Trinity (Past, Present And Future)
label: capitol

producers: scott storch, jay dilla, waajeed o'bryant, kariem riggins, curtis 'nottyhead' crass, al 't3' altman, others.

guests: dwele, dj dez, t. banks.
year of release: 2002
website: slumvillage.net
 
Back with "Fantastic Vol. 2" it was like: We like Ahmir ?uestlove of the Roots - he likes Jay Dee, hence we are supposed to like Jay too. But uhm, that album of Jay's crew Slum Village had us arguing. And while we struggled to ride the buzz that album created, we are even further drawn back with the circumstances surrounding this follow up album "Trinity (Past, Present And Future)". First it's a follow up album, that's bound to feature its fair share of sophomore jinxes. Second it's released on a major label, what in many cases is worthy enough to reach for the panic button. And third, well third it's Slum Village, still the same folks, still Slum.
Then again, it's not: Jay has now left the group and Elzhi has joined Baatin and T3. And suddenly, well, life is great, and hence there are cases that fail to follow all the preset expectancies. What in short means that this album is not only much better than it's predecessor, it's also actually good. Good as in head nodding, neck bobbing, feet stomping and get your grind on. The structures are smooth, the music is soulful and the lyrics got the same needed beauty farm treatment. Like check this verse from Elzhi on "One": "it takes one tragedy to bring a family closer / one bullet to start a war and be a part of gore / these hoes trick and be on crack like a slightly parted door / it took one hit, tongue kiss and make cum quick / it took one hit, for a wack rapper to make millions / causing the illest niggas to switch and spit what they ain't feeling."

tracklisting
1. Intro 1
2. Intro 2
3. Insane
4. What Is This
5. Tainted feat. Dwele
6. La La feat. DJ Dez
7. All-Ta-Ment
8. Disco
9. Trinity (Interlude) feat. DJ Dez
10. One
11. Hoes
12. Star (Interlude) feat. T. Banks
13. Star feat. Dwele
14. Slumber feat. DJ Dez
15. Let's
16. S.O.U.L.
17. 80's Skit
18. Unisex
19. Love U Hate
20. Get Live
21. Harmony
22. Who Are We (Interlude)
23. Fall In Love (Bonus Track)
This song belongs to the future third. Meaning that all the songs are assigned to either past, present or future, but you will be struggling to find a common denominator. Other future songs are the "Trinity (Interlude)", that gets strangely enough goes on for quite a while and even features rhyming. Before the previously mentioned "One" is again switching things up a little, with the 'one' mentioning being conceptual but can get annoying in the same way the word 'hoes' is used far to often on the 'brilliantly' named "Hoes". This does get interesting though with the rhyming adapting to the slow pace and how it keeps the talking flowing, with the topic of choice again being women (or one woman). There's a certain futuristic quality to "Let's", with Jay Digga (aka Jay Dee dropping by for a couple of songs) not adapting any of the present hit making rules, hardly creating new ones though, despite this being good. "Unisex" is partly a play on 'you need sex', what already gives away what this is about. And again a certain futuristic spacey quality, with its synthetic sounds can be attributed to it. Despite this changing after a while, getting more conform.
When listening to the present, then there's the "Intro 2", with a low bass growling, or the somewhat staggering "What Is This", where the Slum tries to charm the females. "All-Ta-Ment" goes a more braggadocios route that gives us a beat that does little, but that in elaborate ways. The beat to "Star" (feat. Dwele) is doing exactly to us what the first album was supposed to do: we are drawn into the carefully created structures that make the song sound standardish. But it exposes several deep levels and neatly crafted elements, if one makes the effort to peel off one structure after the other. "Slumber" on the other hand is unappealing, and "Love U Hate" is not much better. What can't be said about "Get Live" though, as this Scott Storch production is one of the best songs on here.
There's more songs where the Slum speaks on females, like on the cool "Tainted" where Dwele croons the chorus. This song is part of the past, with the groove however being too good to just leave behind. What can also be said about "La La", where the song is doing good with live instrumentation. The frustration expressed on this song is fully contrasting the pleased and smooth vibe of the beat. "Insane" is quite reduced with the needed elements hiding in the back though. Then we get our dancing shoes out for "Disco", that truly is one of those hard to resist little dance ditties. Trouble though is the unbefitting chorus, and T3's flow can be strenuous too. A better past song is "S.O.U.L.", where the emcees do the obligatory flowing, while the "80's Skit" funnily as well as exactly recreates one of those 80s disco stompers. The "Who Are We (Interlude)" prepares us for the last song, with "Fall In Love" being a bonus song and one that was already on the "Fantastic Vol. 2" album.
So there you have the "Trinity", with a few glimpses and many more corrections. The interesting this would be to find out if someone who liked the first album, enjoys this one here (what is to be expected). As for someone who wasn't too keen on the first, this second is how it should be done.
review: tadah
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