R.I.P :: Titus “Baatin” Glover from Slum Village found dead
Post Lady Kootore
via FREEP
I am truly at lost for words when I heard about this! Titus “Baatin” Glover from the Detroit group Slum Village passed away over the weekend. We at the Fly Paper send our condolences to the Glover family and Slum Village. Check out the story below. THE VIOLENCE HAS TO STOP!
Titus (Baatin) Glover, the Detroit rapper who cofounded the much-acclaimed Slum Village, did not appear to die from foul play, authorities said today.
The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office said it found no evidence of trauma on Glover’s body and that examiners are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to shed more light on his death. The tests could take seven weeks to complete.
The Detroit Police Department said it isn’t treating the death as a homicide, unless the medical examiner provides information to the contrary. Police provided no additional details about the circumstances of his death.
Mr. Glover’s body was found Saturday morning in the 14000 block of Anglin Street and is at the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office, family friend Ty Townson said.
There was speculation on the Internet on Saturday that Mr. Glover was shot but, according to Townson, who was at the scene as Mr. Glover’s body was taken away, there was no indication he was involved in a shooting.
Glover’s mother, Alberta Glover, said Saturday that she doesn’t know anything about how her son died. She said she’s waiting for the medical examiner to tell the family something either today or Monday.
Detroit Police Department spokesman John Roach said Saturday he did not know a cause of death. The medical examiner’s office would not comment Saturday.
Funeral arrangements are not yet set. Friends and family members are to gather for a public remembrance at 8 tonight at 5 E Gallery, 2125 Michigan Ave. in Detroit.
Mr. Glover, who turned 35 in March, left Slum Village in 2002, later telling the Free Press he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He continued to record and play occasional solo dates before returning to the Slum fold for the group’s upcoming album, “Villa Manifesto,” due Sept. 22.
He was with the group for its gig at the Rock the Bells Tour stop in June at DTE Energy Music Theatre and performed last week in a video shoot for Slum’s new single, “Cloud 9.”
“This is just very shocking,” friend Biba Adams said. “We were all hoping this would be the return of the original group.”
“Baatin will be missed,” Slum Village’s T3 told the Free Press in a statement. “I’m glad we got a chance to work together before he passed. We lost another Slum soldier, a dear friend and a brother. He touched many lives.”
Word of Mr. Glover’s death circulated quickly Saturday afternoon in music circles both locally and nationally, where Slum Village has long been an exalted name in underground hip-hop.
Fellow group founder James (J. Dilla) Yancey, Mr. Glover’s Pershing High School classmate, died in 2006 after a long illness.
“Deepest sympathy to the family, friends and fans of Slum Village on the passing of Baatin,” J. Dilla’s mother, Maureen Yancey, said in a statement. “We loved him and his kind heart and spirit will be forever in our hearts.”
Slum Village emerged in the late 1990s amid major street buzz, attracting fans of organic hip-hop and being supported by acts such as A Tribe Called Quest. The group’s 2000 national debut, “Fantastic Vol. 2,” landed on critics’ best-of lists and set the stage for Slum’s highest-profile commercial release, “Trinity,” two years later.
“He was a very spiritual brother,” said Detroiter Khalid el-Hakim, founder of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum. “He brought spirituality to Detroit hip-hop that you didn’t see with other artists. That’s what he was known for.”
Mr. Glover is survived by his son, Michael Majesty Ellis; his daughter, Aura Grace Glover; his parents, Howard and Alberta Glover, his sister, Eleanor Glover, and two brothers, Richard Riggins and Wendell Scott, all of Detroit.
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