This Detroit group earned high praise for their 2000 debut album, Fantastic Vol. 2, from hip-hop bohos like the Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, and D’Angelo, all of whom hailed Slum Village the most exciting artists to emerge in years. In reality the acclamation was coded affection for the group’s producer, Jay Dee, whose soulful dialect of sparse beats, chopped organ grinds, and plucky guitar licks made him an intriguing new voice in hip-hop.

Unfortunately, Jay Dee has excommunicated himself from the group, and his absence from Trinity leaves the burden of artistry on the shoulders of rappers T3 and Baatin. On "Tainted," they make do, with an earnest reproduction of Jay Dee’s bare, handclap style, and the stories of befallen idealism evoke empathy, even if the amplified gripes about the music industry do not — the result is one of the album’s better numbers. Mostly, though, Slum Village can’t pull off the illusion. Jay Dee had a knack for making percussive instruments out of the rappers’ more-phonetic-than-lyrical rhymes. On Trinity, they have no such craftsman to hide behind, and on "Disco" and "Marvelous" their simpleton style is exposed. It might seem unfair to place the creative onus of a group on one man, but if Slum Village are going to reap the rewards with Jay Dee, they should accept the blame without him.