Photograph of Slick Rick giving a speech to members of the Youth Community: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A color photograph of Slick Rick speaking to a large group of teenagers in Mount Vernon, New York.

The group is pictured inside of a recording studio, where Rick is on the left side of the image, facing the group of kids, and gesturing towards the mixing board in the left foreground. He wears a white hat, a green cardigan over a white t-shirt, and stacks of elaborate gold necklaces, rings, and bracelets. A group of nearly two dozen teenagers stand facing him, with one boy seated in a chair and holding crutches.

There is a white margin around the image and an inscription by Bill Adler handwritten vertically down the left side of the verso in blue ink: [Slick Rick, Mt. Verson, N.Y., '93, By Michael Benabib].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1993
• Photograph by: Michael Benabib, American, born 1962
• Subject of: Slick Rick, British American, born 1965
• Type: portraits
• Type: inkjet prints
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 11 × 17 in. (27.9 × 43.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 8 1/8 × 12 in. (20.7 × 30.5 cm)
• Place captured: Mount Vernon, Westchester County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Children
• Topic: Communication
• Topic: Gesture
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.132.122
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Michael Benabib Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.