It’s fitting that the first album to receive the venerable designation as a T.I.R.M. Certified Classic is a work of art steeped in Dilla-genius. Fantastic Vol. 1 is a rare product whose impact is pervasive but unknown to many. For most of us, our introduction to Slum Village was in 2000, compliments of Fantastic Vol. 2, a classic in its own right that features many ideas that – in retrospect – were updates from the watersheds featured on Vol. 1. Four years before Vol. 2, Dilla, T3 and Baatin set a foundation upon which hip hop and neo-soul would continue to build on.

No retrospect or analysis can even begin to articulate this album’s greatness better than ?uestlove did for the Vol. 1 liner notes. So, we’ll let ?uest tell it:

Tale Of The Tape - It was March of '97, I was in Hamburg, Germany. Fresh off a 3 hour throw down on a stage that had to have been 105 degrees. Although I had no business doing so, I snuck a phone call on the club managers' phone to check my messages. I'll never forget what happened next.
"message 6 at 10 pm" "yo... you ain't up on this is ya?"(plays music...) I can barely hear between the static and the club noise but I hear what sounds like the music from the Beastie Boys/Q-Tip collabo "Get It Together" but there is this 'funk-geek' chorus thing going on that I can hear loud and clear. "we say fan-tah-sero-you say-huh-whut?-you-know-its that-shh----T!-eh yo." what the hell?

I've NEVER secluded myself more for any album ever in my years than I did for Fantastic Vol 1. I mean, I can recall every landmark record I've ever purchased from Songs in the Key of Life to Off The Wall to It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Paul's Boutique and on.

All those records I would spend hours upon hours upon hours upon hours absorbing. If I'd get bored listening on 33, I'd sneak when my dad wasn't around and play it on 45. Then I'd spin it backwards. Then I'd listen on 18 (old turntable kids). But this shit?!?!? WHOOOOOOOOO!! I mean this 'tape'. The 'tape of all tapes' NEVER left my side. I loved this tape so much I copped a high end walkman for it (97 was pretty much the year we kissed walkmen goodbye), I loved this tape so much I did my first 'stage walkoff faking a piss break' during Hub's bass solo just to sneak a peek at a song or two. I loved this tape so much I swear I was gonna break the Roots up when I discovered Black Thought took my tape without my permission. I’m mad as fuck now just thinking about that day, I would sleep with this tape in auto reverse praying to God I could be inspired to make something this impactful.

Fantastic, Vol. 1 was THE soundtrack to Electric Lady Studios. The chord structures made us shiver ("Fantastic" part one is a great example of Dilla's ability to take an obscure sample and chop to his heart's content, sheeeeeit it took D'Angelo 4 listens before he realized his own "Jonze In My Bonze" was chopped beyond unrecognizability. The drum patches were as perfect as ANY drums done in current music (yes played OR sampled) and even their presentation was unique. I mean they weren't gangsta but they weren't Huxtablized either.

That was the strangest irony of all: musically they were the next level A Tribe Called Quest. But lyrically? They were closer to N.W.A. than De La Soul, obviously a result of their Detroit 7 Mile surroundings. Of course the success that was deserved eluded the original lineup for Slum Village. And even crazier is the fact that they were not even allowed to shine on the music style they helped pioneer. And in light of founding member Jay Dilla's untimely death, perhaps now those who were 10 years tardy to the party can find their invite within the selections of this disk. This is where the revolution began. Long live the revolution!!!!!!!!

(?uestlove’s commentary runs as it appears in the liner notes for Fantastic Vol. 1)