Kidd Creole of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five found guilty of manslaughter

The Kidd Creole, a founding member of Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, was found guilty of manslaughter, over the fatal stabbing of a man in New York City in 2017.

John Jolly, who was reportedly homeless, was stabbed in the chest twice. Kidd Creole, also known as Nathaniel Glover, was found guilty of manslaughter in the first-degree by a Manhattan Supreme Court jury, and is expected to be sentenced in early May.

“Nathaniel Glover committed a shocking act of violence,” Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, said in a statement. “This conviction makes clear my office will hold people who commit violent crime accountable to the full extent of the law. I thank the members of the jury for their attention to this case and careful deliberation. I also applaud our prosecutors, whose diligence and tireless effort to ensure justice led to this conviction. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to deliver the safe streets and communities that New Yorkers deserve.”

According to a report by Associated Press, Glover's lawyer, Scottie Celestin, said he was acting out of self-defence.

"Initially, this case was painted in a view that Mr. Glover attacked this man," Celestin recently told hip-hop platform Rock The Bells. "And they put the spin on it that it had to do with the gentleman hitting on Mr. Glover or Mr. Glover thinking that the gentleman thought he was gay. What I believe is this: culturally, as Black men, or anytime you're a minority – especially in cities like New York – when Mr. Glover was trying to explain himself...he said the gentleman said 'What's up?' and there was some confusion."

"I think the crux of this case is going to come down to: can a Black man be scared of another Black man?" Celestin went on to say. "Is this self-defence? ... What they're trying to do is minimise Mr. Glover's fear. And make this a quasi-hate crime or something – as opposed to 'I felt scared.'"

Glover is the older brother of fellow rapper and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five member Melle Mel. The pioneering hip-hop group were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. They achieved mainstream success with their their 1982 single 'The Message', which has since come to be regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time. In 2002, it became the first hip-hop recording to be added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.