Slick Rick Bio: The Art of Storytelling - The Hip Hop Insider (2024)

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Josh Deleon

Josh grew up listening to all types of underground, mainstream, Hispanic, and all other parts of the hip-hop spectrum. Born at the end of the Golden Age of hip hop, the new wave and popularity of the scene helped shape his mind and personality. He has experienced the massive growth of the culture from the underground roots to the mainstream.

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Crafting stories is something I love to do. It’s a way to capture the minds of people willing to see what you’re wanting to tell them. A concept as old as humanity itself; I’m surprised it took us until the 80s to start using it in music.

But one man singlehandedly brought this concept into practice, changing Hip Hop music forever. Slick Rick.

Name:Richard Martin Lloyd Walters
Birth Date:January 14th, 1965
Birth Place:Mitcham, London, England
Nick Name:Rick the Ruler, MC Ricky D
Nationality:American, British
Zodiac Sign:Capricorn
Children:Ricky Martin Lloyd Santiago, Lateisha Walters
Partner / Spouse:Mandy Aragones (m. 1997)
Most Successful Songs / Albums:Songs:“La Di Da Di”

“Street Talkin’”

“Children’s Story”

Albums:The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988)

The Art of Storytelling (1999)

Net Worth:$3 million
Social Media:Instagram: therulernyc

Twitter: @therulernyc

Facebook: Slick Rick

YouTube: OfficialSlickRick

Awards:VH-1 Hip Hop Honors honoree
Last Updated:November 10th, 2022

Quick Summary

Slick Rick is a British American rapper best known for his contribution to storytelling in the Hip Hop genre. Widely regarded as a pioneer in telling narratives in music, he has been sampled over a thousand times by names such as the Notorious B.I.G., Kanye West, and many others.

Historic songs such as “La-Di-Da-Di,” made with long-time partner Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew, and “Children’s Story” are amongst his most known tracks. His final album, 1999’s The Art of Storytelling, is recognized as one of the greatest albums of all time.

A Brief Introduction

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Within London, England, on the fourteenth of January 1965, two unassuming Jamaican parents would bring a life to this world that would change music history. A gift of storytelling came to the withdrawn child.

Creativity running wild in the mind of a young soul, the personification of the Slick Rick persona created engaging, compelling, and moving words that would flow together like a book.

Now, his songs are amongst the most sampled and influential pieces of music ever to come out of the Hip Hop genre, leaving traces of his presence in the most prominent names ever to walk this Earth.

Some of the most iconic lines, rhythms, and beats came from Slick Rick, and it’s time the next generation of listeners learn about his impact on the game.

What this man has done to shape today’s lyricism has caught my attention my whole life. A storyteller myself, I studied his ways, learned who he is, what he’s been through, and everything else to tell my rendition of Slick Rick’s biography.

I came out attempting to create a story for the original storyteller that even he would appreciate, and I hope you do too.

Without further ado, here’s the complete biography of one Slick Rick.

Growing Up

The Eye Patch

Life before the accident could only be a blur to the now fifty-seven-year-old. Seeing life like the rest of us in his first eighteen months on this Earth was all he got. If you’ve seen Slick Rick by this point, you may have seen an eye patch covering his right eye. Something the rapper has talked about numerous times before.

Sitting down with Ego-Trip co-founder Mao, he said this in an interview, “I used to wear like a contact lens, anything that camouflaged the eyes, cuz you know, the eyes is kind of messed up, you know.” (Barilla, Distractify, 2022)

It came about one day when he was just a child. The young boy would play in his family’s house. One day, little Richard Walters happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Glass breaking and hitting his right eye would take its vision away forever.

Slick Rick would go on to say, “I was always pretty shy because of the eye…so rather than going out and playing sports, I stayed indoors and wrote stories.” (BlackDoctor)

Meeting Some Friends

In a high school for Music & Art, Rick majored in visual art. Always having a passion to create; he ended up meeting Dana Dane, a close friend whom he would partner up with to form the Kangol Crew. They performed small shows at school and locations close to home.

