Baatin of Slum Village Passes

By: Ismael AbduSalaam

AllHipHop.com has confirmed that Baatin of Slum Village has passed away.



While no details are available regarding cause of death, friends of the rapper have already began sending out condolences via Twitter.



“R.I.P. baatin of slum village forever,” wrote singer Dwele on his page.



In a summer filled with celebrity deaths, producer 9th Wonder advised fans to remember artists while they are still living.



“RIP Baatin of Slum Village; let’s celebrate our people while they are here,” 9th reflected. “we are losing folk.”



Baatin was the founding member of the group Slum Village, along with J Dilla and T3.




Together, the trio released two influential albums in Fan-Tas-Tic (Vol. 1) (1997) and Fantastic, Vol. 2 (2000).




In 2002, Dilla left the group to pursue a solo career, and was replaced by lyricist Elzhi. Baatin himself left the group before the release of their 2004 LP Detroit Deli due to undisclosed medical issues.




The group experienced further hardship when musical backbone J Dilla passed away in 2006 following a long battle with Lupus.




Earlier this week, T3 had confirmed with AllHipHop.com that Baatin had rejoined the group.




“The whole thing is I felt like the fans wanted Baatin to come back. And I felt like I really didn’t want to do another album without Baatin. I wanted his energy,” T3 explained. “I found him and he was ready. He seemed like he had his stuff together. So that’s how the whole wheel started spinning for this new Slum Village album because basically, for the last couple of years, we dropped an album but we were going through a lot of depression. Dilla passed and then Proof passed. I really didn’t feel like doing no music. I wasn’t inspired. I was really just going through my thing.”


Brooklyn emcee Talib Kweli was also at a loss regarding the recent passing, revealing that partner Hi-Tek was set to DJ for the group tonight.


“I’m at a loss right now,” Kweli stated on Twitter. “Hi-Tek was set to dj for Slum Village tonight. RIP Baatin. More influential than you can imagine. Slum Village forever.”



AllHipHop.com will continue to develop this story as more details emerge.

http://admin.allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2009/08/01/21867932.aspx

you will be missed brother.... Slum forever...