"Poll question: Who's your favorite member of Slum Village?"
Strictly from a rap perspective. We know Yancey is the God but just talking about the rapping. For me it's Baatin. Dude had a unique flow and would do shit like this with his voice https://youtu.be/5arw4jGTepY?t=2m43s. Not saying he's the best rapper in the group but he usually had my favorite part on songs.
My ranking 4. Elzhi 3. T3 2. Jay Dee (RIP) 1. Baatin (RIP)
3. "Baatin was their core identity if you think about it" In response to Reply # 0
Slum Village during the Jay Dee era was basically considering as the torch bearers to Tribe, as weird as that may feel now. Maybe a lot of that comes from the fact that Jay was the producer of both groups during the transition, but a lot of the comments made about Slum were circling around their "spiritual" vibe and feel good nature of the music in general. Jay would rap about girls, being successful, getting money and the usual trite subject matter. T3 was still getting his rap legs underneath him, and would flash the occasional brilliance that made Slum so unique with his grunts and comical emphasis, but ultimately could not piece together something memorable.
Baatin was the star here. He embodied spirituality to the point of absurdity. It was almost as if he researched the subject matter with the way he tied in tantra sex, philosophy and literature into one verse all the while having the most memorable voice of the three.
I think the best example of Baatin's genius was on Things U Do. The singing bit at the end is the best.