Terry Lewis, a longtime East Village resident who was known as Kid Lucky, a beatbox and beatrhyming pioneer, died on Oct. 23. Friends say that he had been battling cancer for the past three years.
Kid Lucky created events like the Hip Hop Subway Series and The American Human Beatbox Festival, and performed at various downtown venues as well as Astor Place and the subway.
Penny Arcade, a longtime downtown performance artist and archivist, shared her thoughts on his generous spirit.
Lucky was an artist and human of great dignity and authenticity. I have never met a braver person. He was unfailingly generous to me regarding my work and my influence on him as well as a selfless promoter of other artists. He was a great mentor to many as well as a prolific organizer of events for the art form he loved.Lucky was gentleman of the highest order and he had an innate elegance and deep sophistication that was the result of the strength of his intelligence and personal inquiry...not something that was handed to him thru the luck of birth or connections. He was cosmopolitan in the true sense. Lucky was also a proud and devoted father to his son Psyence.
Fly Orr shared Kid Lucky's story of moving to NYC in one of her PEOPs portraits...
Will update this post when there's additional information about a memorial.
Photo from 2011 by John Marshall Mantel
5 comments:
What a story! Rest in peace, sir.
I loved Kid Lucky and he fought hard. We had a two day benefit for him at C squat in 2018. Well known hip hop celebs showed up.
He was a friend and fought hard for many years. R.I.P.
Kid had an amazing, constantly transforming journey. He was extremely dedicated to the neighborhood. He leaves a massively deep legacy with the hundreds of young beatbox talents he mentored. Seeing him perform as a walk-on guest to do an improv spot on a Broadway stage in the fall of 2019, at which he received a standing ovation from the crowd, was a kind of marvel of over=due payback. I met him over 30 years ago in a heatless room at ABC No Rio and when he opened his mouth to sound off all the cold emptied out of that place. If you want a taste of what he gave, watch for his memorial, because you will see and hear an incredible outpouring of tribute to him. Kid is an example of what makes the LES legendary.
Oh, dear, oh, dear, what a loss.
Bye, Terry, you were a unique talent.
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