Slum Village is notorious on the internet mainly for three reasons. First, Jay-Dee’s production has garnered widespread praise from his work on the latest D’Angelo and Common albums (and Q-Tip’s solo, to a lesser extent). Second, SV’s appearance on “Thelonius” from Like Water For Chocolate was criticized for being misogynistic and out of place on the otherwise mature album. Finally, their debut, Fantastic Vol. 2 (note: don’t ask), was labeled a classic by Roots’ drummer ?uestlove long before anyone else had heard it. Well, now it’s here. Despite the disappointing track with Common, could this album really be as good as it was made out to be?
No. This album is not a classic by any stretch of the imagination.
In fact, this is an incredibly difficult album to review, because I have strong opinions on each of the music’s elements. The beats are the typical Jay-Dee/Ummah/Soultronic sound. They are similar to what we’ve heard on the Common and D’Angelo albums, yet lack the diversity of those albums. Whereas LWFC could go from “Time Travelling” to “Heat” to “The Light” to “Dooinit,” Fantastic Vol. 2 stays on pretty much the same vibe the whole way through. It’s nice, but gets monotonous and almost boring by the end.
The beats would sound a lot better with anyone else rhyming over them. One of the reasons why the album gets monotonous is because Slum Village has absolutely nothing interesting to say. Even if they do, the lyrics are flat-out weak. Therefore, you are forced to pay attention to the music the whole time. On “I Don’t Know,” SV chants the wonderously imaginative chorus of “I don’t know why the fuck I’m fucking with you.” Again, they bring lines that will excite ignorant listeners every where on “Fall In Love.” “Ladies loving my music is like some sex shit/ Niggaz trying to grip up my mic like it’s a dick.” Sorry, just not feeling that. 
Many people have compared Slum Village to a modern-day Tribe Called Quest. This comparison is decent in the fact that the production is the best aspect of the group. Yet while Q-Tip and Phife were by no means brilliant lyricists, they are far better than T3, Baatin, and Jay-Dee. It is difficult to give specific details about this album, because every song has a similar theme: nice production which is not supported at all by the emcees. Exceptions to this are “What It’s All About,” where Busta Rhymes offers much better lyrics, and more importantly a break from the monotony, “2 U 4 U,” one of the more funky joints on the album, and “Players,” with nice production from Pete Rock. On the other end of the spectrum is “Once Upon A Time,” exploring the intriguing subject matter of fellatio, playa-hating, and cock-blocking. What is the deal with the chorus of this song? “Fellatio, interference, promiscuous, Homo-Sapiens.” Are these just various words thrown together?
I guess I can see how ?uestlove would really enjoy this album. He is a musician, and from that perspective, it’s nice material. But in order to look at the album in this way, you would have to completely ignore the lyrics. From the normal hip hop fan’s perspective, that is impossible to do. I almost can’t give the album one score – it deserves about an 8 for beats, and 4 for rhymes… so I’ll settle for averaging those out. I almost feel bad for Jay-Dee. His track record lately has been incredible, but he should stick to production and not emceeing. It is impossible to listen to the Slum Village album without comparing the emcees to Common, and needless to say, there is no comparison. As a whole, Fantastic Vol. 2 does not mesh well.
-Joe Kostelnik
