R.I.P. Baatin

A distinct voice in hip-hop.Just read Dwele's tweet that Baatin of Slum Village has passed away. This is a sad day. T3 is the last living member of the original Slum Village, a group that has always loomed large in my life. SV is greater than it's music. The group is emblematic of a sound and a region, yet even that isn't enough. For me, Slum Village has long represented a strain of music, and a particular attitude about making rap records, that eschews so much of the ******** which passes as music culture. SV is something better than that. This sentiment in inextricably linked to Jay Dilla's legacy, and there's something sweet and honest about it. Baatin will now assume some of that meaning, however melancholy it is that his death was the precipitating incident.As a rapper, Baatin was playful, colorful, witty. His voice, though nasally, also was clear and striking, his verses engrossing and memorable. He is already missed.R.I.P Baatin.- Slum Village, "Pregn...