The fateful Battle in the Bronx talent show arrived in 1984, where Rick (then going by MC Ricky D) met Doug E. Fresh. Having a group called the Get Fresh Crew, Fresh invited Rick in. Impressed by his lyrical talent, the natural beat-boxer was among the first to see the future of Hip Hop come together.

A Way with Words

When the two met, something extraordinary was formed. Back then, Hip Hop was a whole different story than what we know and expect today. Even twenty years ago, the world had Eminem, Jay-Z, and other rappers who took great inspiration from what these two were about to create. And that, my friend, is storytelling.

When you think of “Stan” by Em himself or “Dance with the Devil” by Immortal Technique, you think of the story being told. The songs are meant to be listened to with the narrative concept. This technique, widely used in contemporary music, stems back to the duo. Back in 1985, when he was still just MC Ricky D.

Sweeping the Nation

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With now rap partner Doug E. Fresh’s Get Fresh Crew, the two released the single “The Show.” A six-and-a-half minute classic Hip Hop track with fun synth wave keyboards overspray can noise and a simple drum beat. The song would find much success, but incomparable to the records B-Side, “La-Di-Da-Di.”

If you haven’t heard La-Di-Da-Di, I think it’s worth listening to at least once. If anything, just for the historical impression it’s left on the industry. Look at it as a time capsule, if you will.

As we progress in time and life, the 80s remain further in the past, and this song is a marker of a critical moment from that decade. It may be a bit out of the ordinary for many of you, but put yourself in their position and see rap evolve through your ears.

You’ll also notice no synths or other instruments after listening to the song. The only beat being heard is the beatboxing from Doug E. Fresh himself. Slick Rick takes the entire helm of vocals on this track, telling a story of him starting his morning and going about his day.

It sounds so simple compared to other story-driven songs to come, but it was revolutionary.

The influence of this has grown to never before seen heights. By 2022, the song had been used in music television shows such as Soul Train and Top of the Pops. The track has been sampled over a thousand times, most notably by one mega-famous song, “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G.

So, it’s probably pretty clear by now the impact this one song had on the genre. Seeing all this success, MC Ricky D figured it was time to go solo and make a debut album.

Debut Album:Slick Rick – Children’s Story (Official Music Video)

The Great Adventures of Slick Rick was released on November 1st, 1988. An album that would inspire artists to come, the record has such classics like the ever-popular “Children’s Story,” which tells the events of a young boy falling into a life of theft, attempted murder, and his death in a style that mimics that of a playful children’s song.

It acts as an attempt by Slick Rick to educate listeners on these real-life choices kids still face today.

Along with the track, the record is home to other hits like “Teacher, Teacher,” Mona Lisa,” and my personal favorite, “Teenage Love.” Releasing at a time when the rap game was starting to hit the mainstream, many have cited this release as a fundamental influence on their works.

The album would eventually sell over a million copies worldwide and peak at number 31 on the Billboard top 200. And while it didn’t top that chart, it did hold the number one spot on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop charts and was amongst the first rap albums to hit platinum status.

Wanting to continue riding the success the young man found in the late 80s, he began working on his sophomore album, but after only a few weeks, that project would have to wait.

High Times, Low Times

Finding success doesn’t always come with ease—especially in the Bronx area where Walters came from. His lifestyle and fame made his reputation prominent in the limelight, bringing haters along the way.

With the fancy cars and bling he wore, and sometimes even wearing a gold crown to show his massive wealth, he began thinking of himself as vulnerable to potential thieves wanting to take his stuff.

After all, he only had vision in one eye, which was still a time when violence and hate in the rap game were more widely acted upon. Walters wasn’t having any of it, so he hired a bodyguard to protect himself.

Or rather, his mother, Veronica, hired him one: his first cousin, Mark Plummer, who had originated from Jamaica. This was going to help add some security wherever Slick went, but what was once meant to be the solution quickly became the problem.

