Slum Village

Slum Village is a hip hop group from Conant Gardens, Detroit, Michigan.

The group was formed by three members, rappers Baatin (1974–2009) and T3, plus rapper and producer J Dilla (1974– 2006). J Dilla left in 2001 to pursue a solo career with MCA Records. Elzhi joined in his absence, after which Baatin also left due to health complications. Following J Dilla's death in 2006 and Baatin's death in 2009, T3 remains the sole surviving member of the original lineup. Over its history the group has been through several line-up changes, which once included J Dilla's younger brother Illa J, but now the group currently exists as a duo of T3 and producer Young RJ.

Formation and early years

Rappers Baatin and T3 along with producer J Dilla grew up together in the Conant Gardens neighborhood of Detroit and attended Pershing High School together. It was here in the early 1990s that they formed the group, which originally went by the name of Ssenepod ("dopeness" spelled backwards). Around this time the group would hone their skills during open-mic nights at Detriot's Hip-Hop Shop along with a young Eminem. Ssenepod was renamed to Slum Village in 1991.

Group Home

Group Home is a hip hop duo, composed of members Lil' Dap (birth name James Heath) and Melachi the Nutcracker (birth name Jamal Felder). They came to prominence as members of the Gang Starr Foundation. Lil' Dap made his rhyming debut on Gang Starr's 1992 classic Daily Operation on the song "I'm the Man". Both members appeared on Gang Starr's critically acclaimed 1994 effort Hard to Earn, on the tracks "Speak Ya Clout" and "Words from the Nutcracker". In 1995, the group released its debut album, Livin' Proof. The album was very well received, mainly due to DJ Premier's advanced production work, described by Allmusic as "rhythmic masterpieces". A second album A Tear for the Ghetto was released in 1999, this time with only one track produced by DJ Premier.

Since then, little has been heard of the group. Lil' Dap released a solo single, "Brooklyn Zone", in 2001, and guested on several other releases.As of 2007, Lil' Dap is an independent artist, He released in 2008 solo album called I.A.Dap He was featured on Large Professor's 2008 album Main Source.

Slum

A slum is a heavily populated urban informal settlement characterized by substandard housing and squalor. While slums differ in size and other characteristics from country to country, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, timely law enforcement and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings that because of poor-quality design or construction have deteriorated into slums.

Slums were common in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States and Europe. More recently slums have been predominantly found in urban regions of developing and undeveloped parts of the world, but are also found in developed economies.

According to UN-Habitat, around 33% of the urban population in the developing world in 2012, or about 863 million people, lived in slums. The proportion of urban population living in slums was highest in Sub-Saharan Africa (61.7%), followed by South Asia (35%), Southeast Asia (31%), East Asia (28.2%), West Asia (24.6%), Oceania (24.1%), Latin America and the Caribbean (23.5%), and North Africa (13.3%). Among individual countries, the proportion of urban residents living in slum areas in 2009 was highest in the Central African Republic (95.9%). Between 1990 and 2010 the percentage of people living in slums dropped, even as the total urban population increased. The world's largest slum city is in Mexico City.

The Pussycat Dolls

The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a burlesque troupe. After attracting media attention, Antin negotiated a record deal with Interscope Geffen A&M Records in 2003 turning the group into a music franchise comprising Nicole Scherzinger, Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta, Melody Thornton and Kimberly Wyatt. Overseen by Antin, Interscope and various partners, the group was transformed into a global image and commercial brand. The Pussycat Dolls were launched into mainstream recognition following the release of PCD, which contained the number-one singles "Don't Cha", "Buttons", and "Stickwitu". However, despite their commercial success, the group was plagued by internal conflict due to the overemphasis on Scherzinger, the group's lead member, and the subordinate treatment of the other members. Bachar's departure from the group preceded the release of their second and final studio album Doll Domination, which contains singles "When I Grow Up", "I Hate This Part" and "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)".

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.