The group was founded in the early 90's by 3 childhood friends: Baatin, T3, rapper and producer J Dilla. The trio began to forge a path into the Detroit underground hip hop scene where they originally went by the name Ssenepod.

In 1991 changed their name to Slum Village, recording their first album Vol. 1" , recorded in Dillas basement and RJ Rice Studios, it was critically acclaimed in the Detroit underground scene. It later found its way into the hands of A Tribe Called Quest's own Q-Tip.

Slum Village landed their first record deal in 1998 with Barak/AM records. Due to label politics, the group was forced to release their album "Best Kept Secret" under the alias J-88,. Their now classic record, "Fantastic, Vol. 2" was officially released in 2000, dubbed an immediate classic from fans and industry tastemakers. This album featured an A list line up including Busta Rhymes, Common, D'angelo, Jazzy Jeff, Pete Rock, Kurupt, and Q-Tip who passed the torch to Slum Village on the record "Hold Tight".