For nearly 30 years Slum has built an unmatched legacy of soulful, original Hip Hop music that helped to usher in an entire generation of Neo-Soul music.
Born in Philadelphia Bilal Oliver is a schooled musician and dynamic live performer whose artistry draws from jazz, soul, and hip-hop.
Slum Village was a Detroit phenomenon right out of the gate in the early 90s, hitting hard in Detroit’s underground hip hop scene as they built a sound that they eventually shared on projects with Janet Jackson, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, and many other artists. Their soulful, original take on hip hop helped to usher in an entire generation of neo-soul, sometimes also called progressive soul. Original member T3 remains with the group, which included J Dilla and has its roots in the Conant Gardens neighborhood and Pershing High School. Grammy-nominated producer Young RJ now brings the beats and completes the group.
This tour is joined by Bilal Oliver, making for a fascinating collaboration. Bilal’s classically-trained unique voice, his jazz roots, his study of big-band arranging, and his wholly modern, un-categorizable approach to music have created an insatiable fan base that follows Bilal’s relentless exploration, including original albums as well as collaborations with Beyonce, Sun-Ra, Robert Glasper, Kendrick Lamar, and many more. A musician’s musician, Bilal brings an exploratory spirit to music in search of letting it ‘just be music’.