Keith Grayson (August 14, 1966 – April 17, 2022), professionally known as DJ Kay Slay, was an American

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

(DJ) from New York City. He is referred to by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "Hip Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults". He released four studio albums, '' The Streetsweeper, Vol. 1'', ''

The Streetsweeper, Vol. 2 ''The Streetsweeper, Vol. 2'' is the second studio album by American DJ, DJ Kay Slay, released on March 30, 2004, through Columbia Records. Background The album was the follow-up to Kay Slay's ''The Streetsweeper, Vol. 1'' released the previous ...

'', '' The Champions: North Meets South'' (with Greg Street), and ''

More Than Just a DJ ''More Than Just a DJ'' is the third studio album by DJ Kay Slay. It was released on February 9, 2010. Album information The album was originally set to be released on October 13, 2009 then it was pushed back to November 10, 2009. The third ti ...

''.

Early life

Grayson was born August 14, 1966, in New York City. He was originally a prominent

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

artist, having been featured in the 1983 hip hop documentary, '' Style Wars''. One of Grayson's better known tags was "Dez". As a youth involved in New York's flourishing hip hop scene, Keith witnessed firsthand the ascent of legendary disc jockeys such as

Grandmaster Flash Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), popularly known by his stage name Grandmaster Flash, is an American DJ and rapper. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop DJing, cutting, scratching and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Fur ...

Grand Wizzard Theodore Theodore Livingston (born March 5, 1963), better known as Grand Wizzard Theodore, is an American hip hop DJ. He is widely credited as the inventor of the scratching technique. In addition to scratching, he gained credibility for his mastery of ...

, and Kool DJ Red Alert, in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. "I didn't so much set out to be a DJ," he said. "It was just something to do that was fun and that I enjoyed doing." With the decline of the graffiti movement in the late 1980s, Dez began dealing with

narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

and consequently ended up in jail by the late 1980s. Grayson was released from jail in 1990, and claimed to have abstained from using drugs thereafter. He hailed from the East River Houses located in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Career

2003–2009: ''Streetsweeper'' series

DJ Kay Slay released his debut album, '' The Streetsweeper, Vol. 1'', on May 20, 2003. In the summer of 2003, Kay Slay released a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, accompanied by a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, for a song titled "Too Much For Me". The single, which features a

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

sung by then-up-and-coming singer Amerie, also features verses from American rappers Birdman,

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

, and Foxy Brown. The song peaked at number 53 on the US ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, making it the DJ's highest-charting single to date. The single's music video includes

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

s by Swizz Beatz,

N.O.R.E. Victor James Santiago Jr. (born September 6, 1977), better known by his stage names Noreaga and later N.O.R.E., is an American rapper. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Santiago first rose to prominence as one half of the East Coast hip hop du ...

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success ...

, WC, and Lloyd Banks. Although the song was not a major success, its music video was aired on

MTV Jams BET Jams is an American pay television network controlled by BET Networks and owned by Paramount Media Networks. The channel features hip-hop and urban contemporary music videos. The network, formerly known as MTV Jams, was rebranded under the ...

and

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

. The "Too Much For Me" video did not feature Nas (because of Nas' solo projects) or Baby; so

Loon Loons (North American English) or divers (British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family Gaviidae and order Gavi ...

was featured instead. This replacement started a feud between Nas and Kay Slay. On March 30, 2004, Kay Slay's second album ''

'', was released. Another single and video were released for "Who Gives A...Where You From" with

Three 6 Mafia Three 6 Mafia is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mys ...

, which peaked at number 89 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Kay Slay and the song were featured on the 2004

NFL Street ''NFL Street'' is an American football video game developed by EA Tiburon and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label. It was released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox on January 13, 2004. Barry Sanders of the Detroit L ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

2010–2022: ''More Than Just a DJ'' and ''Rhyme or Die''

After releasing ''

'' in 2010, ''Rhyme or Die'' was released. The first album's initial two singles "60 Second Assassins" featuring

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

Layzie Bone Steven Howse (born September 23, 1974), known professionally as Layzie Bone, is a rapper known primarily for being a member of the group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He has also gone by the names L-Burna and The #1 Assassin. He is the younger brother ...

, Twista, and

Jaz-O Jonathan Burks (born October 4, 1964), better known by his stage name Jaz-O (formerly The Jaz), is an American rapper and record producer active in the late 1980s through the 1990s, best known for being the mentor of Brooklyn rapper Jay-Z. Burks ...

and "The Kings of the Streets" featuring

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...

, DJ Drama, DJ Doo Wop, and Fly Nate were released in 2011. In 2013, "About That Life" featuring Fabolous, T-Pain,

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

, and

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

was released as a single from ''Rhyme or Die''. It debuted and peaked at #54 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, making it one of Kay Slay's most successful singles to date. In the beginning of 2014, "Free Again" was released featuring

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a sol ...

and

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

, which came as a surprise for some seeing as how they had "beef" before, but later reconciled. In 2021, Dj Kay Slay released the track "Rolling 110 Deep" which featured 110 hip hop artists with contributing verses from Ice-T, Shaq,

Coke La Rock Coke La Rock (aka Coco La Rock; born April 24, 1955) is an old-school rapper from New York City who is sometimes credited as being the first MC in the history of hip-hop. In November 2010, Coke La Rock was inducted into the High Times Count ...

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

, Kool G Rap,

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 C ...

, Roy Jones Jr, Omar Epps, and others.

Illness and death

In January 2022, DJ Kay Slay's brother said he was in the hospital after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but was "in a recovery state". He died from COVID-19 in New York City on April 17, 2022, at the age of 55.

Discography

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

Mixtapes

Singles

References

External links

DJ Kay Slay's Hot 97 web page biography
* DJ Kay Slay charts: * The information in the personal section is from Circuit City's DJ Kay Slay bi
Circuit City-Music: DJ Kayslay
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay Slay, DJ 1966 births 2022 deaths African-American musicians American graffiti artists American prisoners and detainees East Coast hip hop musicians Mixtape DJs Columbia Records artists Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state) Five percenters Musicians from New York City MNRK Music Group artists American hip hop DJs American music industry executives 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people