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Slick Rick:
Born in S. Wimbledon, England, he was blinded by broken glass as an infant and took to wearing an eyepatch from an early age. Walters moved with his family to the Bronx, NY in 1975. Charlie Rock of Harlem World crew was instrumental in bringing Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh together when Doug requested an introduction after he had seen him win local MC battle contests. It was at an MC contest at the 369 Armory on 142nd St. in Harlem, thrown by Ray Chandler & Charlie Rock, The Rick & Doug were formally introduced by Rock. As a 20-year-old in the summer of 1985 he scored his first big hits, "La Di Da Di" and "The Show." Slick Rick released The Great Adventures of Slick Rick in 1988 while living in New York City. The album attained platinum status, but he was unable to further this success due to an arrest for attempted murder. He shot his cousin and a bystander, accusing his cousin of extorting money. Russell Simmons, head of Def Jam, bailed him out and Slick Rick quickly recorded The Ruler's Back before spending five years in prison. "La Di Da Di", "Mona Lisa" and Children's Story are among his best known songs, with "La Di Da Di" being covered nearly word-for-word by Snoop Dogg on his 1993 album Doggystyle. When Slick Rick was released from prison in 1994, he immediately recorded Behind Bars. On May 25, 1999, Slick Rick released his fourth album entitled The Art Of Storytelling on the Def Jam label. The album featured Nas, OutKast, Raekwon fr Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Kid Capri, Canibus, and Doug E. Fresh. In June 2002, after performing on a Caribbean cruise ship, Walters was arrested by the then INS as he re-entered the United States through Florida. He was promptly told that he was being deported because he was technically a British citizen. In 1996, a law was passed which called for foreigners convicted of violent felonies to be deported, a ruling which was more vigorously practiced in the heightened security concerns after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Rick was continuously refused bail, but after 17 months in prison he was released on Nov 7th 2003.
