4. Slick Rick
Slick Rick! From the Bally shoes to the gold chains to the Kangol, the whole nine yards. When I first came out with my first major release, people compared me to Slick Rick only because I used to wear the furry Kangols and gold chains all the time. “La-Di-Da-Di” might have been the first song I really knew all the words to, from top to bottom. I knew he was from London but I didn’t even know he was a yardie ’til much later. Slick Rick, to this day, is one of those people who can carry himself with finesse and class and wear a suit in the grimiest of all grimy places. I respect that—that’s a real Jamaican thing. While hip-hop was trying to be grimy, dancehall artists wore the flashiest of clothes. I rate Slick Rick for his lyrics and his style and all of that, but I also rate Slick Rick for repping the culture. Even though he wasn’t overt with it, we all knew what it was.