DJ Kay Slay will be honored with a posthumous street-naming ceremony in New York City on August 13. According to a Facebook post from his brother Kwame Grayson, Kay Slay’s longtime friend and collaborator Papoose, manager Jarrod “General” Whitaker and Ladi Kutz will serve as hosts. Special invited guests include 50 Cent, Remy Ma, Busta Rhymes, LL COOL J, Fat Joe and Tony Yayo. The event takes place at East 105th Street and 1st Avenue, although the name of the street hasn’t been revealed.
The veteran NYC DJ and graffiti writer died on April 17, 2022 after a four-month battle with COVID-19.
“Hip Hop lost a real gem,” promoter Van Silk said at the time. “My dear brother is gone. I’ve known him since he was 16 years old. He was my little brother. I introduced him to many and we did a lot of things together. We last talked in December [2021] because we were finishing up the ‘200 Rolling Deep’ project. He was gonna do his video part with MC Sha-Rock.
“From the mixtapes to helping him launch Straight Stuntin‘ magazine and the whole What The Science project, the world not only lost a real dedicated person to the culture of Hip-Hop but a source of bridging the gap in Hip-Hop. I’m gonna miss my little brother.”
In December 2021, Wack 100 suggested he was moments from dying in an Instagram post. But Grayson remained hopeful, saying, “He’s definitely not going to die. That right there…I’m not going to lie, I was jumping around. I was definitely happy. Kay Slay is a private dude and he didn’t tell anybody in the hospital who he was, and we was kinda getting average treatment. When they found out who he was, that’s when everybody stepped up treatment.
“He was slowly fading away, but God didn’t let that happen. Everything in time and when they found out who he was, they got him powered up again. So he’s up and going. He’s like in a recovery state, but he’s definitely not going to die. You can trust me on that.”
Unfortunately, Grayson’s optimism wasn’t able to keep him alive. DJ Kay Slay’s death devastated Papoose, who considered him a mentor. Days after he passing, all he could manage to share was, “Words can’t describe my pain!”