Rapper and artist Slick Rick is slated to make appearances this month in both New Jersey and New York. The influential hip-hop pioneer, who released his latest album, “Victory,” in June, will perform at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, NJ, as part of “Represent!” on November 20 before appearing at Rough Trade alongside collaborator Doug E. Fresh to celebrate 40 years of “La-Di-Da-Di,” one of the most sampled songs in the history of hip-hop, on November 25.
Slick Rick rose to prominence in the emerging NYC hip-hop scene of the 1980s through his penchant for storytelling and a unique melodic approach at rapping that would go on to influence generations of artists including The Notorious B.I.G, Ice-T, and Snoop Dogg, who famously re-imagined “La-Di-Da-Di” as “Lodi Dodi” and appeared alongside both Rick and Doug E. Fresh at the Hip-Hop 50th Anniversary celebration at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 11, 2023.
“Hip-Hop is like a plant, it grows,” he told the AmNews in a phone interview ahead of the events. On November 20 at NJPAC, Slick Rick will join other hip-hop mainstays including Chuck D of Public Enemy and Rakim alongside a host of poets and artists in a celebration of spoken word and its relationship to social justice. “Social justice is just an adult perception of reality,” Rick said. “When we interact with each other, what stirs us is a moral compass. So, we maintain our moral compass, and we add our gifts to the moral compass, so it enriches health, growth, and communication.” Tickets for Represent! are available at njpac.org and there is a 20% discount for TD Bank cardholders that can be redeemed at njpac.org/td-bank-cardholder-perks/. Tickets for Slick Rick’s in-store signing appearance with Doug E. Fresh at Rough Trade can be found at dice.fm, and you can stay up to date with Slick Rick at slickrickisart.com.