De La Soul & Slum Village Make Magic Together On A J Dilla Beat (Audio)

While Slum Village was never in the Native Tongues crew, they most certainly were an extension of it. More than 600 miles from New York City, Detroit, Michigan’s breakthrough Hip-Hop crew made soulful, sample-savvy music combined with lyrics about buggin’ out, keepin’ the faith, and strobe light honeys.

In the 1990s, as the Native Tongues were hangin’ out less to focus on their individual entities, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul called up Slum’s Jay Dee for that enhanced sound. The results would be some stellar works for De La and Tribe, as the Villa continued to press their foot into the scene.

That working relationship, through J Dilla (f/k/a Jay Dee) continued, on Q-Tip’s solo work and The Grind Date. However, S.V. and Posdnous, Dave, and Maseo never got in it formally.

Nearly a decade after Dilla’s untimely death, it’s happened. Plug 1 (a/k/a Posdnous) joins T3 and Young RJ on “Right Back.” This is a groundbreaking collabo, nearly 20 years in the making. Per usual, Pos’ delivers some powerful insights, blending pride and humility. Meanwhile, the S.V. brings out a Dilla beat to make the moment fulfilled. While it’s only Posdnous, the collabo is formally billed as a full-on Slum Village x De La Soul moment.

This is from Yes!, which is shaping up to be something special for a crew that’s suffered two deaths, label/personnel woes, and plenty of hardships.

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