musical Players; and throughout the years everybody, from Hoc N Pucky to Beej 'N Dem have tried to Lock It Down.
Many were around only long enough to say Hi. and Bye., but there's always that one You Can't Hold a Torch to, the King of this producing thing, if you will.
First Time I came across this guy was this day, five years ago when Donuts dropped and I remember thinking "this Sounds Like Love, other producers could never make Nothing Like This" only to read in the paper a few days later that he had his Last Donut of the Night.
It is kind of hard to Estimate the amount of People his MPC has affected, but it's crazy how a few Bars & Twists of samples could change hip-hop's History and show the world What It's All About.
They say you never know what you Got 'Til It's Gone, this is true, I Don't Know why we Hold Tight and never TakeNoticeand give them proper Shouts while they're here — maybe one of you can Tell Me. I do know his Friends and The NewWaves of fans (like me) won't StopScheming to keep The Conversation going and his LightworksShining.
The Diff'rence between him and others, he's the producer's producer.
So Give It Up for J Dilla and Think Twice before you deny his talent; and when the next Pay Day comes, take your Milk Money and go cop somethin'.
Last week was totally awesome and here's my thoughts on the Bullfrog incident (including an apology to A. Peezie of The Freshmen) and the #fantastic and #epic show at St. Andrews starring Jay Electronica, Slum Village, 5 ELA, Guilty Simpson, Ro Spit and One Be Lo hosted by my homie Miz Korona and House Shoes was the official DJ for the event (#classic) and some show clips ... well SV clips, lol.
I don't know how I missed posting this. Can't tell you what I was doing or going through last month, but Stussy released a 3-part-documentary on J Dilla's life during his last few years—From Detroit to LA to Donuts. The documentary features the likes of DJ Houseshoes, Peanut Butter Wolf, J. Rocc, Frank Nitty and quite a few others. Stussy and Stones Throw Records have also partnered on a J Dilla tribute t-shirt.
And I knew about everything I'm posting, for some reason I never posted it (Oops). Stones Throw Records, Serato Records, and the J Dilla Estate collaborated on the special edition vinyl release of Donut Shop. This is the description that is on Stones Throw's site:
Serato and Stones Throw have teamed with the J Dilla Estate for the official J Dilla Serato release, Donut Shop. This is 2 discs with six J Dilla tracks, 2 sides with Serato Control Tone (for use with Serato Scratch Live DJ software), and 2 donut slipmats in a package designed by Studio No.1. This will be released May 10th (the day after Mother's day--what's up Ma Dukes?). Pre-order is available now.
The J Dilla tracks consist of three previously unreleased instrumentals selected by J.Rocc from the Dilla archives – “Safety Dance”, “Sycamore”, “Bars & Twists” – and three unreleased instrumental versions of Dilla's production for Mos Def, Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes, each remastered by Elysian Masters who mixed and mastered J Dilla's Donuts, The Shining and Ruff Draft albums.
It's available for pre-order now and will be released on May 10. One of the tracks: "Safety Dance" has been released for free download already. Peep it:
If you've seen any post that even mentions his name (or any of my tweets) you know this. If you read my blog regularly, you also know that a few days ago I posted about elZhi and his music videos he had been working on. Well tonight, the video for "Deep" premiered. I'm still waiting for "Glow," but my heart is happy nonetheless.
That's all fine and dandy, but yesterday a teaser video was released for "Deep," and I don't know if I'm gassed because it's eLZhi or if I'm gassed because the video actually looks like it's going to be dope. Peep the video below that I straight jacked from MIHH.
Dilla is that musician I have learned to appreciate and love everything he’s done for music. It’s funny that someone you have never met can change your life in 3 minutes of being in your ear.
I place J. Dilla in the same ranks an aspiring pianist would place Chopin or Bach, the movements they started are phoenomenal.
Yes, I’m a writer, but Dilla changed my life.
It's been four years since J. Dilla passed away and what's amazing is his legacy is still going strong. He single-handedly changed hip-hop and it makes me wonder if even he knew the kind of affect he would have.
I heard 'Donuts' the day it released and thought it was the most amazing thing I ever heard. The only thing I remember thinking was "how?" It's one of those albums I listened to in complete silence and felt something new every time I listened to it. Three days after I first heard that album J. Dilla passed away. When the story ran in the Detroit Free Press I was so captivated by it; it was the perfect example of a hip-hop story that went beyond 16 bars and an 808. It resulted in me getting an apprenticeship at the Free Press the following year while being mentored by Kelley L. Carter (who wrote the story).
One week, one album, one man put me on the path I'm on now. There are tons of untold stories in this industry and four years ago I made it my mission to spread the word.
