As you might hear when you listen to Slick Rick; he, Ricky Walters, is born in London, England. January 14 1965 is the date of born and then you have probably already figured out that Slick Rick is 40 years old, one of few rappers who has aged well artistically. With hard work he has been able to maintainance and modernize his rapping while still not losing the unique Slick Rick style.

1975 was the year when Slick Rick and his family moved to the Bronx. He made up his mind quite early determing what he wanted to do. The rapping was the only real alternative and he was more than happy over being in the legendary beatbox, rapper and producer Doug E. Freshs shadow. 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 street in Harlem, given by promotion partners Ray Chandler & Charlie Rock, The Rick & Doug were formally introduced by Rock. Their 1985 double single The Show/Ladi Dadi went multiple platinum and a couple of years later the rapper, back then known as MC Ricky D, left Doug E. Fresh behind him and started an solo career with the platinum selling album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, which was released under the golden hiphop year 1988 when a bunch of classic CDs went on sale. Maybe his sales would have been even better if the competition was a little bit easier.

Slick went in prison in 1990 (more about that under "Articles") after shooting his cousin and a bystander. Russell Simmons bailed him out from arrest and he created the album "The Ruler's back" before spending five years in jail 1991-1996. While he was on of his permissions, he recorded Behind Bars in 1994. Rick got released in 1996 and in 1999 he released his latest album: The Art of Storytelling which was a hugh hit and thats what you could call "The Ruler's Back" for real. One problem remained though: USAs "deport all former criminals being from other countries originally"-law introduced in 1996 and strengthened after the September 11-attack in 2001. However Slick did not want to leave the country, so he was arrested by INS while performing on a cruise ship in Florida. He was sitting away 17 months in prison before getting released in 2003. Since then, there have been some words about a new album, but nothing concret have been showed up yet.

Slick Rick is married to the woman on the picture, and they have a son together. Maybe an upcoming emcee?