Photo: Grandmaster Flash and its crew, from back in the day. Created by Sugar Hill Records to promote the rap group.
By Marcus Ayala and Benjamin Rubin
The case of the rapper who allegedly killed a homeless man was adjourned until October 24.
On Aug. 1 of last year, a homeless man was allegedly stabbed to death by rapper Nathaniel Glover “aka” Kidd Creole of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Glover believed the homeless man was hitting on him and was attempting to rob him when things became bloody on that day, it is alleged.
On August 23, 2017 Glover pled not guilty to second degree murder at Manhattan Supreme Court.
Then, two weeks later, Glover told the court that he had a mental illness. He was held without bail.
According to reports, Glover believed that the homeless man named John Jolly was making a pass at him after the two had walked by each other near E. 43 St. and Lexington Ave. The two men got in each other’s faces after Glover turned around to confront him, police say.
Glover allegedly pulled out a steak knife and stabbed Jolly twice in the chest with a steak knife that was secured to his forearm by rubber bands. It is believed, based on a surveillance video, that Jolly was intoxicated.
Jolly refused to tell detectives who attacked him or even that he was attacked, police say. He was taken to Bellevue hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Glover threw the knife used in the stabbing down a sewage drain near his Mount Hope home in the Bronx, according to police.
Glover’s court appointed attorney Eric M. Sears told Brooklyn News Service, “The court has the video of the interaction but not the homicide.”
Glover’s attorney said he believes there’s only one video, though some reports have said there are a number of videos from that night. Glover has lately worked at various service jobs, a change from his glory days. For a time, Glover worked for Trans Perfect, doing maintenance. He was working as a midnight security guard in a building close to where the stabbing took place.
Having once made the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, Glover had of late been living in a rundown Bronx rooming house.
Both men had prior arrests. Glover had three prior arrests for criminal possession of a weapon and Jolly had 17 priors dating back to 1983, including for rape. He spent five years in prison for beating and raping a 42-year-old woman in 1997 and did three years on a weapons charge.
Jolly lived in a homeless shelter by the Bowery.
Grand Master Flash’s most memorable lines from the group’s glory days of rapping were these:
“It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
“How I keep from going under.”
“How I keep from going under.”
And having gone under, the question now for Glover is whether, and how quickly, he will rise up.
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