Yesterday (aka my birthday so all belated birthday wishes are still being accepted) I saw the video for Slum Village's "Climax" for the first time. This song was on their second album 'Fantastic, Vol. 2.' The video has cameos from quite a few different people including Quest Love, Saafir and Gary Coleman, kind of showing Slum's influence. This song always reminds me of summer and with this horrible winter weather, everyone needs a little bit of sunshine. Flashback: "Climax" - Slum Village.
Fact: I love Slum Village. (Yes I am going to start every post I do on them with that phrase.) I'm all caught up on T3 and eLZhi's Da Villa Chronicles, just in time for their third installment. In this webisode, they speak on Baatin, why he left and why he came back.
This blog shows the development of my musical tastes (I suppose that's the best way to put it). I talk about Slum Village often, I have come to appreciate and be inspired by this group so much I don't even know if it's possible to explain how. Over the past few years the group has faced many changes and overcome many obstacles. T3 and eLZhi have been doing these sort-of video blogs called "Da Villa Chronicles." The mini-series talks everything SV, from how some of their hits happened to their relationship with Dilla and Baatin and how eLZhi ended up joining. Each video is rather short, but as we've learned from songs over the years a lot can happen in 3 minutes.
Time to get you caught up, below are the four videos that have released so far, watch and learn.
Remember when I mentioned my Slum Village addiction earlier? I never mentioned that SV's latest EP, Villa Manifesto, was released on Tuesday. If you're true to hip-hop (like many of you say you are) then you may already have this. 'Villa Manifesto LP' (which is scheduled to be released some time next year) is the album that reunited the three members since before Baatin's departure in the early 00s. The 6 track EP of the same name, comes about 3 months after the death of member Baatin, leaving eLZhi and T3 to fend for themselves.
To me this is simply a teaser, but I'm happy nonetheless. 'Villa Manifesto EP' definitely resurrects that distinct Slum Village sound with tracks like "Dope Man" and "Cloud 9" featuring Marsha Ambrosius of Floetry (BTW doesn't "Cloud 9" sound like it could be on the 'Trinity' album?). If you're wondering about production credits, Black Milk and Young RJ (together known as B. R. Gunna), Madlib, and Focus are all a part of the magic.
If you want (and you SHOULD want) to download 'Villa Manifesto EP' head on over to iTunes/Rhapsody and look for it right now. *Unfortunately it's only digital download, no copies...BUT it isn't much longer until 'Villa Manifesto LP' drops.
Slum Village's newest video featuring the late Baatin. The video was directed by Dwele and produced by K. Riggins. Now I'm not sure if this was the video that was filmed the week before he passed or not, but it's a dope song and video. The song "Actin' Normal" is going to be on SV's 'Villa Manifesto' album slated to be released next month.
*Edit (6:57p): This is the aforementioned video that Slum Village had shot roughly the week before Baatin passed. Thanks Mos :).
The passing of Baatin is really taking a toll on Detroit, especially the hip-hop community and the people that were close to him. Yesterday, Hexmurda posted his first column on AllHipHop.com and it was dedicated to Baatin. Not only did it raise many internal questions about life and death, it included Hex's own memories as well.
The last time I saw Baatin was at a clusterf**k in L.A. called "The Breaks." Some real amateur bulls**t. He was with Slum Village, I was with Black Milk and Guilty Simpson. Bunch of acts, n***as not gettin' paid, security about to body the promoter, Psycho Realm fans about to riot, the promoter slithering out the back, sheriff's in riot gear, that type of s**t. When we realized we weren't going to get paid, n***as prepared to go back to the hotel, (which is another story in itself) and to Bishop Lamont's gig and H.O.B. Any n***a that knows me or Tim Maynor knows we ain't gonna have our clients do s**t for free. We were all like "f**k it." We got the deposit, free money let's bounce.
Not Baatin.
Baatin said, "Man,we're here. We got fans here. Let's just do it, give them a show." We all looked at him like he had a toaster for a head, and he returned our looks like we were wearing lampshades.
Well today, producer Black Milk posted this video on YouTube about Baatin in his own words. Apparently Baatin was the one that discovered that Black Milk had skills as a producer. Peep It.
Slum Village Lives On.
*Edit (1:26 p.m.) Talib Kweli made a blog post today about Baatin as well. In it he discusses how Slum Village as a whole influenced hip-hop culture, not just Dilla's beats.
