The only thing more iconic, interesting, and intriguing than the stories Slick Rick tells on wax might be his own. Lasting through four decades, six presidencies, and countless trends, he endures as “the most sampled hip-hop artist in history” with GRAMMY® Award nominations and numerous multiplatinum albums to his name. It’s why he remains synonymous with rap music, culture, and fashion. It’s why he counts some of the most influential people in the world as ardent admirers—whether it be Eminem declaring, “I’m just a product of Slick Rick” on 2020’s “Godzilla,” JAY-Z citing him as an inspiration on NETFLIX’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, A-list star Idris Elba signing him to his 7 Wallace UK imprint, Mark Ronson dissecting his work as part of a TED Talk, or Mariah Carey welcoming him on stage to perform their duet “Giving Me Life” during a sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall in 2019. It’s why rappers started to ditch jeans and oversized hoodies for high fashion—as WWD notes, “Slick Rick pioneered the merge of luxury and street.” It’s why no celebration is complete until somebody busts out “La-Di-Da-Di”, “Mona Lisa”, “Hey Young World” or “Children’s Story”.  And, here we go… Born to Jamaican parents, the man named Ricky Walters emigrated from the posh side of London to The Bronx in 1976. After majoring in visual art at Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, he transferred his artistic tendencies to music. Alongside Doug E. Fresh, he cooked up “The Show” and “La Di Da Di.” The latter would be sampled, interpolated, and shouted out north of 800 times by 2020, spanning Snoop Dogg’s “Lodi Dodi” from 1993’s seminal Doggy Style through Jay Rock’s GRAMMY® Award-winning “King’s Dead” [feat. Future, Kendrick Lamar, & James Blake] from the chart-dominating Black Panther: The Album in 2018. Its long history includes nods by Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, The Notorious B.I.G., Pusha T, and many more. In many ways, the story is just getting started. He will drop his first album in 21 years imminently and continues to collaborate with some of the most influential names in entertainment and fashion. The New York Times put it best with the headline, “Hip-Hop pioneer still has stories to tell.”  However, after all of these years, there’s still nothing like the story of Slick Rick.