Slum Village member, Baatin, has died at the age of 35.

While details surrounding his death are unknown, the group’s tour manager Tim Maynor confirmed rumors to Michigan’s MLive.com on Saturday (August 1).

Rumors spread amongst the internet early Saturday morning, with artists such as 9th Wonder and Dwele posting "rest in peace messages" via their Twitter pages.

"RIP Baatin of Slum Village — let’s celebrate our people while they are here ... we are losing folks," 9th Wonder wrote.

"R.I.P. Baatin of Slum Village forever," wrote singer Dwele on his page.

T3 has said in a recent interview that slum village has reunited with Baatin and has added Illa J(J Dilla’s Brother) to bring a Dilla effect. He is quoted “Slum Village is totally not that at all,” T3 adds. “I’m incorporating Baatin, and I’m putting Illa J in—not to take Dilla’s place, but just to have that essence of Dilla on this new project. I’m pulling together all the producers that we’ve used before—Black Milk, Wajeed , Kareem Riggins, Pete Rock and all the people who have been down with SV from day one.”

Baatin, T3, and Jay Dee grew up together in the Conant Gardens neighborhood of Detroit and attended Pershing High School. The group steadfastly became popular in Detroit’s underground hip hop scene. Jay Dee also became a member of the production team known as The Ummah, which produced the two last A Tribe Called Quest studio albums, as well as hits for a number of R&B and hip hop musicians. Slum Village’s first album, 1996’s Fantastic, Vol. 1, was not officially released until 2005 but highly sought after in underground circles. In 1998, the group opened for another hip hop trio, the above-mentioned A Tribe Called Quest, on their farewell tour.

Slum Village pay homage to Baatin at the Rock The Bells Tour Vancouver stop:

Slum Village’s lauded major-label debut, 2000’s "Fantastic, Vol. 2," was "widely decreed the torchbearer of progressive hip-hop," and the 2002 follow-up album, "Trinity," reaffirmed that position, reviewer Kris Ex wrote in The Times in 2002.

"Trinity" contained the group’s first bona fide radio hit, "Tainted." By then, innovative DJ-producer Jay Dee had largely been replaced by lyricist Elzhi.

Slum Village shunned trends and injected spiritual and social commentary into its work.

"If people could open their minds," Baatin told The Times in 2000, "they could see a broader perspective of hip-hop instead of categorizing it as 95-beats-per-minute, loud snares and muffled samples. . . . It could be anything."

Baatin is survived by a son, Michael Majesty Ellis, 9; a daughter, Aura Grace Glover, 1; his parents, Howard and Grace Glover; and a sister, Tina, all of Detroit, according to the Free Press.