Sneak Peak Album Review of Villa Manifesto by Slum Village

Slum Village is a group from Detroit that has been making music since the early 1990's and the group was reshaped after one of the founding members Jay Dee passed away from Lupus. The group then become a duo with members T3 and Elzhi, and went through various reformations with other formations and versions of the group. In some ways they are a lot like Wu Tang or Bone Thugs in that respect. They have been making music for over 15 years and it is still good despite their troubles with various members and their struggles with life and death.

Slum Village is a group that comes out of Detroit Hip Hop which is home to such rap stars as Eminem, Obie Trice, Royce 5'9 (of Slaughterhouse), D12, Proof and many other well known Hip Hop acts. In terms of sound and material I would say their music would be like a mix between Lauren Hill, KRS One and LL Cool J or Will Smith. The reason for that is their material is basically an alternative to what we come to expect from Rap music which is essentially songs filled with curses and acts of violence and a ton of talk about making and spending money.

What is unique about Slum Village is that they have sold millions of records according to the Billboard sales charts available at Billboard.com and without talking about any of those things, their music is usually from the prospective of a male courting a female and discussing how she changed her life. This is a technique that is often used by Kanye West and also RNB super star John Legend who have both worked with Slum Village in the past. Their music is refreshing and for this reason I pre ordered their CD titled "Villa Manifesto" and I expect that it will arrive later on in the year. However, I decided to give the CD a listen via Youtube and I was happy with the album and feel it is well worth the money.

The CD only includes 6 tracks which I thought could have been a lot longer, I would like to get more material for my money but I am happy with the tracks on the CD. The featured artists include only Yougn RJ and Marsha Ambrosius. My favorite track is "Cloud 9" because the beat is great and the lyrics are something you can relate to, it is about wanting to be with a girl and loving everything about her. This is the type of music that makes you feel good when listening and I enjoyed the CD. I would rate it a 4/5 and suggest that you pick it up.