J-88 are Detroit's best kept secret. The three MCs associated with the Slum Village clique are produced by no other than Jay-Dee. The Ummah member has been responsible for the last two Tribe Called Quest albums and has produced various cuts on Q-Tip's "Amplified" album and on Phife Dawg's Superrappin solo-joint. He has also recorded two full-length albums with his group Slum Village that are both rated as hip-hop-classics even though they have never been released officially due to a... Read more >>

J-88 are Detroit's best kept secret. The three MCs associated with the Slum Village clique are produced by no other than Jay-Dee. The Ummah member has been responsible for the last two Tribe Called Quest albums and has produced various cuts on Q-Tip's "Amplified" album and on Phife Dawg's Superrappin solo-joint. He has also recorded two full-length albums with his group Slum Village that are both rated as hip-hop-classics even though they have never been released officially due to a neverending saga of major label fuck-ups.

J-88's first release was the Superrappin 12" single "The Look Of Love", a sexually explict low-end practice. The original full-length version of the track "The Look Of Love Pt.1" can be found on the J-88 mini-album "Best Kept Secret". The album is another prime example for Jay-Dee's minimal low-fi beat technique that always makes a difference. The six original J-88 tracks are accomplished by three remixes. Madlib from Lootpack (one of Jay-Dees favourite producers) has reworked "Get It Together" and "Things You Do" in typical Likwit Crew fashion. I.G. Culture(People/Main Squeeze) delivers an abstract but funky version of "Get It Together" that has been around as a limited white label and is already a favourite on the Nu Jazz scene.

J-88 have also remixed Carl Craig's version of "People Make The World Go Round" for Talkin Loud. Unfortunatly the mix has never been released officially which is typical for this mysterious crew. We haven't heard of them ourselves ever since they delivered the dat tape for their album.