Village Manifesto

In anticipation of Slum Village's 2010 release Villa Manifesto—a familial reunion that would turn out to be the group’s final album—the group released this six-song teaser, which affirmed its energy and rhyme skills after almost two decades in the rap scene. Where Slum Village was once renowned for rap songs that were subdued and sometimes melancholy, “Nitro” and “Da Night” display the explosive verbosity more commonly associated with Wu-Tang affiliates like Ghostface Killah. The atmosphere reflects an inner-city chase scene: horns blaring, drums rolling, and cymbals spinning in reverse as Elzhi unleashes lines like “I flow like nitroglycerin/The flow type different/The mad man temperament/The grade he get for penmanship/My sounds go throughout your tenements/Got dough, wrist glow, frozen the fingers.” While “Dope Man” might be the most superbly raucous song the group has ever made, the album closes with the lustrous “Cloud 9,” which comes on like a swirl of fresh air and sunlight.