Plummer was not that great of a guy and was causing more trouble than help. The many extortion attempts from his cousin were what got to Slick the most. He dropped him eventually, not wanting to deal with the issue anymore.

A severance pack of $3,000 and a van were all he wanted to give. This, of course, didn’t sit well with Plummer. And so, one night, when Rick was at his home, he noticed a disturbing scene: someone breaking in.

The intruders were robbing him, and Slick needed to protect his home. During the incident, one of the assailants tied Slick up and “pistol-whipped” the rapper. The people took what they wanted and made off into the night. It was later discovered to be Mark Plummer and his friends who robbed his place, bringing paranoia to Walters’ frame of mind.

And this wouldn’t even be the end of it! The guy kept coming back and threatening Slick Rick and his mother’s life, and the rapper found bullet holes in his front door. In his testimony to the judge, Walters spoke, “He just straight up said ‘Yes, I did it.’

He wanted money. I was afraid to come out my own house.” (The Village Voice) That would sketch me out too. So, I understand his paranoia at this point, but let’s continue.

Shots at the Club

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At three in the morning, Slick Rick was making his exit with a lady from a club in the Bronx. His Nissan Pathfinder parked in the cold night, the two, and another civilian making his exit, quietly went to leave when a few strangers made their way over to them.

“We want you.” A familiar voice spoke to Slick, not giving him time to process the multiple gunshots fired toward the three.

Three shots hit Slick Rick and more pierced the other two before the attacker’s escape. He recognized them as his cousin’s friends, but the knowledge didn’t save the three from a trip to the hospital. Slick was now fearing for his life; and I do not blame him.

Shots Fired Back

After the robberies and the night at the club, Walters wasn’t taking any more chances. More than a few guns were purchased during this time in his life. A time when the charismatic poet feared for his safety more than ever. “…Walters bought handguns—five different kinds—and a sawed-off shotgun.”

Writes The Village Voice. With this weaponry, his paranoia was now apparent, and the rapper was ready.

It was now the 3rd of July in the summer of 1990. Slick kept his Davis 380 automatic pistol on him, but the others were still close by, being held in several hiding spots within his car. On a night out for Chinese food, Walters and his then-girlfriend, Lisa Santiago, would follow up with baby shopping as she was seven months pregnant.

A nice night out for the two of them would change as Walters saw his cousin outside a store in the Bronx. Rick fired at Plummers on sight repeatedly. One of the first shots had struck the ankles of a bystander, while three shots connected with his cousin.

Three-for-three. Once Plummers managed to find safety inside a store, Slick drove off, now being chased by the police.

Trying to escape, Slick made his way to the highway and made a sharp left turn. This would be his mistake, though, as he would crash his car into a tree, breaking both his girlfriend’s legs and leaving him cut up by the end. They arrested them afterward as he pleaded guilty to all charges, including two counts of attempted murder.

A Rush for a Second Release

Rick knew he was going to prison. That was pretty much a fact to him at the beginning of the decade, and so he gathered the 21 songs that he had been working on producing, put them together, and put out his next record, The Ruler’s Back.

This sophomore record peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200, placing two spots higher than his debut, but was not received well critically.

The first of two albums met with lackluster reviews, tracks like “I shouldn’t Have Done It” and “Runaway” became some of the more favorable listens, but the record is now eclipsed by other projects in Slick Rick’s small catalog. The album was released on the 20th of July in 1991. The same year that his prison sentence had begun.

Locked Up

Slick Rick – Behind Bars (Official Music Video)

This timeframe lasted five years for Slick Rick. In the mid-90s was seen behind bars for the artist, serving two of those years for the charges of attempted murder and an additional three because of his residency in the US. I’ll get more into that here in a bit, but during his incarceration, his third album, Behind Bars, would drop on the 10th of December, 1994.

Again, this one would receive low sales and few good reviews. It charted at number 51 on the Billboard 200, and that would be it for the project.

Many introspective thoughts and inward problem-posing came to the young man’s mind during this time. Reflection on himself had given Slick the patience to understand his wrongdoings—a point many other people don’t get to reach.

