Slick Rick - The Great Adventures of Slick Rick

Def Jam

November 1st, 1988.

Slick Rick, the bona fide storyteller, weaver of words, and his debut album, 'The Great Adventures of Slick Rick', opened the Hip-Hip world to the potential of next-level narratives. Primitive beats - though they're relatively up-to-date for the time - meet anecdotes of inner city living.

Stories are all that we have. Those who can tell them well immortalize moments in time - solidified in to a tangible psychic grasp. Whether they're of a fictitious nature, or as true as true can be, the art of storytelling is essential to the human race. Hip-Hop has had its fair share of stories told from its fair share of storytellers, but one name stands out among the names adorned along the pantheon walls - Slick Rick; Rick the Ruler; MC Ricky D. The Great Adventures of Slick Rick wasn't Slick Rick's introduction to the world - that would come a few years previous on 'The Show/La-Di-Da-Di' with The Get Fresh Crew in 1985; lead by Doug E. Fresh - but it was the first full-length to really let his style and cadence flow. Character, along with personality, has a better chance to shine over an extended period of time; in a similar way to how stories intertwine and unfurl as they move on.

Some are blessed with the knack for whatever it is that they master - whether it's nature or nurture is anybody's guess, but its probably somewhere in the middle - as is everything. Slick Rick's mastery of mind and mouth converges on painting pictures. Whether that be seedy stories of New York's underbelly - every cities underbelly to some extent - encouragement for the youth, or fun and lighthearted tales to twist your belly in knots, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick runs the gamut from whimsical to words of warning.

The hi-fi system is the 20th Centuries equivalent of a campfire - the new age means of communication, comfort and in some cases, survival. A place to gather round and hear the insides of someones head; the insides of someones soul. Dance-floors would become the new campsite - a Mecca of sorts. B-Boys would spin as graffiti artists captured a stylistic sense of the moment. Words would weave as the MC caught on to the rhythms that the DJ provided. A symbiosis of the essence. A vibrant and vivid self-serving setting.

Not many can imprint images on the back of your eyelids quite like Slick Rick.