DJ Kay Slay, a pioneer in the New York City hip hop scene, passed away at the age of 55 on Sunday. In response to his death, numerous hip hop legends have come out to pay tribute to the late musician including 50 Cent, T.I., Fat Joe, and many more.
After making a name for himself as a graffiti artist, Slay began gaining recognition as a DJ in NYC’s mixtape scene. He released his major-label debut, The Streetsweeper, Vol. 1, back in 2003.
“Dezzy Dez aka Kay Slay aka The Black Fat Joe love you my brother,” Fat Joe wrote in a post. “You put on for the culture kept me on your tapes when i was cold always lead from your heart. I was praying hard for you i knew you’d make it i check almost everyday i had soooooo many stories to tell you since you been at the hospital. My brothers we lost a General today a Pilar of our community we will hold this man in the highest regards for he is an iconn when it comes to this culture RIP SLAY we love you we’ll keep your name alive as long as I’m here GOD BLESS Harlem east side stand the fuck up”
Check out more responses to Slay’s passing below.
It’s a bunch of fake ass fraud people running around the culture and DJ KAY SLAY was the total opposite! Real as they come. Rest in Paradise my brother.
— CROOK (@CrookedIntriago) April 18, 2022
Damn. Rest in peace my man the drama king DJ K Slay. Big loss for NYC and hip hop . 🙏🏽
— Alchemist Type Beat (@Alchemist) April 18, 2022
We lost one of the most SOLID MFs in HipHop.. I’ve been checking in on him his whole struggle in the Hospital. I honestly thought he was gonna pull through. This truly Hurts… F Covid. RIP to the Drama King 👑 #Kay Slay pic.twitter.com/5MyanPPPWo
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) April 18, 2022
𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐓, #DJKaySlay 🙏🏾🕊 pic.twitter.com/WUATLWatJI
— PUBLIC ENEMY (@PublicEnemyFTP) April 18, 2022
Woke up to the awful news that we lost DJ Kay Slay. The man was the human embodiment of hip hop. Graf legend, DJ legend, mixtape legend … so unique, so iconic ,.. when I first got to @hot97 — working with Slay was one of the things that made me so proud to be here .. RIP..
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) April 18, 2022
RIP Kay Slay this is too sad. A monument. Dez!!
— Fabio Foreign (@atrak) April 18, 2022