This would be the case for his cousin, as in 1992, Mark Plummers would enter another person’s house and rape a young boy. The father shot Plummers to death. And that was the end of his cousin’s story.

After five years of extended trials and pleas by him, attorneys, fans, and others, 1997 would see his release.

The late 90s came along, and things were starting to change for Slick Rick. For one, someone he had met four years prior at a Manhattan nightclub, a lady named Mandy Aragones, would become his wife the year of his release.

Still married, his love life was strong as the new Walters could walk freely again. Still, two years away from his masterpiece, he gave himself time to live life and craft the piece of art.

The Art of Storytelling

Slick Rick ft. OutKast – Street Talkin’ (Official Music Video)

And now we’ve arrived.

By this point, big names in the rap game had taken Slick Rick’s clever wordplay and integrated the storytelling aspects into their works. The beginnings of this new style of lyricism Slick started in the mid to late 80s were over a decade old, and the industry had changed dramatically.

A new, more brutal gangster sound with deeper beats and more personal lyrical content dominated the scene with people like Biggie and Tupac. Others like Snoop Dogg, Nas, Andre 3000, Raekwon, and more had made their names in the game, following in Walters’ footsteps.

But Slick Rick wasn’t all in the past just yet. Far from it, actually, as his fourth and final album, The Art of Storytelling, would hit shelves on the 25th of May in 1999. This reintroduction into Hip-Hop saw an older, evolved Slick Rick helm the pen to create one of the genre’s all-time greatest albums.

A modern sound in the late 90s, the tracks felt personal, and the stories more in-depth. Melancholy even. You could hear the wise perspective the writer has curated over the years and preaches about.

Appearances from some big names such as Andre 3000, Nas, Raekwon, and Snoop Dogg bring the album to the G.O.A.T. tier. Very few other projects have put together this much talent, and it was achieved on a Slick Rick album.

The Art of Storytelling peaked at number 8 on the billboard 200, becoming his highest-charting album. As this has been his last release, it’s most likely that we won’t see anything of this magnitude again, which makes this previous hoorah for him that much more deserving.

In recent years, Slick has released a few singles, including “Can’t Dance To A Track That Ain’t Got No Soul” in 2019. The song samples one of my favorite funk artists, Funkadelic, with the instrumental of their famous song, “Knee Deep.” In 2022, “Metropolis” was released, featuring him on the track with DJ Muggs and Method Man.

To London and Back

In 2002, Walters had been riding pretty high in recent years. His name and legacy are well-established now, and the effects of his early works were directly seeded in the modern era of Hip-Hop. All was well until the INS got back on his tale.

All right, so let me back up right quick. So, Slick Rick was born in the United Kingdom only to later move to the states in the year 1976. He was about eleven years old at this point.

No eleven-year-old contemplates getting his U.S. citizenship changed, and his parents didn’t seem to change it either, so Walters carried on with life technically not a US citizen.

Fast forward to the early 2000s, and Walters was frequently visiting his family in Florida, and by traveling by a cruise ship to visit, the INS saw this as justification and probable reasoning to warrant his arrest.

There are many legal reasons why they used this method to try and deport him. Still, because he was a felon and never officially changed his citizenship to America, it was enough to imprison him for 17 more months.

He was initially taken off the cruise ship, where he raised money for black college students. The dude couldn’t catch a break. In the old, uncared-for detention center, Bradenton, Walters endured harsh living conditions while his wife worried for him. After 9/11, security across the country started to ramp up, and Slick was already on high watch.

Even his eye patch, which could not be replaced, was nearing disintegration after a year. He wouldn’t be released until the 7th of November, 2003, by immigration-sensitive Judge Kimba M. Wood.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The Department of Homeland Security came knocking on Slick Rick’s door in October 2006, starting a new attempt to get Walters out of the country.

With most of his supporters from New York, the DHS managed to move the case down to Florida’s Eleventh Circuit, where he was initially arrested on the cruise ship. Because of this significant faction, there was enough pushback to deport Slick Rick back to the United Kingdom.

