Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick
By; Jordon Myers
History
Douglass E. Davis, also known as Doug E. Fresh, was born on September 17, 1966, and Ricky Walters, who is known as Slick Rick, was born on January 14, 1965. These two are a hip hop duo in which Davis had provided the beatboxing and Walters provided the lyrics. Davis started out his career as a solo artist and was one of the last artists on Enjoy Records. However, Davis became one of the first artists on Vintertainment Records. Davis and two other DJ's (Barry Bee and Chill Will) had formed a group called the Get Fresh Crew. This group would later introduce Slick Rick as a newcomer. A year later, the crew had released a single called "La Di Da Di" which had a tune that was completely voiced by MC Ricky D (Slick Rick) and backed by Doug E's beat boxing for the entire duration of the song. Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-born rapper. He began his career in late 1983 in the hip hop genre, where he recorded the songs "La Di Da Di" and "Children's Story". Slick Rick rose to stardom in an era known to fans as the Golden Age of Hip Hop. His music has been frequently sampled by other artists such as TLC, Black Star, The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, and Color Me Badd, with many of these songs later becoming hit singles. Slick Rick eventually left the crew and became a Def Jam artist.
The Get Fresh Crew had released many singles such as "The Show", "All The Way To Heaven", "La Di Da Di", and "Bustin' Out". These songs included Douglass' beatboxing and Walters' lyrics. "La Di Da Di" has been sampled many times for other songs for a chorus or backup sounds.
Slick Rick has many songs on the U.S. Rap Chart including "Teenage Love", "Children's Story", and "Behind Bars" along with some of his albums such as The Art of Storytelling which reached #8 on the Billboard 200.
Event that propelled Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh to fame
Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick propelled to fame after the release of "The Show" and "La Di Da Di" in 1985. These are the first two singles that The Get Fresh Crew had released
Top Songs
- "The Show"
- "Keep Risin' To The Top"
- "Spirit"
- "Summertime"
- "All The Way To Heaven"
Top Albums
- Oh My God!
- The World's Greatest Entertainer
- Doin' What I Gotta Do
Characteristics of Hip Hop/Rap
- includes a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted
- sometimes includes beatboxing, DJing, turntabilism, scratching
- originated in the 1970's and continued on into the 2000's
- became the best selling music genre in the 1990's
Doug E Fresh & Slick Rick-The Show
SHMRG
S- drum set, 2 main vocals, backup vocals, bass, turntable, synthesizer, clapping
H- drum set, backup vocals, bass, turntable, synthesizer, clapping
M- 2 main vocals
R-moderate, in 4
G- intro, verse 1, interlude, verse 2, bridge, verse 3, interlude, bridge, interlude, verse 4, verse 5, bridge, outro
Rap
moderate- loud-soft
Hill
Citations
"Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick Will "Get Fresh" in Rahway NJ (UCPAC May 15th 2015) | 7th Boro: Hip Hop City." 7th Boro Hip Hop City RSS. N.p., 07 Mar. 2015. Web. 22 May 2015.