Religion & Spirituality

Harlem sends DJ Kay Slay home

(Mal'akiy 17 Allah photos)

By MAL’AKIY 17 ALLAH Special to the AmNews

The hip hop community commemorated the legacy of one of its most recognizable figures in recent times with a home-going tribute at Harlem’s Apollo Theater this past Sunday morning. Mixtape legend and Hot 97 on-air personality, DJ Kay Slay, 55, transitioned on April 17 from COVID-19 related complications. Approaching the Apollo Theater, Kay Slay’s voice was heard blaring out of the speakers of several vendors’ sound systems along 125th Street as a line of fans and supporters filed outside awaiting entrance. Inside, many paid homage.

Although several hundred people came out, some figured that a lot more would’ve come out to pay their respects to a local legend who gave back so much to the Harlem and hip hop communities.

Recording artist Busta Rhymes traced their friendship back 28 years, then detailed how they bonded: “I really respect a man that represented what it was to be a strong man. As his younger brother, he was contributing to me being raised properly. All the talking with Slay was one thing, but unless you were able to show and prove, it’s just talk.”

He also elaborated on how they'd get into heated debates, yet never lost respect for each other, before adding: “I’m grateful that I was part of every Slay album, countless mixtapes, and I was able to establish a genuine brotherhood with that man. Hip hop has an obligation to this man.”

Slay’s innovative “Rollin’ 50 Deep,” and “Rolling 110 Deep” mixtapes featured dozens of gifted artists and are a prime example of hip hop’s unifying force which it was initially intended for.

“I owe this man a lot,” Kay Slay’s protégé, Papoose, admitted after detailing some of the casualties he and his family endured while growing up in Brooklyn. “He was known as the ‘Drama King,’ but ironically what a lot of people don’t know, Slay was the reason for a lot of beef getting squashed. He became the voice of reason.”

He revealed some personal moments between them, noting his sense of humor, as well as his social guidance, before sharing a heartwrenching confession: “On January 4th he said ‘Pap, I might not make it.’”

Also mentioning how he implored his mentor to continue fighting.

“This a brother that would make your problem his own.” He added. “We gotta cherish our every moment with our loved ones. Don’t take them for granted. Life is too short. I will do everything in my power to carry on your legacy.”

Papoose noted how Slay introduced him to his wife, who spoke next.

“He made sure that Remy Ma became known,” the Bronx MC gleamed. “We had this sister/ brother, love/hate relationship. He was really my friend. He changed a lot of people’s lives. We never know when it’s gonna be our last days. So when you have somebody that you love and care about and that you feel if they wasn’t here that you would be hurt, tell them that now. Spend time with them. Go see them. Even if it’s out of the way.”

Chuck Chillout, Kid Capri, and Ma$e were among the hip hop luminaries who came out to pay their respects.

Upon the memorial services concluding, Kay Slay’s casket was carried out of the Apollo’s backstage door, then placed on an allwhite carriage on 126th Street. Moments later, two white horses drew the carriage west-bound one block, around the corner down to 125th Street, and headed to his native East Harlem ‘hood.

Native Harlemite, Sensei Marvin Gatling joins ancestors

By MAL’AKIY 17 ALLAH Special to the AmNews

The Harlem and martial arts communities were deeply saddened upon learning that a well-known fixture in Harlem for several decades had transitioned on to the ancestral realm recently. A local memorial was conducted last month commemorating the legacy of Sensei Marvin Gatling, who returned to the essence on January 31.

Born October 28, 1945, he attended Dewitt Clinton High School in the Bronx prior to joining the U.S. Marines in 1967 and enduring the casualties of war in Vietnam during two tours of duty while a part of their special squad, the elite fighting force known as the Green Berets. They carried out many daring attacks, as well as rescue missions overseas.

Upon returning to Harlem several years later he continued practicing JiuJitsu, eventually earning a 10th degree Black Belt, and was well known for sharing his technique with others so that they could acquire self-discipline and also properly protect themselves in spontaneous battles.

The military veteran could often be seen along Harlem’s 125th Street rocking his camouflage fatigues and green beret, which he proudly adorned daily. He was very approachable and sociable, often sharing his wealth of knowledge regarding the martial sciences with those who showed sincere interests, including members of the New York Police Department.

“My apparatus will enhance whatever you’re doing,” says Grandmaster Gatling, a.k.a. Harlem’s Iron Man, in his training video. “It’s about a Black way. I’m not trying to be Chinese, Korean, all the rest of them. I respect them because they preserved it, but they don’t show you what they need to show you.”

As an innovator, sometime during the mid-1990s, he devised his training device, simply known as “The Toy” a.k.a. “The Resistix,” originally named “The Life Preservation System.” It consists of two short cylindrical pieces of plexi-glass placed side-by-side, with an industrial-strength rubber-band wrapped several times around each end. Practitioners then would pull the pieces apart while the rubber-bands serve as resistance, and conduct isometric exercises which would develop certain external, as well as internal, muscles in the arms and upper-body.

“The harder you train, the stronger you become,” he notes. “It opens up your chakras and meridians. Technique alone is not good enough, you also need strength.”

One of his other loves was photography, and he was always seen with his camera, regularly capturing the pulse in Harlem’s streets. He photographed many popular activists, celebrities and scholars who ventured along Central Harlem’s streets.