His family, land, and life were all in the states, but because of insistence to get him deported for nearly ten years, minor technicalities, and the crime he had already served for, Walters had to return to the place he didn’t see as home. A hard time to a long and troubling story of Slick Rick, the man finally got his U.S. citizenship on the 15th of April, 2016.

He was given a full unconditional pardon on the attempted murder charges on the 23rd of March, 2008, by New York Governor David Paterson. A new chapter in life was starting, and Walters was ready to return.

Also, before I move on, I want to add his feature appearance on Chamillionaire’s 2007 banger, “Hip Hop Police.” This is a fantastic example of the older generation coming together with, the newer generation.

In the story, the two artists are seen playing two versions of themselves being arrested and questioned. Sound familiar? It’s still cool to me that even with everything going on in his life, Slick still set aside some time for the music.

Legacy

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A Few Decades Time

Since his last release, a lot has changed in the world. Music has evolved. Society views the world differently. And we all continue to grow older. Walters has lived for over half a century now.

I probably don’t have to word it that way, but it’s true. Now simply living life back in the states, performing shows now and then, and helping the youth and his communities, Walters has seen most of his story play out.

Whether he views it in its entirety as a good or bad story is up to him, but it will be logged into the rap history books—that’s for sure. Looking back, the concept of putting stories into music seems so simple.

Like younger people trying to imagine how life was before the internet took over, the idea may seem jarring for many. Even I was too young to fully understand the impact of The Art of Storytelling when it came out.

I wasn’t even alive when The Great Adventures of Slick Rick debuted. But I’m telling you all this now because of how important this man was.

His impact is still seen today and may never leave the rap game (or music as a whole) for as long as we create it. And that is the true art of storytelling.

Net Worth

As of 2022, Slick Rick currently has a net worth of $3 million. A fashionable and eccentric person, he has dawned numerous expensive jewelry and flashy cars to show off his wealth. He’s owned separate family-living facilities in the Bronx, where he’s quoted as playing “the landlord role” amongst spending time with his family.

Personal Life

Together Walters lives with his wife. His life is shown through his social media, where he regularly posts promotional events, shows, his family, and just moments he wishes to share. He continues to support the newer generations of the rap game and reminds his followers of times way back when.

Discography

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  • The Great Adventures of Slick Rick – released November 1st, 1988
  • The Ruler’s Back released – released July 2nd, 1991
  • Behind Bars – released November 22nd, 1994
  • The Art of Storytelling – released May 25th, 1999

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Why Does Slick Rick Wear an Eye Patch?

Answer: At eighteen months old, broken glass fell on the young boy, blinding him in his right eye. After trying out different options to help cope with the reactions to people seeing his eye, he would dawn an eye patch that felt unique to his soon-to-develop character.

Question:Is Slick Rick Still Rich?

Answer: Despite his legal battles and lack of content over the last two decades, Slick Rick is still estimated to be worth around $3 million. He has other endeavors now that help sustain an income despite his absence from the rap game.

Question: Is Slick Rick Still Making Music?

Answer: Slick Rick has released a few singles over the last few years. Although a whole album hasn’t been seen or is rumored to be coming, the artist still performs shows. He is finishing a tour in the U.S. as of the last update of this article.

Final Thoughts: A Reflection of Richard Walters

Few have the honor of standing on the level Slick Rick put himself on so long ago. Whether you look at his first album, the genre-changing, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, or his legacy-cementing final album, The Art of Storytelling, I hope you see now who Slick Rick was.

And not only his Hip-Hop moniker but also the man behind the eye patch and jewelry: Richard Walters.

We’ve seen artists try to mimic his flows, style, and energy, but none stand with the original gangsta. Someone who spent years in prison. Who’s taken bullet shots and returned some as well. Who’s lost their eye and has gone through life seeing the same world we do, but on hard mode.

Please take what you will from Slick Rick’s story, but remember his name and what he has done for your favorite artists today to make the music they create for you.

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