Urban Grandstand Digital Issue 8 | Page 8

Back in the village DETROIT’S OWN W/ SLUM VILLAGE WHAT AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY IT WAS TO RECONNECT WITH SLUM VILLAGE! WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY OF RUNNING A CAMPAIGN WITH SLUM BACK WITH THE RELEASE OF DETROIT DELI. MORE THAN TEN YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THAT TIME, AND THE COMMONALITY IS A LOT HAS CHANGED ON BOTH ENDS. OBVIOUSLY, WE’RE UGD NOW, AND FOLLOWING A SERIES OF UNFORESEEABLE CHANGES, THEY HAVE RE-SCULPTED THE BRAND THAT THEY WORKED SO DILIGENTLY TO BUILD OVER THE PAST FIFTEEN YEARS! A LOT IS GOING ON FOR T3, YOUNG RJ & ILLA J THESE DAYS. THEY ARE ON THE HEELS OF RELEASING THEIR NEW ALBUM “YES!”, WHICH WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE WORLD IN JUST FEW SHORT DAYS. LED BY THE SINGLES “EXPRESSIVE” AND “RIGHT BACK” WHICH FEATURES DE LA SOUL, THINGS ARE LOOKING PRETTY GOOD FOR THE TRIO. MUCH OF OUR CONVERSATION INVOLVED US JUST CATCHING UP AND REHASHING THE LEGACY THEY’VE BUILT THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, BUT THEY DEFINITELY SHED LIGHT ON A FEW THINGS, INCLUDING WHY IT WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT THEY CONTINUE TO KEEP THE LEGACY OF J DILLA ALIVE, THE CHANGES THEY’VE SEEN IN THE INDUSTRY IN THEIR YEARS HERE, AND JUST WHAT THEY LIKE MOST ABOUT THE NEW AGE. MOST IMPORTANTLY, THEY GIVE US THE FULL RUNDOWN ON WHAT TO EXPECT FROM “YES! BY JAMES JOHNSON