Slick Rick returns after 26 years with 'Victory' album and proves hip-hop storytelling still reigns

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hip-hop legend Slick Rick is proving his creative spark is far from fading.

The English-born rapper — known for his signature eye patch and masterful storytelling — returned to the booth with his first new project in nearly three decades. He's reminding the world of his timeless rap prowess on his visual album, “Victory,” released Friday.

It marks Slick Rick's first album since 1999's “The Art of Storytelling.” This new project is largely self-produced, with the rapper handling 95% of the production and sharing executive producer duties with Emmy-nominated actor and occasional rapper-DJ Idris Elba, who appears on the album alongside Nas, Giggs and Estelle.

“You was a young adult, then a middled aged man and now you’re an older man, so my mentality has to grow with it,” said Slick Rick, known for his rap classics such as “Children's Story,” “La Di Da Di” with Doug E. Fresh and “Mona Lisa.” His debut album, “The Great Adventures of Slick Rick,” in 1988 hit No. 1 on the Billboard R&B/hip-hop charts.

“Victory” was four years in the making, with Slick Rick, now 60, writing and recording the album between his birthplace of London then France, while the visuals were filmed in the United States, United Kingdom and Africa.

Slick Rick believes his voice still resonates in hip-hop. He said the subjects he tackles have grown with him.

“Can’t always be children all the time,” he said. “We grow and talk about things that interest us at this age.”

In a recent interview, Slick Rick spoke with The Associated Press about how storytelling plays a role in today's rap, his relationship with Elba and how hip-hop has no limitations.

Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

SLICK RICK: We met at a party and then we clicked. His people reached out to me, and they wanted to make an album. They flew me to England and France. I hung out with Idris at his cribs, and we just did what we do. We just had fun, And then when we was finished, we said, “Yeah, we’re ready to bring it to the marketplace.”

SLICK RICK: It might've been a little hesitation, but you’re just having fun. We just bringing it to the marketplace and see what happens. There’s no pressure or nothing. We're bringing it to the people to see if they like it. Feed them.

SLICK RICK: When we were in the studio with Idris doing our thing, I checked the reactions of people. But then I saw people in their happy place. Once I saw that, I’m good. I see him and his people’s happy. A little dancing. Popped a little Moet. We were having a good time.

SLICK RICK: It’s what Black people like. We’re not just hip-hop. We like reggae. We like house music. Let’s say like the Beatles or Barry Manilow. We go all over the place. Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross. We go places. We try to entertain ourselves in different areas of existence.

SLICK RICK: It was saving time. People make songs and do videos anyway. So why not just speed this up real quick? Video and rap both at the same time. Boom, let’s keep it moving. ... This is like watching a movie. You want to expand the picture. Not only do you hear my voice and the music, which is the essence. You get ... visual picture as well.

SLICK RICK: In my creative process, I need to have a lot of input or it’s not going to be authentic Rick. Too many hands, it’s not going to pop. So many hands is going to distort stuff. I do my own music most of the time.

SLICK RICK: It’s an open space. It hasn’t been filled, the whole storytelling thing. Before it gets too lost back into braggadocios, one frequency. Expand your horizons. You don’t always have to be rough. Be romantic. Be humorous. Be vulnerable. Go all over. Be a politician. Use your imagination. Go places, so we can take stories and give to our people's imagination.

Slick Rick poses for a portrait on Friday, June 13, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Slick Rick poses for a portrait on Friday, June 13, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Slick Rick poses for a portrait on Friday, June 13, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Slick Rick poses for a portrait on Friday, June 13, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

FILE - Rappers Doug E. Fresh, left, and Slick Rick perform at Hip-Hop 50 Live, celebrating 50 years of hip-hop at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York on Aug. 11, 2023. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rappers Doug E. Fresh, left, and Slick Rick perform at Hip-Hop 50 Live, celebrating 50 years of hip-hop at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York on Aug. 11, 2023. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Slick Rick arrives at the Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards on Feb. 4, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)