Legendary DJ Kay Slay has died following a four-month battle with COVID-19.
The word of Kay Slay’s passing, tragically on Easter Sunday, began to trickle late Sunday night. As the world began to spread, the condolences rolled in.
Kay Slay, born Keith Grayson, came up in the early, rugged New York era, starting out as a graffiti artist in the 1970s. He was even featured in the 1993 seminal Hip-Hop documentary “Style Wars.” In the streets, he was known as “Dez” and rolled with the The Fantastic Partners(TFP).
Soon, he would look at emerging DJs like GrandMaster Flash, Kool DJ Red alert and others in the late 1970s and 80s. After a bout in jail over drugs, he stop using and selling completely, and started his journey to be a New York legend.
Eventually, Kay Slay would emerge as one of the most profound DJs ever, which a decidedly uncompromising view on the culture. As the Drama King, his Street Sweeper series from the early 2000s would prove epic and helped keep the streets on fire. He released six studio albums, innumerable mixtapes and broke artist after artist, almost exclusively based on talent.
Most recently, he was releasing a series of monster posse cuts that consistently shook up the Hip Hop landscape. The last one was “Rollin 110 Deep,” which featured as many rappers in one incredibly long song
He served as a DJ on Sirius XM at the time of his passing, but had a lengthy run on Hot 97 with the “Drama Hour.”
Kay slay will be missed.
He was 55 years old.
Check out “Style Wars”