Slick Rick (born Richard Martin Lloyd Walters on January 14, 1965) is an English-American rapper and record producer.
In the mid-1980s, he rose to notoriety with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Gang. “The Show” and “La Di Da Di” are regarded as early hip-hop masterpieces. “La Di Da Di” is one of history’s most sampled tunes.
Slick Rick was the third musician signed to Def Jam Recordings in 1986. He has four studio albums to his credit: The Amazing Adventures of Slick Rick (1988), The Ruler’s Back (1991), Behind Bars (1994), and The Art of Storytelling (1997). (1999). Over 1,000 times, his music has been sampled and interpolated by artists such as Eminem, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Beastie Boys, TLC, Nas, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, MF DOOM, CZARFACE, Black Star, The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, MC Ren, Montell Jordan, Tech N9ne, and Color Me Badd. Slick Rick has become one of the most sampled hip-hop musicians of all time as a result. Many of these Slick Rick-inspired tracks went on to become successful hits.
Snoop Dogg (formerly Snoop Doggy Dogg) sang Rick’s words from his record “La Di Da Di” almost entirely on the tune ‘Lodi Dodi’ on his debut album Doggystyle in 1993, making him one of the very first hip-hop musicians to be covered. Rappers using whole song lyrics from another artist was unusual at the time.
Slick Rick has been honored by VH-1 Hip Hop Honors, and About.com placed him No. 12 on their list of the Top 50 MCs of Our Time[8], while The Source ranked him No. 15 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. He has been in and appeared as a cameo in ten films and videos.
