Rapper Slick Rick proud of simple luxury of owning home

NEW YORK — Even though he’s considered one of rap’s all-time greats, when Slick Rick is asked about his most significant accomplishment, he doesn’t mention having a platinum-selling record, classic hits like “Children’s Story” or even his most recent accolade — getting saluted as a pioneer at the “VH1 Hip-Hop Honors.”

Instead, he cites: owning a home.

“I guess my biggest accomplishment would be to purchase some real estate in the Bronx … to have something to fall back on a rainy day,” Slick Rick, who’s now a landlord, said in a recent interview.

While that may seem rather mundane compared with his glamorous past, for Slick Rick — born Ricky Walters — achieving simple things is especially sweet considering the struggles he has endured for almost two decades. The eye-patch-wearing, British-born rapper became a sensation in the early 1980s. He was a top rapper when he was sent to prison in 1991 for wounding his cousin and another man.

He was released in 1994, fulfilled his probation requirements and resumed his rap career. However, in 2002, he was arrested again, this time for a 1997 Immigration and Naturalization Service warrant that had not been pursued earlier.

He spent a year and a half in jail before a judge allowed his release in 2003, saying that the Bureau of Immigration Appeals denied Walters’ due process when it issued the warrant.

Earlier this year, New York Gov. David Paterson pardoned Slick Rick. While Paterson’s pardon appears to have lifted the legal cloud over him, Slick Rick noted that he’s still not in the clear.

“We’re in a better position than we was before. We have a couple of hurdles that we have to go through, just clarifying everything with the immigration people,” he said.

While being a landlord is Slick Rick’s occupation, he still considers rap his full-time career. Slick Rick, who hasn’t released an album of new material in 13 years, says he hopes to put out an album soon, as long as the circumstances are right.