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BAHAMADIA
The closest the Goodvibe tour comes to a bona fide star attraction is soulful Philly rapper Bahamadia. Since releasing her acclaimed Kollage (Chrysalis/EMI) debut in 96 — which led to the somewhat dubious honour of being the first female artist to appear in Sprite’s hiphop commercial series — Bahamadia has become better known for her guest spots on recordings by everyone from the Roots and King Britt to Towa Tei and Roni Size.
Apparently, it wasn’t entirely Bahamadia’s choice that her fabulous forthcoming seven-track BB Queen EP (Goodvibe/KOCH) — out July 25 — will be the first new project under her own name in four years.
“I was tied up in a legal situation that prevented me from doing another record,” groans Bahamadia. “I can’t really talk about it, but there was a production deal that I wasn’t happy with so I wanted to be released. That wound up being a four-year process.
“I’m putting out the seven-track EP to reintroduce myself as a solo artist before thinking about a full-blown album. The Goodvibe thing is a new situation for me, so I want to take it slowly. The tour has been great and everyone’s doing their job, but we’ll see what happens when my EP comes out in July.” TP
SLUM VILLAGE
Detroit hiphop trio Slum Village may be the most respected crew no one has actually heard, at least until recently.
Their DJ, JayDee, is one of the most sought-after producers on the planet, and his beats have boosted Q-Tip, D’Angelo, Janet Jackson and Mos Def. MCs T3 and Baatin put on one of hiphop’s most energetic live shows, and they’re massive in Europe, but all that didn’t help them get their record released.
It still took nearly three years for Slum Village’s long-finished Fantastic Vol. 2 album to drop. In the interim, bootleggers had a field day. The disc is now being distributed through Goodvibe/KOCH, yet while Slum sound relieved, it’s the future that’s grabbing them now.
“It’s nice to have the record out,” T3 explains, “but that shit is over. There’s not a lot that dates the album, we’re just so far beyond Fantastic Vol. 2 now.
“We’ve become a better group, and we probably have another album’s worth of new material waiting to go. Hopefully, that won’t take three years to drop.”
