Slick Rick was in Los Angeles over the weekend celebrating his Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award with several of his famous friends.
On Saturday (February 4), Russell Simmons—co-founder of Slick Rick’s former label Def Jam Recordings—hosted an event at Culina Ristornate + Caffé. Busta Rhymes, MC Lyte, D-Nice, Simmons, Nas, Swizz Beatz, Kurtis Blow, Joey Bada$$, DJ Pooh and Jermaine Dupri were among the many on deck there to honor The Ruler.
Slick Rick shared photos of the event to his Instagram with the caption: “30+ years in the game! Shout out to everyone who came out to celebrate my #GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award with me. I appreciate you all.”
As Simmons notes to AllHipHop, “Slick Rick changed the face of Hip-Hop with his unique brand of storytelling.”
Busta Rhymes shared a photo of the soirée to his Instagram account as well, writing simply, “Greatness is present” as he raised a glass to Slick Rick alongside Nas, DJ Pooh, Swizz Beatz and D-Nice.
Bus-A-Bus is also scheduled to perform during the 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony for a special Hip-Hop 50 segment executive produced by Questlove. The Recording Academy last week announced the lineup in a press release they fired off last week.
De La Soul, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Missy Elliott, Future, GloRilla, Ice-T, Lil Wayne, Method Man, Nelly, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Rakim, RUN-DMC, Scarface, Swizz Beatz and Too $hort are among the many additional performers expected to hit the Grammy stage. LL COOL J will introduce the segment with a dedication, while music will be provided by The Roots and Black Thought will narrate.
Slick Rick released his debut album, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, via Def Jam/Columbia Records in 1988. It topped Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for five nonconsecutive weeks and peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard 200.