Rapper Kidd Creole, a founding member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, was found guilty Wednesday in the fatal stabbing of a homeless man.
The 62-year-old rapper, whose real name is Nathaniel Glover, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., said in a statement.
The killing happened in 2017, when, prosecutors say, Glover fatally stabbed John Jolly, 55, with a steak knife after the two exchanged words.
Glover’s attorney argued that Glover acted in self-defense, The Associated Press reported. Bragg told jurors that Glover stabbed Jolly in anger because he thought Jolly was hitting on him.
Glover told The Source in a jailhouse interview last year that he’s not an intolerant person and that he feared for his safety.
Prosecutors said at the time of Glover’s arrest that Jolly said “what’s up?” as Glover passed and that there was an argument before Glover stabbed him, NBC New York has reported.
Glover is scheduled to be sentenced May 4.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, including Glover, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
The group and its members were hip-hop pioneers known for the highly influential and acclaimed “The Message," as well as other songs.
