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Rap legend Slick Rick becomes American citizen

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FILE - In this July 3, 2015 file photo, Slick Rick poses in the press room at 2015 Essence Music Festival Concert at Superdome in New Orleans. Ricky “Slick Rick” Martin Lloyd Walters became an American citizen during a ceremony in New York on Friday, April 15, 2016. (Photo by Donald Traill/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – After serving federal detention under threat of deportation, hip hop legend Ricky “Slick Rick” Martin Lloyd Walters became an American citizen in New York on Friday.

The English-born rapper with an eye patch took the oath during a ceremony and said he was “relieved to finally put this long chapter behind me.” After his family moved to the Bronx, he got his start rapping with Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew.

His debut album, “The Great Adventures of Slick Rick,” in 1988 hit No. 1 on the R&B/hip hop charts. In 1990, he was sent to prison for a shooting that he says was in self-defence. He was subsequently threatened with deportation and detained, but then was pardoned for his role in the shooting in 2008.

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