New York Governor David A. Paterson has pardoned pioneering rapper Slick Rick (Ricky Walters) who is best known for his 1988 album “The Great Adventures of Slick Rick” and a string of hits in the 1980s, notably “Children’s Story” and “La Di Da Di”.

Ricky Walters, a 43-year-old hip-hop pioneer known for the rap classic “The Great Adventures of Slick Rick” and was convicted of attempted murder in 1991, has received a full pardon from Gov. David A. Paterson. The governor said in a statement that he decided to pardon Mr. Walters, who was released from prison in 1997, to prevent him from being deported to Britain, where Mr. Walters was born and lived until the age of 11.
In 2002, The Times chronicled the efforts to deport Mr. Walters and the efforts of his supporters to prevent that from happening. Mr. Walters is currently living in the Bronx and has not been in trouble with the law since his release from prison.

Source: Governor Pardons Hip-Hop Pioneer Visit the Web site for the full text of the governor’s statement which reads in part:

Governor David A. Paterson announced today that he has granted Ricky Walters a full and unconditional pardon of his 1991 attempted murder and weapon convictions, in order to allow Walters to seek relief from deportation from the federal immigration courts. Mr. Walters, who was born in the United Kingdom, was lawfully admitted to the United States at age 11, and he was raised in the Bronx. At the time of his crimes, Mr. Walters was a newly-famous hip-hop artist known as “Slick Rick,” who has since been credited with being a pioneer in the development of hip-hop as a mainstream musical genre. Walters was incarcerated for six years, and was released from prison in 1997.

Mr. Walters has fully served the sentence imposed upon him for his convictions, had an exemplary disciplinary record while in prison and on parole, and has been living without incident in the community for more than 10 years. In that time, he has volunteered at youth outreach programs to counsel youth against violence, and has become a symbol of rehabilitation for many young people. Given these demonstrated rehabilitative efforts, I urge federal immigration officials to once again grant Mr. Walters relief from deportation, so that he is not separated from his many family members who are United States citizens, including his two teenage children.

AllHipHop reports on Slick Rick’s response and gratitude.

“My family and I are eternally thankful to Governor Paterson, my attorneys Michael Krinsky and Craig Kaplan at Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman and to all of the people who have supported me throughout the past seventeen years,” Slick Rick told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “This has been a long and difficult road and I am happy for this to be settled once and for all. I look forward to enjoying this time with my family and friends and to continue leading an honest and productive life.”

In 1991, the pioneering rapper fan afoul of the law, when during a dispute, he shot his cousin and an innocent bystander, both of whom survived the shooting.

The shooting was in response to a series of threats his cousin made that the rapper believed were going to be carried out, due to an alleged previous attempt on his life.

Source: New York Governor Pardons Rapper Slick Rick

See also:

• The Great Adventures of Slick Rick Just Got More Amazing: Pardoned

Here are two of the classics for which Slick Rick is best known. “Children’s Story” and “La Di Da Di”.

Slick Rick – “Children’s Story” video

Live performance Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh “”La Di Da Di” video

New York Governor Pardons Pioneering Rapper Slick Rick