Disco de Slum Village: “Trinity (Past, Present and Future)”

Slum Village's new album Trinity is an absolute must have for any real hip hop purist out there. If you liked their previous album Fantastic Volume 2. You will probably enjoy Trinity. The only difference with Trinity is that the superb beat-smith J-Dilla is no-longer a part of the trio. However J-Dilla contributes his futuristic authentic production on 3 tracks. J-Dilla's lyrical replacement on this installment is Detroit underground M.C.Elzhai. Yo this kid is nice!!! Every time this dude spits he comes off like a used rubber! With the addition of a proven lyracist like Elzhai, it makes Batain and T3 (who normally have a go with the flo style) step up their delivery and lyrical content. If Elzhai dosen't receive a quotable from any of his verses on this album somethings wrong. On "one" (probably the best track on the album) Elzhai murders it, when he says "It takes One hit for a wack rapper to make millions, causing the illest niggaz to switch and spit what they aint feelin". Other standouts are "Disco", "What is This", "La La", and Unisex. Despite some of the lackluster reviews that this album received, this is a good album that represents the progressive and original side of hip hop, which isn't too visible these days. This album will satisfy any hip hop purists.

Overall, Trinity is a decent follow up to the underground classic Fantastic Vol 2. The production was better on Fantastic. The production on this album is good but not great. But the lyrics have greatly improved this time.

Aart from 1 or two tracks, one at the most (Tainted - and even then it get annoying), cop the bootleg!

I can't believe that so many people bashed this album. I currently own all the SV joints and this one hands down is my favorite. So I guess the people are divided on this one, but I loved and still am "loving it"

Detroit, MI

I bought this thinking these guys were innovative yet nothing on this cd stands out to me. tainted feat dwele is the best song on the cd , maybe that's why it was the first single. one thing I dislike about this is the skits, interludes , and for crying out loud 2 intros!!! why do you need two intros? there are about 4 good tracks out of 22 the rest are a bit bland if your looking for something new or different don't look here , I'm sure they'll do better next time or atleast I hope they will. not the second coming of tribe sorry.

Profound lyricism has never been Slum Village's strong suit-Jay Dee's mellifluous hip hop beats were always the group's ace in the hole. While no longer a formal SV member, the stellar producer contributes three in-novative tracks to their latest album, upholding the rhythmic quality of their previous work. Other producers help maintain Trinity's low-lit vibe, among them DJ Hi-Tek, Scott Storch, and jazz musician Kareem Riggins, who accents a harmonious R&B chorus with sharp keyboard textures on the standout track "Tainted."

Though T3 and Baatin's verbal syncopations punctuate Trinity's big-bottomed sound, their words are consistently trite. Fortunately, new group member Elzhi ups the lyrical ante, providing densely layered verses. On the skittish "One," he raps, "It took one hit, tongue kiss and make come quick / It took one hit for a wack rapper to make millions / Causin' the illest... to switch and spit what they ain't feelin'." SV has said that Trinity represents past, present, and future; if so, Elzhi looks like their trump card for tomorrow.