TITUS GLOVER also known as BAATIN and other rap aliases like eazy-t and scandalous-t passed away last night at the age of 35-years old. the cause of death is not currently known however baatin did suffer from health problems in the past.
baatin which is islamic for 'hidden' got his start as an emcee in detroit michigan in 1986 with proof of D12 at stanleys cafe and 1515 broadway. baatin formed a hip-hop group called ssenepod (dopeness spelled backward) with T3 and JAY DEE.
in 1991 dopeness spelled backward officially changed their group name to SLUM VILLAGE and put conant gardens detroit on the map. during that time jay dee also known as J. DILLA was part of the production team for A TRIBE CALLED QUEST and in 1998 slum village opened up for tribe on their farewell tour.
in june of 2000 slum village released FANTASTIC VOL. 2 on goodvibe recordings which is one of my favorite hip-hop albums from start to finish to this day. in 2002 dilla left the crew to pursue his solo career and passed on in 2006 after being diagnosed with moschcowitz syndrome and lupus.
when dilla left slum village in 2002 they brought in another emcee from FAT BEATS RECORDS by the name of elzhi. and when baatin became sick while touring in france before their debut album detroit deli the group then became a duo consisting of T3 and elzhi.
baatin was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and depression in 2004. he suffered from mental illness as well as drug addiction and developed a crack habit and was living homeless for more than a year.
the crew was supposed to reunite for a new album which was to include ILLA J the brother of jay dee as well as many producers slum village had used in the past like PETE ROCK and black milk and wajeed and kareem riggins and others. VILLA MANIFESTO was scheduled to be released september 22nd and the first single entitled cloud-9 features marsha ambrosious of floetry.
