Revered hip-hop icon DJ Kay Slay died April 17, 2022 after a four-month long battle with COVID-19 complications. He was 55.
Born Keith Grayson in Harlem, Slay burgeoned in New York City’s hip-hop scene displaying his talent as a teenage graffiti artist. He was featured in the 1983 documentary “Style Wars.”
From there, he started selling mixtapes and released his first studio album, “The Streetsweeper, Vol. 1,” in May 2003. He released several other albums and worked with recording artists including Nas and Busta Rhymes
He was a celebrated DJ with Hot 97, and CEO of Straight Stuntin’ Magazine, and A&Ring business ventures.
Slay’s longtime friend and hip-hop promoter Van Silk talked to HipHopDX about his impact.
“Hip Hop lost a real gem. My dear brother is gone. I’ve known him since he was 16 years old. He was my little brother. I introduced him to many and we did a lot of things together,” he told the outlet. “We last talked in December because we were finishing up the 200 rolling deep project. He was gonna do his video part with MC Sha-Rock.”
