DJ Kay Slay To Be Honored With New York City Street Naming Ceremony
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A New York City street is being named after of DJ Kay Slay.
On Saturday (July 15), Kay Slay’s brother, Kwame Grayson, announced that the ceremony will take place on Aug. 13—one day before what would’ve been the Hip-Hop figure’s 57th birthday—at the intersection of East 105th Street and 1st Avenue in East Harlem.
Grayson posted a flier sharing details of the celebratory event, which will be hosted by Papoose, the late DJ’s manager Jarrod “General” Whitaker, and his niece Ladi Kutz. “Our mother is SpeechLess,” he captioned the post with a praying hand emoji. According to the promotional image, the ceremony is slated to include appearances from special guests 50 Cent, LL COOL J, Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Remy Ma, Tony Yayo and more. The official name of the street has yet to be disclosed.
DJ Kay Slay passed away in April 2022 after a lengthy battle with COVID-19. News of his hospitalization first surfaced in January 2022, with Wack 100 revealing that the DJ was in poor health and needed medical assistance to breathe.
“Pray for my brotha @djkayslay It’s not looking good,” the Hip-Hop manager wrote on social media at the time. “He might be mad at me for this those that know Slay but he needs all the support he can get … Been 14 days fighting Covid and he’s just [been] put on a ventilator . Keep him in your prayers Please.”
Following his death, the self-proclaimed “Drama King” received an outpouring of dedicatory social media posts acknowledging his impact, with many Hip-Hop icons and legends extending their condolences. His funeral service was held at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem and was attended by Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Papoose, Remy Ma, Eric B, Fat Joe, Pete Nice, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5’s Mellie Mel, Kool DJ Red Alert and other rap luminaries.
Kay Slay rose to prominence during the ’90s and early 2000s as a mixtape DJ, helping break seminal rap classics like Nas’ “Ether,” and cosigning prized prospects like Papoose, who he helped earn a $1.5 million contract with Jive Records. He released several studio albums, including the most commercially successful The Streetsweeper, Vol. 1, which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and included appearances from Nas, Eminem, Wyclef Jean, N.O.R.E., Bun B, Foxy Brown, The LOX, and more.
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