Slick Rick moved with his family to The Bronx in 1975 where he met Dana Dane, later forming a hip hop duo as Kangol Crew. Rick's characteristic eyepatch was acquired after being blinded in the right eye by broken glass as an infant. He is best known for a series of rap recordings during the 1980s, including "Hey Young World", "Children's Story" and "La Di Da Di", B-side of Doug E. Fresh single "The Show" (1985). Once he gained a degree of wealth, he earned a reputation for wearing an eyepatch over his right eye, an enormous amount of gold and diamond jewelry, including many large necklaces with giant pendants, bracelets, huge rings on each finger, and a gold tooth.
In 1990, Slick Rick shot a bystander and his cousin whom he had hired as a bodyguard and who later admitted to having Walters shot outside a club. Slick Rick was indicted on two counts of attempted murder and pleaded guilty to all charges which also included assault, use of a firearm, and criminal possession of a weapon. Russell Simmons, head of Def Jam records, bailed him out and Rick quickly recorded The Ruler's Back before spending five years in prison, two for the second degree attempted murder charges he received for that shooting, and three while hassling with Immigrations Services over his residency in the US. In the documentary film, The Show, Russell Simmons interviews Rick while he was a prisoner on Rikers Island.
A third album Behind Bars was released while still in prison, and it was released to lukewarm sales and reviews. Released from prison in 1996, he remained with Def Jam and on May 25, 1999 released a fourth album, entitled The Art of Storytelling, generally considered the authentic follow up to his 1988 debut. Storytelling was also an artistically successful comeback that paired him with MCs like Nas, OutKast, Raekwon, and Snoop Dogg, among others.
On October 6, 2008, Rick was honored on the VH1 Hip Hop Honors show....Enjoy!!
Children's Story
Hey Young World
I Shouldn't of Done it
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
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