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From the leap, Slum Village have at all times been centered round three issues: sick beats, boastful raps, and love songs extra attractive and cavalier than a military of porn bots. The tuneful intricacies of producer and founding member J Dilla’s music had such a gravitational pull on the Detroit group’s peak, they usually overshadowed simply how erotic the music could possibly be. On Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1’s “The Look of Love, Pt. 1,” pattering drums and serene guitar strums cushion rappers and co-founders Baatin and T3’s thirst (“Your perfume bought me shedding consciousness/Your stance bought me unbuckling my fucking pants”). T3’s verse on the 2015 reduce “Love Is” will get much more direct; it opens with a bluster about being impressed to jot down after getting some good head. Even after a number of lineup adjustments and the deaths of Dilla in 2006 and Baatin in 2009, the SV ethos by no means faltered. With T3 nonetheless on the helm, the group stays dedicated to the groove: They proceed to be often considerate, usually rock-the-mic aggressive, and at all times keen to guess on a chunk of unusual.
F.U.N., SV’s tenth studio album and their first since 2015’s Sure!, stays true to that daring participant spirit whereas nonetheless being one thing of a pivot for the group, now a duo made up of T3 and the rapper-producer Younger RJ. It began out as a extra “conventional” SV album with sample-based beats, however in a press launch, RJ stated the pair “felt like that was boring.” As a substitute, RJ—who has manufacturing credit on each track—leaned towards disco and funk, incorporating dwell devices and presets to create a sound that pays tribute to their previous, mixing the plush exuberance of the Hole Band with the soiled swing of Synth or Soul-era Black Milk. That seems like a moonshot on paper, however SV retains issues as unfastened as they at all times have, whereas bringing new voices and concepts into the fold. The group transitioned from younger bachelors on the prowl to frisky, sauced uncles in silk shirts and slides on the kickback a while in the past, however F.U.N. slathers a cool coat of paint onto their aesthetic.
Groove is an important a part of the SV sound, and whereas they’ve at all times been versatile with gritty and soulful music, F.U.N. pops with a colourful power that didn’t exist even again of their scrappier days. “All Stay” offers their patented club-hopping a brand new context, with vibrant horns and luscious bass and synths flashing like tri-color flood lights. T3 and RJ are energetic, even peppy, as they drop references to Mase and Rubi Rose over the satin manufacturing. “All Stay Pt. 2.” brings in tougher drums and piano stabs for longtime collaborator Phat Kat to warn rappers that he’ll abort them like Roe v. Wade. This two-song suite, like the remainder of the album, reframes the spit-kicking and dirty-macking sides of SV with out making them seem like bland revivalists or clueless pattern chasers.
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