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Rapper Kidd Creole Convicted In ‘Shocking’ 2017 Stabbing Of Homeless Man

The former ‘Furious Five’ lyricist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee whose given name is Nathaniel Glover, has been convicted on manslaughter charges in the 2017 killing of a homeless man named John Jolly.

By Dorian Geiger
Rapper Kidd Creole

Kidd Creole, one of the founding artists of pioneering East Coast hip hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, has been convicted of stabbing a homeless man to death with a kitchen knife in midtown Manhattan nearly five years ago.

The 62-year-old musician, who’s real name is Nathaniel Glover, was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter on Wednesday in the 2017 killing of John Jolly, officials said. The Bronx musician now faces a maximum punishment of up to 25 years behind bars. 

“Nathaniel Glover committed a shocking act of violence,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg 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.”

Glover stabbed Jolly to death with a steak knife near the corner of East 44th Street and 3rd Avenue — a block east of Grand Central Station — on Aug. 1, 2017 after the two men got into an argument, according to Manhattan prosecutors.

“[Glover] pulled out a knife that he had attached to his forearm with rubber bands and stabbed the decedent in the chest with the knife two times,” a criminal complaint obtained by Oxygen.com stated.

An eyewitness observed Jolly, bleeding from his chest, collapse to the ground and become unresponsive.

Jolly suffered multiple stab wounds to his torso and chest in the attack and was transported to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead. His death was ruled a homicide.

The recording artist fled the scene of the attack, prosecutors said, and went on to change his clothes and clean the knife in a sink at his office workplace approximately two blocks away. He then dumped the blade in a sewer near a Bronx subway station.

Surveillance cameras in the heavily commercial area captured the deadly knife attack and ultimately linked the New York rapper to Jolly’s slaying. Glover was arrested the following day and charged with murder, a separate indictment shows.

Police also recovered the knife on the day of Glover’s arrest.

Glover later told police he’d stabbed Jolly because he was “in fear” of the 55-year-old man. 

Scottie Celestin, Glover’s defense attorney, declined to issue a statement on his client’s behalf when contacted by Oxygen.com on Thursday afternoon.

Kidd Creole from Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five

Glover formed Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five with Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Keef Cowboy, Scorpio and Rahiem in 1978, according to the Bronx rapper’s website biography

The legendary hip hop collective cemented its place in mainstream pop culture in 1982 with the release of their provocative and socially conscious hit single, “The Message.” Glover, who wrote and performed lyrics, then left the hip hop supergroup and signed with Elektra Records in 1984.

In 2007, the Furious Five became the first rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Grandmaster Flash didn’t immediately respond to Oxygen.com’s request for comment regarding Glover’s conviction this week.

Glover’s sentencing is currently scheduled for May 4 at 10:00 a.m, prosecutors said.

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