Slick Rick's Lengthy Prison Rap
Sitting in a Florida jail cell, fighting his deportation, rapper Ricky "Slick Rick" Walters counts the days.
He ran out of fingers a long time ago. The Hip-Hop Hall of Fame inductee is into his 17th month behind bars, with no end in sight despite extensive legal efforts and appeals from his friends.
"It's the same old, same old," he said by phone from a federal detention facility in Bradenton, Fla. "Wake up, eat breakfast. Do a little exercise, try to keep yourself together. Call your wife.
"Stay positive."
It's tough in the face of endless negativity. Since his June 2002 jailing, Walters has awaited word on whether he can return to his home and family in the Bronx, or if he'll face deportation to his birthplace of England. He sees his wife, Mandy, just once a month.
Walters' supporters, including comedian Chris Rock, rapper Will Smith and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, have called for the rap star's release pending resolution of his case. Others believe he is an undeserving victim of the government's post-Sept. 11 immigration crackdown.
"Of course that factored in," said hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, a longtime friend and former manager. "Fear and anger are the motivating forces in the government campaign against immigrants' right."
Walters, in more measured terms, agreed.
"I'm not a politician or a lawyer," Walters said. "I can just speculate on the reason. But I'll put it out to the public: Somebody waiting for months on a yes or no question, and there's no answer?"
It was spring 2002 when Walters, now 38, left Florida for a weeklong gig aboard a cruise ship. He was arrested by Immigration and Naturalization Service agents upon returning to port.
The INS wanted Walters deported under a 1996 law calling for the exile of foreigners convicted of "aggravated felonies." Walters did five years on a 1991 attempted murder conviction; the rapper shot his cousin and a bystander, claiming the cousin had extorted money and threatened the rapper's family.
INS officials cited a 1997 order to deport Walters, although his attorney, Alex Solomiany, suggested Walters' exemplary post-prison life should be a mitigating factor.
After his '90s prison term, Walters resettled in the Bronx with his wife and two children, buying a pair of apartment buildings (he's paying property taxes while jailed). He also resumed the music career that began so memorably in the 1980s.
The London native first moved to the Bronx at 11, falling in with seminal rap figure Doug E. Fresh and rapping on the hit singles "La-Di-Da-Di" and "The Show."
With his eye patch and Mr. T-style jewelry, Rick went solo with the platinum album "The Great Adventures of Slick Rick." Stardom seemed imminent before his conviction.
In an odd twist, Walters' status is in the hands of U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood, a Manhattan jurist familiar with immigration problems.
In 1993, she dropped out of the running for U.S. attorney general when it was revealed she had hired an illegal immigrant as her nanny.
"Nothing about this case," Solomiany said, "is normal."
Walters' appeal could become a test case for others, including one-time New York nightclub impresario Peter Gatien. In August, he was ordered deported for a 1999 tax evasion conviction.
Solomiany said Wood was aware of both the case and Walters' lengthy jail stay. Walters didn't blame the judge, citing her December 2002 decision blocking his deportation.
"I still have love for the judge, 'cause if it wasn't for the judge, I'd be gone," he said. "She must have her hands tied behind her back with some political garbage."
This spring, as Walters approached his first anniversary behind bars, he wrote Wood a personal note.
"Heart to heart, cutting out all politics," Walters said. "Just talking raw: This is my situation, this is what I'm in jail for."
Walters never heard a response; Solomiany said Wood's office has cited a "heavy docket" for the delay. Walters, despite his second stay behind bars, was resigned to keep counting the days.
"Whatever happens, happens," he said. "I'll leave it in God's hands."