I learned on Saturday that we lost another bright shining light in Hip Hop, Titus "Baatin" Glover passed away, leaving T3 as the only surviving member of the original Slum Village. Slum Village has had an incredible influence on me as an artist. When that Fantastic Volume 1 cassette was making the rounds in the industry, their style was so free and musical, it made me re evaluate my approach. Many assume that Dilla beats and were the main reason for SVs ascension into hip hop greatness but that assumption does a disservice to the rhyme styles of both T3 and Baatin. T3 would sometimes mumble, maybe not even complete the rhyme before he shifted gears, but it was so funky and in tune with the music it made me realize I could grow by having more fun and bending my voice to the music. J Dilla, like most producers, found the perfect vocal tone and flow to fit his tracks, he was like an anchor when he rhymed. Baatin, however, would take you to outer space. While T and J were rhyming about a 3 Screw, Baatin was rhyming about tantric sex. While the underground was hailing SV as saviors of pure hip hop, Baatin was like "fuck this rap shit I listen to classical." His spiritual references, willingness to approach unheard of subject matter and his incredible energy on stage, made me an instant fan. I had the pleasure of touring with the whole crew on the Okay Player tour in 2000 and again with the addition of the prolific Elhzi this year on Rock the Bells. He was a gentleman and very passionate about everything he said and did. He will be missed, for real. RIP Baatin.
Detroit as well as the entire hip-hop world are in mourning today as the news broke that Titus Glover, better known as Baatin of Slum Village, had passed away. The news is not only devastating but shocking to many; this is the second member that Slum Village has lost. The first being famed producer, and one of the founding members, James "J. Dilla" Yancey, who lost his battle with lupus in 2006. How exactly Baatin passed away, remains unknown as of now. In 2004, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder and as a result left Slum Village leaving it a duo, T3 and Elzhi. (via mlive) SV recently reunited and the trio filmed the video for their new single "Cloud 9" featuring Marsha Ambrosius (of Floetry fame) last week and are scheduled to release their new album, 'Villa Manifesto', September 22. They were seen performing on this summer's Rock The Bells tour, little was known that these performances would be Baatin's last.
I discovered Slum Village in 2002, "Tainted" was my song of the summer and that was the first time I discovered Detroit Hip Hop. I wasn't as into music then, and for a while 'Trinity' was the only thing I owned by Slum Village, but it didn't matter much to me. One of my personal goals this year was to interview the newly reunited Slum Village, that hasn't changed but it is sad that it will be only two.
I said this on Twitter, I'm not a rapper, producer or DJ, but Slum Village has influenced me and my career so much and I really feel for everyone that is directly hurt by this. I have gotten asked this, like how can music influence me if I'm not a performer or even in that industry. Well truth be told, the whole reason I got into journalism is because I believe that artists, especially rappers, can only say so much in 16 bars, I want to know more. Slum Village was one of those groups that everything from their beats to their lyrics were amazing but to the average person they were just catchy.
I know a few people who think that Slum Village was just a "Detroit" thing, when in actuality they were global. J. Dilla, T3, Baatin and ELZhi have touched the lives of your favorite musicians, like Common, Dwele, Diddy, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu and The Roots, as well as contribute to and help shape what is known as neo-soul.
There will be a benefit concert to help Baatin's family with some of the expenses. It's going to be tomorrow, Sunday August 2. at the 5 Elements Gallery on 2125 Michigan Ave. in Downtown Detroit (Corktown) The event is free and will be hosted by Miz Korona and have performances by Sicari, K-Fresh and a few others. Donations will be accepted there as well as through a PayPal account set up by Detroit Renaissance Soul.
PLEASE if you are going to attend the event be mindful and respectful as to why you are there. Yes there will be musicians, producers, and others there, but this is not the time to push your mixtape or project. Honor and respect his family and friends and just be there to cherish Baatin's memory.
Slum Village is the group that taught me that you don't have to be the most popular or have stacks of awards to be great and respected.
Baatin leaves to cherish his memory his son, Michael Majesty Ellis, 9; his daughter, Aura Grace Glover, 1; his parents Howard and Grace Glover; and his sister, Tina Glover, all of Detroit. (via Freep)
Rest in Peace: James 'J. Dilla' Yancey and Titus 'Baatin' Glover, your music and influence will forever live on.
Hugs and Prayers to the families and friends of both and especially to T3 and ELZhi.
What else can I say about SV? Nothing. I was about 14 or 15 when this song came out, and I LOVED it. Plus, it only seems right since their mixtape dropped yesterday. Flashback to: "Selfish" - Slum Village.
The first time I remember hearing Slum Village was when their album 'Trinity: The Past, Present, Future', came out when I was 13. It really sucked because when I started feeling them, they broke up. BUT luckily for me (and you too) the Detroit natives got the band back together. Word around town is that their reunion album is scheduled to be released later this year. Fortunately SV is no longer selfish and have released their new mixtape Remember The Classics, to help all their old fans remember why they loved them and the putting the new ones up on them. What are you waiting for? DOWNLOAD SLUM VILLAGE'S REMEMBER THE CLASSICS mixtape
