From the jump, Slum Village has always centered around three things: bad beats, boastful raps, and love songs hornier and hotter than an army of porn bots. The melodic intricacies of producer and founding member J Dilla's music had such a gravitational pull at the peak of the Detroit group that they often was overshadowed how erotic music could be. On Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1's “The Look of Love, Pt. 1,” kick drums and serene guitar strums quench the thirst of rappers and co-founders Baatin and T3 (“Your scent made me swoon/Your attitude made me unbutton my fucking pants”) . T3's verse on 2015 track 'Love Is' gets even more direct. It begins with a surprise about the inspiration to write after a good mind. Even after several line-up changes and the deaths of Dilla in 2006 and Baatin in 2009, SV's ethos never wavered. With T3 still at the helm, the group remains committed to the groove: They continue to occasionally carefuloften rock-the-mic competitive, and always willing to gamble on a piece of the odd.
FUN, SV's tenth studio album and their first since 2015 Yes!, stays true to that bold player spirit while still being something of a linchpin for the group, now a duo comprised of T3 and rapper-producer Young RJ. It started out as a more “traditional” SV album with sample-based beats, but in a press release, RJ said the pair “felt it was boring”. Instead, RJ – who has production credits on every song – leaned towards disco and funk, incorporating live instruments and presets to create a sound that pays homage to their past, mixing the lush glitz of the Gap Band with dirty swing of Synth or SoulSeasonal black milk. This sounds like moonshine on paper, but SV keeps things as loose as ever while bringing new voices and ideas to the fold. The group went from young bachelors who were on the prowl to lively, sauced-up uncles in silk shirts and kick-starters not long ago, but FUN it throws a funky layer of color into their aesthetic.
Groove is an essential part of the SV sound, and while they've always been versatile with hard and chill music, FUN it bursts with a colorful energy that wasn't there even in their most unlikely days. “All Live” gives their patented club-hopping a new context, with live horns and luscious bass and synths that flash like tri-colored lights. T3 and RJ are energetic, even lively, as they drop references to Mase and Rubi Rose over the satin production. “All Live Pt. 2.” brings harder drums and piano stabs for longtime collaborator Phat Kat to warn rappers that he's dropping them like Roe v. Wade. This two-song suite, like the rest of the album, reframes the edgy and dirty sides of SV without making them sound like bland revivalists or clueless trend chasers.
from our partners at https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/slum-village-fun