Slick Rick

Slick Rick is a British-American rapper known for witty narrative lyrics, distinctive delivery, and story-driven songs such as “La Di Da Di” and “Children’s Story.”

La Di Da Di: A 1985 hip-hop recording by Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, built around an extended comic narrative. Its rhyming domestic comedy became a landmark example of his conversational storytelling.
Narrative rap: Rap that develops a story through verses, characters, events, and narrative progression. Slick Rick is a defining practitioner, using plot rather than boasting alone to organize songs.
Mitcham: A district in south London, England. Slick Rick was born in Mitcham before his family moved to the United States.
Kool Moe Dee: An American rapper and member of the Treacherous Three, known for technically intricate rhyming. His 1980s feud with Slick Rick became part of the period’s competitive rap culture.
Hip-hop sampling culture: The practice of building hip-hop compositions from fragments of recorded music and sound. The many later uses of “La Di Da Di” made the song a central source in this tradition.
Children’s Story: A 1988 Slick Rick song recounting a young man’s progression from petty crime to tragedy. Its cautionary plot demonstrates how he turns a rap track into a compact crime story.
Doug E. Fresh: An American rapper and beatboxer known as the Human Beat Box. His beatboxing supplies the vocal percussion on “La Di Da Di.”
Bronx hip-hop: The hip-hop culture and music that developed in the Bronx, New York City, during the 1970s and 1980s. He emerged as a rapper in the Bronx scene that formed his musical setting.
The Treacherous Three: A pioneering New York hip-hop group formed in the late 1970s. Kool Moe Dee’s group helped establish the competitive MC tradition surrounding Slick Rick’s era.
The Notorious B.I.G.: An American rapper known for detailed narratives and the 1994 album Ready to Die. His narrative style belongs to a tradition Slick Rick helped make prominent.

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Oliver TreeRelated: Tree has cited the eyepatch-wearing rapper as an influence on his visual presentation.