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...
He received
the 2018 American Beatbox Lifetime Achievement Award. "The American Beatbox Community would not be where we are today without his years of hard work," the group said at the time.
Will update this post when there's additional information about a memorial.