If hip-hop is the folk music of the post-industrial age, then Slick Rick is its Woody Guthrie. According to bbc.com, born in London and raised in the Bronx, the rapper essentially invented the smooth-talking storytelling style that has inspired everyone from Snoop Dogg to Kendrick Lamar. On Thursday, he returns to his birthplace to receive a lifetime achievement prize at the Mobo Awards.
Speaking from his home in New York, the musician is remarkably humble about the accolade. “That feels great, the appreciation,” he says. “Thank you, England.”
Born Ricky Walters in 1965, he emigrated to a crime-gripped New York in 1976. By chance, he landed in the birthplace of hip-hop just as it was being conceived in local parks. “I was hooked instantly,” he recalls. Attending the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, he began writing rhymes to impress friends, developing a unique delivery that combined Jamaican intonation with witty Britishisms and an elevated vocabulary.
This flow earned him a spot in Doug E Fresh’s Get Fresh Crew. In 1985, they made history with “The Show” and “La-Di-Da-Di”. The latter, an endlessly quotable story about a day out, is now the most sampled hip-hop track of all time, appearing on more than 1,000 songs.
His solo career further proved his ability to spin a narrative. Hits like “Children’s Story” offered a theatrical, dark account of street life, while “Teenage Love” tackled the rare hip-hop territory of heartbreak. “We took novels to the next level,” he says of his literary approach. “We’re talking to people’s imagination visually.”
Despite legal troubles that saw him serve five years in prison in the 1990s and face deportation threats in 2002, Rick remains a “gold standard” for lyricists. Now a US citizen, he views the Mobo honour as a new chapter rather than a finale. “Music enriches your existence,” he muses. “You bring it to the marketplace and enrich others, but it’s really about enriching your own life.”
•Featured image: Slick Rick/Mass Appeal
