Where's Dilla?
I should probably preface this review by saying that Slum Village's first official effort, Fantastic, Vol. II is one of my top five hip hop albums of all time. Perhaps someday I'll muster the strength to write a comprehensive review of the album, but for now I can sum up why the album was so mind-blowing in two words: Jay Dee. His production was so innovative and ahead of its time that cats still haven't caught up four years later. The perfect sequencing of the album, painstaking attention to detail, unique flow of the trio of lyricists, well-placed guest spots ... it's simply the bomb. So you can understand how excited I was when some new SV finally dropped. Since the group is fairly out of the spotlight, I didn't know anything about the album except what the first single, "Tainted", sounded like. You can also imagine how shocked I was when I eagerly flipped through the liner notes and found that Jay Dee was all but absent from this album. I frantically scoured the Internet for an explanation but all I came up with was nonsense about Jay "pulling back from the day-to-day operations of the group" but that "Slum Village will always be the three of them." From listening to the new album, it certainly doesn't sound like it.
It's not for lack of effort that this album falls short of their debut. In fact, in many places it sounds somewhat like Fantastic, Vol. II and that's exactly how you can tell that Jay Dee is gone, because Jay Dee would never make the same (or even a similar) album twice. Production is handled mainly by T3 and Baatin and they do their best imitations of Jay, desperately trying to duplicate the success of their innovative first album. In order to mix it up a bit, a few guest producers are brought in, most notably Karriem Riggins, who provides the smooth, catchy beat for "Tainted." Jay Dee is present on three tracks but it's only enough to remind the listener how sorely he is missed.
Since I've been so hard on the album, I should say a few nice things. The absence of Jay Dee is pretty much the only thing wrong with the album, even though it's a big one. T3 and Baatin bring the same off-kilter delivery and energy to this album and to add lyrical firepower, they've added a new member, Elzhi. His flow is more traditional and battle-oriented, which is a nice change of pace. Many tracks are quite infectious and most of the hooks are handled with style, with Dwele doing the best job. The sequencing is fairly good and overall, they've managed to keep the feel of the album similar to Fantastic Vol II.
Bottom line: Trinity = Slum Village 1998 - Jay Dee. But a mediocre Slum Village album is still a hell of a lot better than most of that mainstream garbage.